Two sets of hella 500's on one relay/wires?
 

Right now I have one set of hella 500's on the hella wiring kit. SImple question- is it possible to run two sets of lights on one relay? Will the wiring support it?

how many amps?

The capacity of wires is known...
 

so you have to know what gauge wire you've got now, and how much the lamps take. Also what's the relay rated at? Where do you grab your power, and is that current limeted in someway?

Matt

well, if P=VI, then assuming you have 55W bulbs, and voltage ~13, you're talking about 4.23A per bulb, and since most relays are 30-40A you should be fine.

Paul

Maybe...
 

but maybe not. Thats why you have to look at the details. Also, many bulbs startup current is higher (the resistance of the filiment climbs as it gets hot) so you should put some headroom in the calculation. The relay should be labelled for capacity. IF not, you can look up the model number at a manufacturers website....

Matt

The wiring that came with my Hella 500's was a pretty small gauge. 16 gauge IIRC. I used a wiring harness that I had sitting on the shelf left over from my rally car. It used 14 gauge wire & a higher capacity relay.

My thought would be that you probably can use the Hella wiring harness without issues. I would caution you to only use 55W bulbs in your lights. I think 100W bulbs will be too much for the wiring.

One thing you could do is up the gauge of the wire going from the relay to the lamps with 14 gauge.

My lamps are 55 and i have no intentions of changing the bulbs. The power going ot the relay is taken directly off the positive terminal in the engine bay, and the relay is triggered via the high beams.

Is the power wire from the battery to the relay fused? If so you should be good to go. If not put an in line fuse in.

I believe so. I'll have to check, and if it's not, I'll have to add one.