How do u power your bar?

[cellblock]

For those of us running running lightbars on our POVs I want to know how you have yours wired. Do you plug it directly into your cigarette lighter plug? Do you have it hooked into your fuse panel with a inline switch to turn it on and off? Is your bar light hooked to a multiswitch box to control it and other acessories? Is it hooked directly to the battery with a inline on/off switch?
My bar is currently disconnected but when it goes back on the car it will be hooked up as before. That is it will be on a 4 switch box which is wired to the battery and besides controling the bar also controls the WigWags in the headlights, the front dash strobe and the rear desk rotators.

[NFD159]

[mohican]

Where Red joins his VFD and puts lights on the Possum Van?

Turns out that the lights are all 110V, and he doesn't have a long enough extension cord to make a response

[Vollie4life]

I use 10 Sealed 1200 amp 12v deep cycle batteries mounted in the trunk, wired in series with #0 welding cable to a Master switch located between the seats.
I parrallel wired my lights into 5 different zones each activated by its own switch.
Zone 1...Front facing strobes and LEDs
Zone 2...Rearward facing strobes and LEDs
Zone 3 ..Right side rotating lights and strobes
Zone 4...Left side rotating lights and strobes
Zone 5...Corner strobes and wigwags
Plus a cigar lighter adapter for my Dashmaster 4000 dash light in case one Zone fails during response.
I also dedicated one power feed to my Q2B mounted on the front fender controlled by a foot activated switch.
Electric siren and dual speakers are mounted behind the grill with the controls wired into fingertip controls on the steering wheel.
All of this on a 72 Pinto

[Derekz]

What brand is your bar?

[Farley]

Originally posted by Vollie4life
I use 10 Sealed 1200 amp 12v deep cycle batteries mounted in the trunk, wired in series with #0 welding cable to a Master switch located between the seats.
I parrallel wired my lights into 5 different zones each activated by its own switch.
Zone 1...Front facing strobes and LEDs
Zone 2...Rearward facing strobes and LEDs
Zone 3 ..Right side rotating lights and strobes
Zone 4...Left side rotating lights and strobes
Zone 5...Corner strobes and wigwags
Plus a cigar lighter adapter for my Dashmaster 4000 dash light in case one Zone fails during response.
I also dedicated one power feed to my Q2B mounted on the front fender controlled by a foot activated switch.
Electric siren and dual speakers are mounted behind the grill with the controls wired into fingertip controls on the steering wheel.
All of this on a 72 Pinto

when are you going to put some serious lights on the pinto? If you are driving one of those, you don't want to be rear ended!

[cellblock]

What brand is your bar?

Let's stay on topic here. This is how is your bar wired? If you want to discuss what brand of bar everyone has then we need a different thread for that.

[sfdlt5]

[FYRHWK1]

I wouldn't start taking power from the fuse panel, drawing from there is just going to overload that circuits draw and likely blow the fuse. If it's wired from the battery, it's fused withing 6" I hope? Last thing you need is to get a call and find it's your car they're coming to douse. No lights here for the record, don't need em, they don't do jack around here anyway. People barely pay attention to a Q on the rigs let alone a little blinking blue light.

[dmleblanc]

I use 10 Sealed 1200 amp 12v deep cycle batteries mounted in the trunk, wired in series with #0 welding cable to a Master switch located between the seats.

I use a similar setup, but mine is powered by a Ronco Mr. Fusion® thermonuclear reactor, wired through the flux capacitor, just like the DeLorean on "Back to the Future" Impressive enough at low speeds, but when it gets to 88 mph, watch out!

