I plan on running LOTS of lights on my rig, some for driving, but most for lighting up large areas for setting up multi family campsite. I'll be running 4, six to nine inch driving/spots low down on the grill/bumper for driving. All driving will be under 30MPH, logging roads, etc....
The majority of the lighting will be to provide bright lighting, 360 degrees around my truck, hopefully out to around 100-150 feet. I have two Yakima LockNLoad Platforms, one mounted above the cab and one mounted over the bed, so the "campsite lighting" will be up high. I haven't decided yet on either many "pods" all around, or "light bars" all around or a mix and match.
My question at this time deals with using the correct AWG wire for multiple lights in parallel. Looking at the amps I'll be drawing, especially near the rear of the vehicle (maybe a light bar and a couple of pods in parallel facing rearward), I "think" I'll be looking at either 10 or 8 AWG wires. Most of the lights I've been looking at have pigtails that appear to be in the 14 to 12 AWG range. Since the pigtail will only be feeding the individual light, wired in parallel to other lights, will the higher gauge (smaller wire) pigtails work without issues when connected to the 10 to 8 AWG "buss"?
As one example - on a line with 3 lights in parallel (one on/off switch/relay), I'm going to run a 10 AWG wire to a terminal block, which will handle the amps being drawn by all 3 lights, but can I drop down to 14 AWG from the terminal block to each light? Each individual light will be drawing amps that 14 gauge can handle, but too many amps if they were combined together in series for 14 AWG.
The majority of the lighting will be to provide bright lighting, 360 degrees around my truck, hopefully out to around 100-150 feet. I have two Yakima LockNLoad Platforms, one mounted above the cab and one mounted over the bed, so the "campsite lighting" will be up high. I haven't decided yet on either many "pods" all around, or "light bars" all around or a mix and match.
My question at this time deals with using the correct AWG wire for multiple lights in parallel. Looking at the amps I'll be drawing, especially near the rear of the vehicle (maybe a light bar and a couple of pods in parallel facing rearward), I "think" I'll be looking at either 10 or 8 AWG wires. Most of the lights I've been looking at have pigtails that appear to be in the 14 to 12 AWG range. Since the pigtail will only be feeding the individual light, wired in parallel to other lights, will the higher gauge (smaller wire) pigtails work without issues when connected to the 10 to 8 AWG "buss"?
As one example - on a line with 3 lights in parallel (one on/off switch/relay), I'm going to run a 10 AWG wire to a terminal block, which will handle the amps being drawn by all 3 lights, but can I drop down to 14 AWG from the terminal block to each light? Each individual light will be drawing amps that 14 gauge can handle, but too many amps if they were combined together in series for 14 AWG.
