What started as a simple bulb change led to replacing the broken on/off toggle & moving it up to where I can reach it. I checked all the connections & cleaned battery terminals. Well the auto parts did not have the 55 watt h3 bulb I needed but said the 100 watt would work fine & be that much brighter, (so I bought 2). When I turned them on it was instant billowing smoke & fried wires. IDK if the relay was touching the battery, or the wires were too small a gauge to handle the increase in wattage. I'm thinking of simply direct wiring (with a larger gauge wire) with fuseable links before & after the battery without a relay. What does the relay do & is it needed? Getting older & night vision worse, so I kinda need them. Any help appreciated, thanks in advance.
Hey nacho, where have you been? Always looked forward to your responses especially concerning firearms.
Noticed your post this am, but don't have an answer for you based on experience. A relay allows low amperage circuits to switch, on or off, higher amperage circuits. If you wire your headlights directly to the factory switch, it will most likely overload the circuit and melt the wires and fry the switch, just as you experienced with the larger fog lamps. Direct wiring with proper size wire, through a heavy enough switch (amp rated) through a proper fuse should take care of the issue of the higher wattage bulb you mentioned.
Maybe a real automotive mechanic will step up and give a more accurate explanation.
Treefarmer