[WTFD10]

I power my bar with this:

[zweasel]

I have a 94’ F150 that has a topper on the bed and on top of the topper sits a solar panel that is held on with duck tape and charges 5 Optima 12v deep cycle batteries that charge during the day. The batteries are tied in to a 30amp fuse then into a fuse panel that from an 80’s Escort that is mounted in the bed of the truck (that’s right the whole escort is mounted in the bed) this all powers a code 3 dual rotor light bar, code 3 siren, 2-100watt speakers, wig wags in the head lights, a CB, and a scanner. There is no drag on the alternator or the truck and when not in use I can use the solar panel to charge the trucks battery also. Also as a back up, I have a 25-mile extension cord that is plugged in at the house and can run all my lights and siren. Minus the solar panel, extra batteries, and extension cord what I have on the truck is the 30-amp fuse coming from the battery in to a fuse panel from an escort going to individual switches to run everything. However, I’m looking into a solar panel for a charging unit for the truck. Now the bar in the garage is powered by a pony of Bud light kept cold in a old 60’s fridge with Tap on the door and a couple fine chose on the shelf such a vintage bottle of Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort, and everyone’s favorite Yagermeister. In addition, you can’t forget about the mixers to go with all the cocktails. You have to have ways to unwind and you also need something to help you come up with those crazy ways of installing those lights on the vehicles. Just like Red says “If the women don’t find you hansom at least they will find you handy.”

[NJFFSA16]

Originally posted by cellblock
Do you plug it directly into your cigarette lighter plug? Do you have it hooked into your fuse panel with a inline switch to turn it on and off? Is your bar light hooked to a multiswitch box to control it and other acessories? Is it hooked directly to the battery with a inline on/off switch?

You ....are only the third person to make my ignore list.

Congratulations.

[BD6413]

To answer the question I plug my light into the cigarette lighter - {When I use it which is rare}

Now why would one want so many lights on his/her vehicle - I don't see the point

[lutan1]

I use 10 Sealed 1200 amp 12v deep cycle batteries mounted in the trunk, wired in series with #0 welding cable to a Master switch located between the seats.
I parrallel wired my lights into 5 different zones each activated by its own switch.
Zone 1...Front facing strobes and LEDs
Zone 2...Rearward facing strobes and LEDs
Zone 3 ..Right side rotating lights and strobes
Zone 4...Left side rotating lights and strobes
Zone 5...Corner strobes and wigwags
Plus a cigar lighter adapter for my Dashmaster 4000 dash light in case one Zone fails during response.
I also dedicated one power feed to my Q2B mounted on the front fender controlled by a foot activated switch.

You're kidding me?

On a POV?

[FYRHWK1]

Originally posted by lutan1


You're kidding me?

On a POV?

I'm kinda thinkin he's screwin around. . . a joke, y'know.

[firenresq77]

Ditto on the joke...........

[Weruj1]

thats a schnookerin for lutan !

[NavyFiveO]

I spend enough time wiring lightbars on Police cars.

In my POV, I only use my lights when I am on a busy road (I live in the woods) or when I have to actually stop my vehicle on the road to keep me from getting hit while patching up an accident victim. I have dark tinted windows with a small strobe in the back window that no one can see unless it is turned on. I also have a rotating dashlaser that stays in the floorboard of my truck unless I need to use it. No lightbars on my POV. Save those for the big trucks.

[firemedic8107]

To answer the question first asked:

It depends on what type of bar you are running and how many amps it pulls.

Never, Never use the fuse box for a power source.

If you want something to be switched on and off with the ignition, use a relay and then you can tap off the fuse block, but there are certain ways to do it, not just stick a wire in there and push it in with the fuse.

A mini-bar may pull a small enough load to use the cigarette lighter but, I would suggest wiring in another lighter plug. The factory plug only uses 18ga wire on most vehicles which is not heavy enough to carry what you want. Yes, it may have a 15amp fuse on it, but the load is larger. There are alot of mathmatical formulas, but in layman's terms, it's not safe.

It you are talking about a full size lightbar, then that is a whole different story. You need to run the primary wires to the battery, fused or a circuit breaker, within 6" of the battery.

Then you need to run your turn-ons to a switch or switches.

If you are not very familiar with vehicle wiring, I would suggest hiring someone to do it. Not only will everything come out neater, it will perform alot better and there will be no chance of damage to your vehicle.