| Author | Message | ||
     Neurorider |
I've read lots of posts on accessory lighting but would like to hear what the best way is to get a 10g wire from the battery to the front of the bike, to use a relay for powering Solteks and KC HiLites or Piaa 510's. Looks pretty tight in the wiring harness, and there's a lot of heat involved. Any tips would be appreciated! thanks doc | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
10AWG is a bit overkill, don't you think? I would think 14 or 16 would be enough. How many amps are those new lights? Planning on doing arc-welding?  | ||
| Gamdh |
This is what I did.. Start with this (Centech AP-2 fuse block with wiring harness kit from the Eastern Beaver) and some split Wrap    Run it under the airbox along the factory harness  It follows the factory harness out from under the frame on the left side and up into the underside of the fly screen  With the piaa wire harness hooked up  Final product  (Message edited by gamdh on June 04, 2008) | ||
| Treadmarks |
+2 for Eastern Beaver. I put the fuse panel under the seat and ran 3 #12 wires to the cowl. High beam, Low beam and horn have their own wire. Also installed a #4 high flex ground strap from the oem grounding point to a common ground for all components under the cowl. | ||
| Tipsymcstagger |
I bought some of this wire wrap and also some 3:1 dual wall adhesive shrink tubing (much better than typical Radio Shack stuff). The wire wrap looks just like factory and is very durable. As did Treadmarks, I also installed the Centech under the seat. I ran four 14 gauge wires up to the cowl...pretty much following the factory harness as best I could and entered the frame (as others have) from the center rear, adjacent to the transmission vent tube. Up front, I've got the loom underneath the plastic frame cover on the neck that protects the factory harness and the throttle cables. I have to say, you can barely tell the additional wiring is not part of the factory harness. I ran four 14 gauge wires up to the cowl. One for each HID (low and high beam), one to repower the dash mounted power jack (cigarette-lighter jack) so that it's always hot and a "future" circuit in case I ever mount a Stebel...though it's getting pretty full under the cowl with the Piaa wiring and two HID ballasts/igniters. I was running out of time and stopped taking photos but I'll take a few this weekend and post back. Tipsy | ||
| Treadmarks |
Good spot on the power jack (cig lighter), I didn't think of that.  | ||
| Tipsymcstagger |
Good spot on the power jack (cig lighter), I didn't think of that. I don't know what it's like on '06 and '07's but not only is it annoying that the factory accessory jack is hot only with the key "on," but I find it especially annoying that it's wired though the "run" switch so that you're forced to prime the fuel pump simply to power the jack. Stupid design in my opinion. On the bight side, I've now got a unused switched source under the cowl that I plan to use to power running lights. I'm having one of the small vendors on Buelletinboard (and maybe here too?) convert a stock set of Buell turn signals to act as both running lights and turn signals with separate dedicated LED's in the housing for each function. Tipsy | ||
| Neurorider |
Very nice ideas! you guys are great. Yes, Natex, 10g is overkill. But then again, I almost chose that as a username (overkill). I was thinking of one wire up to a junction block that I could tap off of for whatever I wanted up front, so I don't have to wonder if the wire is big enough when I add whatever later on. Even a 14g is huge compared to what the bike is wired with though! Gamdh and Tipsy, that's exactly what I needed to know! thanks! doc | ||
| Darthane |
FYI - 10GA is good for about 45A continuous current across varying temperatures. You'll drain your battery dry no problem if you're using that wire to capacity! | ||
| Neurorider |
45 amps...wow that is a lot of juice! I wouldn't have thought 10g would carry that much. Thanks for the info. I like the idea of bigger lights, would make night riding here much safer. I'm thinking of a big pair of kc hilites for driving lights when there is no traffic (dirt roads at 50mph at night). | ||
| Luftkoph |
I love overkill I ran 2 10 ga. marine coax wires straight from the batt. to the cowl one is dedicated to the light force driving lamps and the other feeds a centech2,I also put them in thermo tec as they pass thru the frame and engine, I also have 4 relays in the cowl.you never hear the phrase burnt up from to much grease or to big of a conductor. | ||
| Tipsymcstagger |
Took a few pics today: The Piaa 510 Driving Lights on GME's light bar:  I ended up not using the Autoswitch because I installed an HID on the high beam in a addition to the low beam. The Autoswitch functions by squeezing the flash-to-pass switch twice in rapid succession. This isn't really healthy for HID ballasts. So, I ended up using the supplied Piaa switch and fabricated a simple bracket out of some aluminum angle and mounted it under the mirror stem:   Centech AP-1 mounted to a piece of acrylic and then held in place with some 3M Dual-Lock (the plastic Velcro that's used to hold E-ZPass tags in place). The red wires back by the accessory jack haven't been connected yet.  Some pics of the loom:   Tipsy | ||
| Darthane |
...nothing wrong with overkill - it's certainly better than underkill! You'd probably be surprised just how much current most automotive grade wire can handle. The vast majority of wire in the vehicles I design systems for is 20 or 22GA and oftentimes anything larger is dictated by the fuse size, not the actual load. | ||
| Jammin_joules |
For lack of an active thread, let me add some improved lighting on the standard head lights. H7 rated at 55w, PIAA makes a bight white bulb, direct snap in, 55w electric, lighting power of 110w. Now hold on, I can hear the fear of melted light housings and terminals in the lighting circuit. My understanding of physics backed with some test data may sooth the fearsome beast here. PIAA Bulbs actually drew less current, about 3%, than stock H7. Heat is a matter of dc current times the voltage so less current, less heat. Candle lumens is another story and not related to the current through, and voltage across the bulb. The material and its excitation, its ability to generate light energy being far more efficient result in a much brighter beam with no modification. ~jammer | ||
| Neurorider |
Jammer-thanks! nice info. I may add the 510's and just swap out the bulbs in the stock units, and wire them so they're both on when on high beam. Maybe upgrade to the Fuego's later? Anybody know if the Fuego light puts out a better beam than stock, with the same bulb? doc |
