Led Light Bar Wiring Kit Question

[Scott492010]

I just purchased a EBAY Special led light bar. according to the description this 42" bar is 800watts. I messaged the seller and ask him which wiring kit he would recommend. He responded by recommending a cheap $9 wiring kit with a 40amp relay and 30amp fuse. Just guessing but the wire appears to be 16 or 14 gauge wire.

If the the light bar is 800watts ( 80,000LM )... shouldn't i be using a wiring kit with 10 gauge wire?

Sadly it appears all USA sellers are out of stock concerning 10gauge wiring kits currently...

My truck before I tinted the windows:

 

[kad]

Is it really an 800 watt light or is it an 800 watt "equivalent"? LEDs don't draw anywhere near as much power as incandescent and it's common to market LEDs by their equivalent incandescent output. If it's an equivalent, then the actual wattage used is probably around 200. 200 watts @ 14.4 volts is about a 14amp draw. At that amperage 14 gauge should be ok for a run of 7ft or less. Any longer and I would move to 12guage.

-K

 

[MarshRam]

^^^^equivalent... If that thing is putting out 70-80k lumens, I want to see pics of that when you get it installed!

 

[OC455]

Seems like they are just multiplying whatever they say the wattage is by 100x to get the lumen rating. It doesn't work like that.

 

[Scott492010]

I have decided to wait until i receive the led bar in the mail before i make a decision on the wiring kit. I figure i should be able to decide by matching the wire gauge coming out of the led bar. Considering this is chinese i imagine it is not truly 800watts ( 80,000LM ). but if you check the ebay page which is linked in the original post ...they offer the lower rated wattages.....so i dont know....i will find out soon enough i imagine.

 

[Scott492010]

I had previously emailed the seller asking this, " according to the description of the item for sale it uses 800 watts. That would require a minimum of a 10gauge wire. are these not 800 watt lights as advertised?".

He replied, "
Hi,
800 w is just for a theory value and could you please just use normal wiring to try ?
Regards "

 

[waterman1148]

I had previously emailed the seller asking this, " according to the description of the item for sale it uses 800 watts. That would require a minimum of a 10gauge wire. are these not 800 watt lights as advertised?".

He replied, "
Hi,
800 w is just for a theory value and could you please just use normal wiring to try ?
Regards "

Translation: "We pulled that 800watt claim out of our butts."

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[sbarron]

Lumens is really all smoke and mirrors anyhow. So much more goes into a good light design (optics). 2 of my 10" Rigids put out as much light as my buddies 40" Chicom ebay bar.

You'll be fine with a

I have decided to wait until i receive the led bar in the mail before i make a decision on the wiring kit. I figure i should be able to decide by matching the wire gauge coming out of the led bar. Considering this is chinese i imagine it is not truly 800watts ( 80,000LM ). but if you check the ebay page which is linked in the original post ...they offer the lower rated wattages.....so i dont know....i will find out soon enough i imagine.

careful with this one... 1 foot of wire hanging out of the bar, (spec'd by Chinese engineering) is different than running 15' of small gauge wiring. The math says this should have a 67 amp draw, though I too doubt the accuracy of the 800W claim.

 

[Scott492010]

I recieved the light bar via UPS today. It in fact has what appears to be 16 gauge wires coming from the light bar itself. The wiring kit i have laying next to it has 16 guage wires. So its pretty obvious it does not have a 800watt draw. Nevertheless, i am awaiting a few other parts before i install. Since the bar has day running lights i went ahead and got amber covers to mach my amber day running lights on the truck.

 

[Scott492010]

Finished installing the light bar tonight.

 

[Scott492010]

This light bar is definately NOT 800watts. Nevertheless it is a nice addition to my truck for night driving. Also the amber covers make it look really good and i expect will protect the light bar from any kind of stones or whatever.

 

[bobeast]

As a general rule of thumb, each LED is typically either 3W or 5W. So with 100 LEDs, the max actual wattage would be either 300 or 500 watts, respectively.

My 40" bar, for example, contains 80 3w LEDs and is advertised as drawing 240W.

Looking at your pictures, it appears to be identical to mine.

Their claim of 800W is ridiculous.

 

[madtrucker2016]

when in doubt go bigger on the wire because it will not hurt anything ,Now on the other hand if the wire is small for the amps ,then you got a problem maybe a fire or melt some wires.10 stranded is rated for 30 amps max that is with thhn insulation wire but,that is the way to go

 

[Puba08]

For the price you paid you could have went to Rough Country’s scratch and dent store on eBay. For about $50 more you could get a good light bar with a harness.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro