One for the electrical gurus

 Ok driving up the coast last night my spotties gave up the ghost halfway on the trip, wasn't happy as it's a roo infested road at times and like all the light I can get.

Anyway took a look under the hood today and found the fuse for them, it was basically melted but not blown. I pulled it out had a good look and plugged it back in, the spotties worked again but I could feel the plastic fuse body getting hot so have pulled it out until a remedy.

It's strange as I've run these spotties heaps of times and for more than 2 hour stints along Gnarloo track. 

It's 40 amp and the wiring looks heavy enough but I'm no expert.

It's running two Narva LED spotties and a light light bar.

Will more than  likely get an auto sparky to look at it but keen for some thoughts on here. 

Cheers 

____________________________________________________________________________

Love the West!


Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 17860

Date Joined: 11/03/08

 Could be a relay switch.  I

Wed, 2021-12-08 18:33

 Could be a relay switch.  I know the one in my Ute does similar but cuts out all lights 

____________________________________________________________________________

RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

scotto's picture

Posts: 2469

Date Joined: 21/04/08

Most probably

Wed, 2021-12-08 20:46

Undersized wiring in the harness. The leds do draw serious power. I was one of the first to get led spotties years ago, and had the exact same problem as you Andy. Melted fuses, but not always tripping/blowing.  The supplier gave me a bigger gauge wiring harness, but still the same problem.  I fixed it with a 30amp circuit breaker in lieu of the fuse/holder. 

sea-kem's picture

Posts: 14850

Date Joined: 30/11/09

 Thanks mate, that sounds

Wed, 2021-12-08 20:50

 Thanks mate, that sounds logical to me. Pissed me off last night halfway up the highway. My eyesight's not that great at night these days either. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Love the West!

scotto's picture

Posts: 2469

Date Joined: 21/04/08

same here

Thu, 2021-12-09 08:30

it was a pain in the arse as hilux's are negative switched, and trying to hook these spotties up was a absolute head-fuck! once I figured it out, i then found out the wiring was too small guage for such a big power draw, and had to re-do the whole lot with a bigger harness.... and for the same result! melted 30amp fuses and fuse holder. the 30amp circuit breaker did the job, and for some reason I never had anymore trip outs after i installed it. 

 

also for the record, I went back to HID lights (narva). they are a much lower power draw, cooler, and certainly have more long distance punch. the biggest difference though, was the Kelvin/temp/colour range on the HIDs. the LED's reflected the big road signs too much for my liking. i'd have to squint as I drove past any sign, as the reflection was too bright. I opted for a lower Kelvin temperature/yellower light on the HID's, and dont have nearly as much a problem. yes they take approx 5-10 seconds to completely warm up, but they are a better driving light overall in my opinion. 

Posts: 865

Date Joined: 30/12/09

 Yep LEDs make my eyes tired

Fri, 2021-12-10 03:08

 Yep LEDs make my eyes tired and sore. HIDs for me as I prefer to drive at night on long trips. 

____________________________________________________________________________

 Get busy living, or get busy dying!

Posts: 286

Date Joined: 21/07/14

Heat sensing

Thu, 2021-12-16 12:23

 Heat sensing/ infrared scanners are available to check for faulty joints and can save vehicle and house fires and are relatively cheap. Some use a LED display nowadays and the ones I bought for Telstra used a display of individual LEDS in a sliding type display and the use was part of standard maintenance procedure. Also using a digital voltmeter and checking voltdrop across terminals and fuses can indicate dry or faulty items. If you are in business you most probably can write of to tax.

 

scubafish's picture

Posts: 949

Date Joined: 15/08/12

Check gauge

Thu, 2021-12-09 10:48

Posts: 565

Date Joined: 24/04/11

Contacts

Fri, 2021-12-10 04:00

Gday Andy, bad contacts on the fuse holder, either where the fuse plus in, or where the wire is connected to the fuse holder would lead to a hot fuse.

 

Posts: 515

Date Joined: 23/04/11

 Agreed, sounds like a hot

Fri, 2021-12-10 14:28

 Agreed, sounds like a hot joint

sea-kem's picture

Posts: 14850

Date Joined: 30/11/09

 Thanks Blair, will have a

Fri, 2021-12-10 17:42

 Thanks Blair, will have a real good look at it. Might buy a new one and see what happens. Mate we still need to catch up with you and Paul for beers, discuss tactics 

And my jocks selection for next year lol

____________________________________________________________________________

Love the West!

Posts: 565

Date Joined: 24/04/11

Jocks

Sun, 2021-12-12 07:46

Maybe just wear clean jocks this time Andy! 

Jackalchub's picture

Posts: 593

Date Joined: 10/03/12

 If it's been fine for some

Fri, 2021-12-10 17:54

 If it's been fine for some time and suddenly failed it definitely a high resistance (hot) joint, can happen with fuse holders 

Jackalchub's picture

Posts: 593

Date Joined: 10/03/12

 If it's been fine for some

Fri, 2021-12-10 17:55

 If it's been fine for some time and suddenly failed its definitely a high resistance (hot) joint, can happen with fuse holders