Wiring help

[naladude911]

I had an old pair of aftermarket fog lights sitting in my garage, and my friend with a GMC sierra asked me to install them on the back of his car because he couldn't see when in reverse from his tinted tails. So I hooked everything up, and they don't work. Any help?

What I did:

Each fog light had a possitve (white) and black (ground) wire. Since they are remote, it had a relay thing.

I wired the two positive fog light wires together, spliced them with the positive on the fuse and the relay, and then spliced that to the power source (reverse light)

I wired the two negative fog light wires together, spliced them with the negative on the fuse and the relay, and then spliced that to the negative on the reverse light.

[alexf20c]

if you're splicing the power and ground directly to the reverse lights, then you don't need to use the relay. you're likely to burn out the circuit/fuse though. the correct way would be to use the relay properly.

send both black wires to chassis ground. the white wires will go to switch output on the relay. use ignition or driving light voltage to power the relay, and use the reverse lamp hot side to switch the relay. the relay will also have its own ground.

or you can tell your friend to untint his lights.

[naladude911]

so each fog light ground should connect to chassis. White wires should connect to relay and fuse, and fuse connect to reverse power and its ground to chassis?

[Natedogg1701]

sometimes i wish that the voltage in vehicles wasnt a measly 12 volts, kuz id love to see some people miswire something that runs on 120, or even 277 volts (for anyonw hwo doesnt have any electrical knowledge, 120 volts is what you get out of a single phase system, 277 is used in 3 phase systems) and watch what happens. then maybe if you dont know what your doing you would get some1 who does to help. put it this way if you short a 277 volt 60 amp drill press and are holding the wires your a** will be in amazement after you do a backflip faster than you can think.

and on a sarcastic note, they may not work because you installed them on a GM product.....government motors.....hehehe. now if it were a Ford you could have installed them anyway you wanted and it would have worked. Thats the beauty of a ford, they just work, GM's just suck.

[alexf20c]

wow what a helpful post.

and if you really did know anything about electrical engineering, you would know that "a measly 12 volts" can carry more than enough current through the right medium to make "you do a backflip faster than you can think," let alone kill you.

[Natedogg1701]

well if thats not the pot calling the kettle black, your going to preach about helpful posts to me? you specialize in being a d!ck to everyone and have nothing nice to ever say.

and oh really jenius, for one voltage and amperage are directly proportional, increase one by x percent and the other decreases by x percent. and youd never send enought current to hurt some1 through a 12volt system, find me one and prove me wrong. if you knew anything youd know voltage is electrical pressure, lack of pressure = huge voltage drop. and on top of that the human body has a reisitance high enough to where 12 volts wont bother you, explans why you can touch both terminals on a battery and get nothing, not even a tingle. go work in a commerical field where all you deal with is 3 phase 277/480 delta and Y systems, them come talk to me and get a better understanding and perspective on electricity, until then just stop talking.

and ok heres a helpful post, nala get a basic 4 prong relay, obviously the wire, id recomend 14 gauge just because its not to expensive and it can handle plenty of current for those lights. and a switch. the relay will have a pair of normally open contacts, and 2 contacts to power the coil. bring power from the battery and connect to one of the normally open contacts and then to the positive side of the coil (there should be a diagram on the relay shoing these contacts and identifies them with numbers) then bring a wire from the negative (ground) side of the coil to your switch, then brom the switch to a good ground point on the truk. you should have one more contact left to connect on the relay, this is the other normally open contact, bring a wire from there to the lights, then just ground the lights to the frame. this methid would allow your friend to turn these lights on whenever he wants, if you want to turn them on with the truks reverse lights you'll have to go lookin for the wire that activates the factory reverse lights. that should help.

