Work light

[oklandist]

Hi all,

I want to add a work light to my BX25 Rops. I have read most of the things written on mounting work lights and there has been some great ideas. I see that alot of people put in switches, but I have not read anywhere about just tapping in to the head light wire. That way when you turn your headlights on the work lights come on as well.

thanks

 

[Birdman1970]

Hi all,

I want to add a work light to my BX25 Rops. I have read most of the things written on mounting work lights and there has been some great ideas. I see that alot of people put in switches, but I have not read anywhere about just tapping in to the head light wire. That way when you turn your headlights on the work lights come on as well.

thanks

Worklights are a must on these tractors. Tapping into the headlights is a good idea, but you have to be concerned about a couple things:
1) The wiring for the headlights can only handle a certain current load...you don't want to put in 55W worklights and risk drawing too much current...you could literally burn your wiring going to the lights, or worse, create a small electrical fire.
2) The default generators on these tractors aren't all that beefy...if you get good enough worklights, you may not want to even have your factory headlights on at all....if you wire it the way you are thinking, you lose that option.
3) If you DO want to use your headlight switch as an on/off for your worklights, I would wire your worklights with a relay switch. The tractor headlight switch could be used as the on/off for the relay and the relay sourced from the battery could be the source for your worklights.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[oklandist]

Thanks for the comments, those are great points. I was going to use a 55 watt light. If I switch to an LED light would I have the same concerns of Drawing to much power?

thanks

 

[Triguy1]

Hi all,

I want to add a work light to my BX25 Rops. I have read most of the things written on mounting work lights and there has been some great ideas. I see that alot of people put in switches, but I have not read anywhere about just tapping in to the head light wire. That way when you turn your headlights on the work lights come on as well.

thanks

I have a BX 2360 and after reading several of the other threads on this subject and talking with the tech at my dealer. I found that there was an open set of wires left in a pigtail at the back of the tractor that are already hot. I set up the lights ( a set of LEDs) and wired it up just to test them without a switch. After I did this, I talked to the tech and asked him if there was any reason I could not just leave them as running lights all he time as the LEDs draw very little amps, much less than the headlights. He said there should not be any problem. So that is how I left it so far. Anyone here is welcome to correct me or find fault as I am an admitted rookie. The one issue I have heard is that the LEDs don't get hot so they may ice over in the snow. I have not had to test that yet, but will find out soon. Also, I'm just assuming that the BX25 set up is similar, that could also be wrong.

Jon

 

[oklandist]

Thanks Birdman,

Not to good with the wiring thing, with regards to step three, what kind of relay would I need. I am assuming the the relay would go on the hot wire direct to the battery. Then do I run a wire from the battery to the relay. Also what size wire should I be using for a 55w flood light?

thanks again.

 

[Birdman1970]

I have a BX 2360 and after reading several of the other threads on this subject and talking with the tech at my dealer. I found that there was an open set of wires left in a pigtail at the back of the tractor that are already hot. I set up the lights ( a set of LEDs) and wired it up just to test them without a switch. After I did this, I talked to the tech and asked him if there was any reason I could not just leave them as running lights all he time as the LEDs draw very little amps, much less than the headlights. He said there should not be any problem. So that is how I left it so far. Anyone here is welcome to correct me or find fault as I am an admitted rookie. The one issue I have heard is that the LEDs don't get hot so they may ice over in the snow. I have not had to test that yet, but will find out soon. Also, I'm just assuming that the BX25 set up is similar, that could also be wrong.

Jon

Yup, this is how I wired by LED lights in my other thread for the B3200HSD....made wiring pretty simple.

 

[Birdman1970]

Thanks Birdman,

Not to good with the wiring thing, with regards to step three, what kind of relay would I need. I am assuming the the relay would go on the hot wire direct to the battery. Then do I run a wire from the battery to the relay. Also what size wire should I be using for a 55w flood light?

thanks again.

If we assume you will be using (2) 55W lights on the same wiring cable, that would mean both the relay and the wiring would need to support 110W. In a 12V system, that is approx 110/12 = 9.2A current. So you would need a relay that supported about 10A or higher and a wire gauge of approx 14AWG or higher. NOTE: In the American Wire Gauge (AWG) system, larger gauge numbers are actually physically smaller wires. So a 16AWG and 118AWG are smaller wires than 14AWG....you don't want a wire smaller than 14AWG for safety reasons.

The following is a good table of reference for a 12VDC system. The length of your copper wires is in the lefthand y-axis, and the current draw needed by your lighting is in the top column x-axis. The cell (box) that intersects the two requirements of the system tells you what AWG wire you should be using.:

As far as wiring the relay, here is a pretty simple diagram for a standard 12VDC relay that you can get at Radio Shack or even go to a car audio installation store and they can sell you one. You basically hook the source for your lights to the battery, put a proper fuse inline (15A would be fine) and you connect the other side of the fuse to the source inlet on the relay. There is an output to the relay that you will wire to your lights....that is the wired connection your ligts will see when the relay switch is turned on. Now, to get the relay switch to turn on, you connect the wire going to your headlights to the switched power input to the relay. The only other connection needed by the relay is a GND source for the switched power (i.e. the relay on/off switch).:

 

[Birdman1970]

I edited the relay diagram to show how you would wire your factor switch to ther relay and, thus, your worklights.:

 

[RaydaKub]

OK, I just admittedly glanced at the diagrams and scanned through the thread. However, having just done this here's my opinion.

Having the work lights on the same switch eliminates another switch.

However, now you are adding in possibly a relay (new point of failure) and running your own wires under the floorboard, snaked up under the seat, over the transmission, etc.

You already have a hot and ground wire back there, and it is inside the plastic tube, zip tied all the way so as to ensure no shorts. A new switch in line from that wire to the ROPS is a whole lot less wiring to be done than all the other stuff mentioned in this thread. If you are looking for a project, then by all means, go for it. If you want your lights up and running soon, use the existing wire. :2cents:

 

[dlmpsy]

I'm no electrical person, so if I'm wrong...please correct me. On my tractor, I used two LED lights that draw about 3 amps total. My tractor had two un-used wires near the caution lights under the fender. I checked which wire was "hot", and which was "ground". The hot wire had power when the ignition switch was on. I connected these wires to my three prong switch, with a 5 amp fuse on the hot wire. I connected each power wire from the light into one "hot" wire, connected this to the switch. Connected ground wires from light into one wire, connected to bolt on fender. I didn't use a relay, not certain if it matters in my particular application. BTW, I chose LED lights because of their low current draw. The light output is brighter than my factory halogens either high or low beam. The lights have a very slight blue tint (my halogens have a bit of yellow), and the LEDS do produce some noticable heat...not hot but definately warm. I can used my factory halogens, and/or use the LEDS at the same time, or just the LEDS.