Auxbeam Switch Panel Issues

[texasteven]

Ok this is kind of a update to my previous post about me having issues installing my KC Gravity Titan Bar to my factory Aux switches which wasn’t able to work because it looks like the Titan bar is to powerful for the Aux Switches.

so I added a Auxbeam 8 Gang system and used KC’s option 2 on their YouTube video to connect to aftermarket switch panels. So I did and worked great till 2 days ago.

I connected the green wire (white light) to Auxbeam Switch 1 (30A) and the white wire to Auxbeam Switch 2 (30A) and was working, then I noticed that the Amber light (white wire above) stopped working. The main white light (green wire above), so I checked the fuse for Auxbeam Switch 2 and it was blown so I replaced it with another 30A fuse and blew again, and replaced again. So I moved the white wire to Auxbeam Switch 5 (10A) and it blew two more times. So not sure where the issue might be, because the white light is so so much more powerful than the amber light and it is still working great.

The only thing I can think of is that on KC’s wiring harness in the way they have you modify it, you still use thier relay on their harness but the white wire does not feed out of the relay, it comes straight from the light bar into the Auxbeam and the green wire comes from the relay to the Auxbeam.
I’m guessing they are still using their relay because the white light draws a lot of power. But could the fuse for the white wire be blowing the fuse because it’s not coming out of the same relay?

Again I thought the whole reason for these aftermarket switch panels was to bypass all the extra wiring? But again I used to own a SwitchPro several years ago and I thought I remembered it having a relay also for each switch, I do not see any relays built into my Auxbeam, only fuses and a place to plug your power wire into which fuse you want.

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[Scoop]

You just needed to use your own relay and use the Upfitter switches to trigger the really. Pretty simple to do.

 

[Brian_B]

A couple of things.

I can't find any wiring instructions (that aren't a Youtube video, I can't watch those and get anything meaningful out of them), or amp ratings, so I don't know what KC is doing with their wiring or how they have their relay setup, or how many amps they need. I did find a wattage table, which gets me close, but it depends on how many lights you have on the light bar. The biggest 56" bar is 355W (30A) white light, 101W (10A) dust. Now that's me estimating the amp rating based on their wattage, you probably want to size a bit over that.

So yeah, a 30A should cover your amber lights and then some. Not being sure how KC has the relay in, or how you have it wired, but it seems to be working fine. If they have their own relay on it you could run that off the smallest switch on your Auxbeam and be fine.

That said - I've found it isn't uncommon for these things to ship with crap fuses. I got a similar one (not Auxbeam), and yeah, blew through about 3 10A fuses on a load I measured at 3A. Got a different brand of fuses and that worked fine. So that's a possibility.

Good idea on switching channels, but, if you really are blowing a 30A fuse, you probably will also blow a 10A fuse. But it's a good data point - which makes me think you may have a short somewhere. Looking at your pictures, I think it's definitely worth going over all your spices and looking at all of them - good odds the wire is across a sharp spot somewhere and nicked the insulation and you have a short going on.

If there's nothing on the wire and it all looks clean and no damage to insulation, it could be internal to the light bar itself, but without an Ammeter it's hard to tell. If the green wire is just straight into the light, you could try taking it straight to the battery. If there is a short, you'll find it in a hurry. I don't really recommend this, but it is an option. I don't know if unhooking lights individually is an option on these or not, but after checking the wiring thoroughly that would be where I would normally go next - go with just 1 light to start, and add them in one at a time until you find the problem.

The suggestion to use another relay isn't bad, but yeah, that's what the Auxbeam does for you, and the Auxbeam should handle a ~10A load just fine

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