[naladude911]

Well I did connect them to the wire that does power the factory reverse lights. Wiring a switch is a PITA in a pickup because I dont know how to get it into the cab

[alexf20c]

well if thats not the pot calling the kettle black, your going to preach about helpful posts to me? you specialize in being a d!ck to everyone and have nothing nice to ever say.

and oh really jenius, for one voltage and amperage are directly proportional, increase one by x percent and the other decreases by x percent. and youd never send enought current to hurt some1 through a 12volt system, find me one and prove me wrong. if you knew anything youd know voltage is electrical pressure, lack of pressure = huge voltage drop. and on top of that the human body has a reisitance high enough to where 12 volts wont bother you, explans why you can touch both terminals on a battery and get nothing, not even a tingle. go work in a commerical field where all you deal with is 3 phase 277/480 delta and Y systems, them come talk to me and get a better understanding and perspective on electricity, until then just stop talking.

and ok heres a helpful post, nala get a basic 4 prong relay, obviously the wire, id recomend 14 gauge just because its not to expensive and it can handle plenty of current for those lights. and a switch. the relay will have a pair of normally open contacts, and 2 contacts to power the coil. bring power from the battery and connect to one of the normally open contacts and then to the positive side of the coil (there should be a diagram on the relay shoing these contacts and identifies them with numbers) then bring a wire from the negative (ground) side of the coil to your switch, then brom the switch to a good ground point on the truk. you should have one more contact left to connect on the relay, this is the other normally open contact, bring a wire from there to the lights, then just ground the lights to the frame. this methid would allow your friend to turn these lights on whenever he wants, if you want to turn them on with the truks reverse lights you'll have to go lookin for the wire that activates the factory reverse lights. that should help.

it's not the pot calling the kettle black because i'm not the one claiming to know what i'm talking about when indeed i don't.

continue to discount the measly 12 volts on most vehicles today, and continue to be reckless when handling the electrical circuits, and you're going to get a good jolt, whether you cross short the battery terminals with that wrench or maybe with that gold ring on your finger.

it's not going to kill you, but it will surely make you do a backflip and will indeed burn a nice scar into your finger when that gold gets superheated within a matter of seconds.

yes, the human body has enough resistance to negate any nominal current flow. that's why i said "THROUGH THE RIGHT MEDIUM." perhaps you missed that part. blood is actually a very good conductor of electricity. so in the rare scenario that you introduce that electrical current into the blood stream via an open wound, good luck.

if you ever wondered how people get injured during electrocution, it's from the inside out. blood has a high water and salt content, making it an excellent conductor for electricity. the skin burns are caused by the blood vessels becoming superheated, the blood literally boiling, and exploding under the skin.

like i said, 12 volts won't kill without the freak circumstances, but it's naive and irresponsible to suggest to others that it can't hurt you.

as for your helpful post, all you did was repeat what i said, but in a more confusing way. cheers!

[Natedogg1701]

nala just drill a small hole in the firewall or find one of the rubber grommetts that aleready go through the fire wall.

and alex are you still talking? i didnt say you couldnt get hurt on a 12v system, but the odds r low, of course if you make a direct short to ground you'll get an ark, but the wiring applications and protective drvices in a vehicle make the chances of getting seriously injured quite low. now if some retard dirrectly shorts a battery they'll be in for a surprise, ive done it for fun towatch it blow the hell up, obv from a distance. but compared to working on a 277/480 system 12volts is like playin with toys to me. the fuses in a vehicle blow just about instantly, but try blowing a 70 amp fuse on a lathe, your gunna get the shock of your life for about 4 seconds before that fuse blows.

and really thats how an electrical shock hurts you....? NO FRIGGAN WAY! like i ddnt know that, after 5 n a half years of schooling and field experiance i think i know how electricity hurts you and how dangerous it can be. you call my post complicated, i call it technical and using correct terminology. you know id appreciate your posts more often if you used the knowledge you seem to posses more than just downing people.

[naladude911]

He wants them wired to the reverse lights so they go on when he puts it into reverse

[alexf20c]

He wants them wired to the reverse lights so they go on when he puts it into reverse

that's fine, but like nate and i told you, you should put the auxiliary lights on their own circuit and use your relay to switch it on and off. the switched input going into the relay will come from the hot-side wiring of the vehicle's reverse lights.

[fueler]

yup. you want your power source to come from elsewhere, and the only thing u use the reverse light wiring is to tell the relay to turn the fogs on