work light wiring catastrophe. Help needed!

[texaschad25]

I got a notion to install some new work lights on my D4D. Bought some JW Speaker LED work lights, ran power to a 5 switch panel box which I mounted under the roof to the ROPS canopy. I ran the power and ground wire to the left side battery. All went well UNTIL I turned on the battery switch under the seat and smoke started boiling out of my new switch box. Like a dummy, I failed to install a fuse into the power line. It got so hot, so fast, that it burned the wire off of the negative side of the battery. What in the heck did I do wrong???? Do I have my wires installed wrong on the battery? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Chad

 

[lantraxco]

I'm guessing you hooked your ground wire to the middle of a 24 volt system probably, so when you kicked the master switch on you got a direct feed from the other battery, 12 volts to your "ground" wire and direct to a metal ground somewhere. Bad idea running 12 volt lights off one battery, after a while you'll cook one battery and the other will never get to full charge. If it IS a 24V system see if your lights are capable of handling it, if not it would be best to look for some. The master switch is probably (but check it) between the first battery and ground, the battery side post of the master switch is a great place to hook up a ground wire and that way everything turns off when you turn off the master.

 

[texaschad25]

Ok, I went out and looked this thing over to see exactly how this thing was wired. I made a diagram to show you what I have. Hopefully the pic will post. I had both the power and ground wires hooked to the LEFT battery.

 

[AllDodge]

View attachment 130165Ok, I went out and looked this thing over to see exactly how this thing was wired. I made a diagram to show you what I have. Hopefully the pic will post. I had both the power and ground wires hooked to the LEFT battery.

lantraxco had it right, you hooked it to the wrong battery. Your battery key makes the connection to ground. To wire up a 12V light it should come off the right battery, this way one side goes to ground and the other is 12V.

 

[texaschad25]

OK, thank you. I went out and made an assessment of the catastrophic failure. The switch box will have to be replaced, as well as some of the wiring. Now if I was to put a 12 volt trickle charger on this thing, would that be possible? Would it be possible to charge both batteries at the same time? If so, how would I do it?

 

[AllDodge]

Pickup a 24V battery tender (trickle charger) and go from the left battery + to the right battery -. They make a lot of these for the boating world for under $30.
http://www.batterystore.com/schauer-cm1a-charge-master-battery-charger-12-volt-1-amp/?gclid=Cj0KEQiA0aemBRC8p87zv_mc5qYBEiQAiEEMQQZNTJgL_z0i9MLi5jYDpsifnydkwnaA2wUtlITxYyYaAsnD8P8HAQ

They make all kinds

 

[Multiracer]

Go with 24 volt lights. The voltage jump is an amazing difference in the light output. Almost all LED's are capable of going 10-30volts.
You won't need to worry about all the stuff you are worrying about now or in the future either.

 

[texaschad25]

Thanks guys!! I really appreciate the comments. Hopefully I'll get it fixed this weekend, weather permitting.

 

[old-iron-habit]

If you do run any 12 volt accessories on a 24 volt system always install a 24 to 12 volt transformer. If current is pulled off one battery only, the batteries will never charge even, and you will get poor life and performance from them. In cold climates one will usually freeze and break. You can guess how I have first hand knowledge of this.