Adding work lights

[rcrcomputing]

I had lights on the rops. My trees hated them though.. Oh well, dark is quitting time for me..

[agford4x4]

For the light install, where did those brackets come from?

Also, is it OK to drill holes in the ROPS?

[ampsucker]

there's a chance you might be over thinking this. you can get a 30 amp 12 volt relay at radio shack for about 8 bucks. run the relay trigger wire to the hot side of the ignition when key is on and you can run as many lights as you'll need. just use an inline fuse rated for the wire gauge and run and put it as close as possible to the battery.

if you want to go a step further, add a small fuse block with a heavy gauge wire to the battery or starter lead and you'll really be set to accesorize into the future.

amp

oh, and each 55 watt light draws 4.6 amps at 12 volts. (to answer your original question)

[canoetrpr]

My Kubota L3400 had a factory worklight circuit under the fenders but the gauge of the wire for these types of circuits is not usually big enough to support 4 55W lamps - 2 front, 2 rear.

With the help of others on this wonderful site, I was able to wire up a new circuit, fed from the battery, added a new fuse and relays. Not a terribly large amount of work.

You don't NEED a relay, so long as you have switches that can handle the load going through them. I put a relay in as both my sons are addicted to the tractor and will get on it when they can and flick all the switches they can find on and off. I didn't want to be stuck with a dead battery when it was time to blow the snow off the drive

[3RRL]

Originally Posted by agford4x4

For the light install, where did those brackets come from?

Also, is it OK to drill holes in the ROPS?

Those were stock factory brackets that are bolted to the ROPS and hold up the canopy.

[HarryVanderpool]

Ampsucker points out that each fixture will draw 4.6 amps.
Check your wire size and fusing accordingly.
If you have 16 guage wire (my guess) then 3 lamps would put you on the brink of heating the wire.
When you place a load on a wire that exceeds its ampacity, it becomes a series load in and of it's self. What kind of load? A heater.
Your fusing should protect your wire, but sometimes folks will bump up the fuse size and BINGO here comes the fire department.
So you must work within the limits of what is there or follow ampsuckers advice and run another circuit.

[ampsucker]

yes, a relay provides extra safety and current capacity and is the only safe way to do it if you want everything on the tractor to be off when the key is off.

i also forget to mention in my previous post that the trigger wire coming from the key should be routed through your light switch unless you want the lights on every time the key is on. ;-)

also, no matter what you run, make sure you run the same size ground wire as you do a hot wire and that both are sized correctly for the load. fuse the conductor, not the load; size the conductor for the load.

amp

[Blagadan]

I gotta second the comment about magnetic work light mounts. No holes to be drilled and you can move it anywhere you like. Ever since I fitted one to my bota, I have found it to be real handy to be able to move it around. I have mine wired into the tractor light circuit so when I switch on the lights, the worklight comes on. I fitted a marine 12v socket under the tractor seat that I can plug the work light into, and I have a curly cord running out to the light that extends out to ~10ft. In the pic I have it mounted out on the vertical top link post on my rear loader.

You got to watch out for the magnetic base though. I found the plastic lid of a Pringles tube fits perfect on my 3in magnetic base. Stops scratchin the paint. Not that my 20 yr old bota is pristine or anything but still, dont wanna add any more to the wear 'n tear if I can help it.. I got the mag base in NorthernTool.

[agford4x4]

I decided that i want the two lights to be on their own switch.

I see no need for them NOT to be directly connected to the battery. It also doesnt really matter if the key is off or not. In this case, they are two 'driving' lights from teh auto store, both 55w.

So, i shouldnt need a relay in this case. Now, what kind of wire should i use to get it to the battery? The switch i am going to use is hopefully going to match the rest of them because i have an open spot and it should be at least a 20a rated switch, which should be twice as much amperage as neede to run 2 55w lamps.

[ampsucker]

you could get by with 18 or 20 AWG. i would go with 16 AWG as the voltage drop over a 10 foot run is only 7 percent giving you a load voltage of about 11.2 V at 10 amp draw.

16 AWG would also support a third light if you wanted to add it later with a 10% voltage drop.

fuse the conductor for 10 amps as close to the battery as possible to minimize the chance of shorting before the fuse protection. (ie pigtail off the battery only a couple of inches on the positive wire, fuse, then run to switch). if you want to add the third light, you could just upgrade to a 15 amp fuse and not have to rewire.

properly sized wiring will give you the most light output and safest rig. most of the little car fog light kits send the cheapest components available and the connectors, wiring and switches will be barely addequate and fail after the least amount of abuse.

also, use stranded copper wire, not solid core. solid breaks too easily when flexed repeatedly. solder and heat shrink your connections to make resistant to corrosion. ;-)

here's the chart if you ever need it:

American Wire Gauge table and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits


don't get mad the first time you forget to turn off you lights in the day time and you come out to a dead battery! ;-0

amp