[Chris21700]

I've spent many hours reading posts on wiring up lights and switches, but have yet to find an answer to my question. Here is the scenario:

I plan on installing a Blue Sea 12 circuit fuse box to power my off-road lights and other accessories. All told there will be 6 switches for lights. I plan on using a simple 10 amp 3 pin rocker switch with LED. I want the lights to be able to go on with the key off, and therefore need a constant power source to the switch LED as well. My question is this: How can I wire so many switches without using up 6 additional circuits on the aux fuse box? (Already using 5 to power the lights.) Can I run power to more than one switch from one fuse? If so, how many switches on one fuse, and how many amps should the fuse be rated for?

Thanks for any help!!

 

[WESBC]

I've spent many hours reading posts on wiring up lights and switches, but have yet to find an answer to my question. Here is the scenario:

I plan on installing a Blue Sea 12 circuit fuse box to power my off-road lights and other accessories. All told there will be 6 switches for lights. I plan on using a simple 10 amp 3 pin rocker switch with LED. I want the lights to be able to go on with the key off, and therefore need a constant power source to the switch LED as well. My question is this: How can I wire so many switches without using up 6 additional circuits on the aux fuse box? (Already using 5 to power the lights.) Can I run power to more than one switch from one fuse? If so, how many switches on one fuse, and how many amps should the fuse be rated for?

Thanks for any help!!

You might not be able to tell from the pic but I ran about two wires per fuse on my fuse block for each switch. One gives power to the relay, the other is for the switch to activate the relay. I haven't had any problems with blowing fuses since I've installed them about a year ago. Just make sure to match the two wires together so you can keep track in case you blow a fuse. Ex: fog light switch wire and fog light + wires on the same fuse. That way if your fog lights fail to work, you can easily track down the problem.


Oh and Watts/Volts= Amps

100w lights/ ~12v battery = 8.33Amps

 

[aferda]

Switch backlights consume very little power and you should be able to simply hang them off the same circuit that your dash lights are on. If you want a separat circuit for some reason, then a single circuit would be more than enough. Amperage depends on whether these are incandescend or LED back-lights. In truth, I cannot imagine that 6 switches would even draw .5 amps.

 

[Chris21700]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I hadn't seen anyone running the power for the switch off the same fuse as the relay, but makes perfect sense to me. I had seen others do the tapping into existing power thing, but didn't know how good it would be to hook up 6 switches to one wire...but I supposed you're right aferda, probably not going to draw much from those little lights anyway. Thanks again!! :cheers: