Lights added.

[LTEnterprises]

do you guys know a good source for a smoke packer ? I would really like to reuse the wires that I let the smoke out of but I have no way of reinstalling the smoke

 

[Bird]

If I ever figure out how to invent one of those smoke packers, I'm gonna patent it real quick./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[cchoate]

I added lights to my rops. Check it out.

 

[Phred]

Doc,

I bet those lights are handy.

So you added three 55 watt lights. Thats 3x55 watt or 165 watts. P=IV so at 12V you are pulling 13.75 Amps assuming you have all three lights in parallel. That would be a hot wire running to each lamp and directly connected to the blinker hot wire and a the other electode of each light grounded.

~14 amps is a healthy amount of current. I would do two things. Examaine the hot wire to the blinker that you tapped into and determine its diameter or gauge. You can determine the gauge from the wire diameter (copper part only) using the following link.
http://www.wiktel.com/standards/ampacit.htm
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.teicontrols.com/ampacity.html>http://www.teicontrols.com/ampacity.html</A>
These charts simplfy the issue since it depends on tempertaure, wire length, thermal cooling or insulation effects of conduit, etc.. But this gives you a good idea of what to expect.
If you find you are close to the max rating of the wire I would pull a new wire.

Also I would trace it back and find out which fuse it is connected to. Again if your close to the rating I would add a new fuse maybe a 15 watt slow blow. An inline would be easy to add.

my two cents.

Fred

 

[jinman]

<font color=blue>I'll slide the seat all the way to the rear of the tracks and swivel it around 180 degrees to operate my backhoe. I'll eliminate the existing backhoe seat altogether.
</font color=blue>

If you get that done and it works, you won't have time to talk about lights. You'll have hundreds of folks asking you for plans and a parts list for your seat. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif Good luck!

 

[Soundguy]

"is not rated for that amperage draw. I would also say that it's the amperage that can harm you - if I grab the battery cables with the engine running or off, there is very little amperage draw to smack me, but if I grab the cables while starting the car, it's a different story. The 12 volts would not have not changed - the amperage draw did."

The volt amp question can be better viewed as a formula.. and you have to take resistance into account. (e=ir ).

12v generally isn't enough to conduct through the resistance of your body... .. but actually can be, if you have good grounds, ( i.e. no shoes... sweaty palms / feet.

The drain on a system isn't going to effect whether or not you are going to get shocked, unless you are dealing with back emf kickback, like from an inductor discharging after being disconnected from power ( relay coil, etc ).

Most coils are already reverse diode shunted to prevent this anyway.

Think of voltage as potential... curent is developed and flows, based on resistance in the circuit.

Soundguy

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

For those really interested in learning more about shock safety, the attachment is offered. This is the best information on this subject I have found to date including the early writings of Charles Dalziel. Sorry I wasn't smart enough to attach only appendix B, but I think it fits the TBN guidlines for attachments.

The attachment is from Lawrence Livermore National Labratory. The specific area of interest is appendix B. This appendix identifies the body currents from perception to certain death for different percentile men and women. An associated table identifies the resistances of the human body under many conditions from dry touch to full fist on a wet pipe. Given these two variables and knowing the application voltage you can identify the shock threat.


Also the primary reason for use of a relay is to divorce the primary existing switch from the added current of the accessory. Lamp loads are about the worst in terms of contact stress, be it a relay contact or switch contact. The inrush current to an incandescant lamp is easily 10 times the steady state current. For a 50 watt light the inrush current is ~ 40Amps. It's a lot cheaper to replace an added switch or relay than the tractor main switch.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Cchoate,

Nice looking installation, Very professional! (smile)

 

[Anonymous Poster]

That's why I like this forum and CBN - very informative stuff here! Thanks.

 

[dkchandler]

Cchoate,
Where did you get those lights???
I really like the mounting brackets.

dkchandler