No wiring diagram

[DDlighttruck]

(10-18-2019 )Waterloo Wrote:  Have you replaced the relay? They do fail... The lights on my old trucks were direct wire, no relays, just fuses. Only issues I ever had was from the salt on the roads corroding connections and wires.

With no skirt light fuse in-

Pulling the skirt light relay didn’t affect the lights turning on and off.

Still with no skirt light fuse in-

Putting a new skirt light relay in didn’t change anything

I can feel it with my hands, I can hear it with my ears, the only relay that clicks in time to match the marker lights turning on and off is the skirt light relay, with no fuse installed

Changing the relay for the marker light circuit did not help.

What I’m thinking is to try to go back to factory wiring....but I think the skirt light circuit is getting power from the marker light circuit some how

That’s why I’m asking if I have power with the skirt light fuse in, and pull the fuse to kill the circuit, if I’ve traced the circuit correctly.

[Waterloo]

If the fuse is pulled, and the relay is still working, I would think you are pulling the wrong fuse or the relay is getting power from more than one source, which could also be an issue. If I read you correctly, this was a hack wiring job bypassing the factory wiring. I would return the wiring back to factory, even if you have to run new wire using the schematics. God only knows who did what, I have always found it easier to remove the hack wiring and replace, as you will go crazy trying to figure out what the last guy did.

[DDlighttruck]

(10-18-2019 )Waterloo Wrote:  If the fuse is pulled, and the relay is still working, I would think you are pulling the wrong fuse or the relay is getting power from more than one source, which could also be an issue. If I read you correctly, this was a hack wiring job bypassing the factory wiring. I would return the wiring back to factory, even if you have to run new wire using the schematics. God only knows who did what, I have always found it easier to remove the hack wiring and replace, as you will go crazy trying to figure out what the last guy did.

Agreed.

If I had to hazard a guess at this point, the marker lights and skirt lights are connected in the junction box to the same hot post. Then, also guessing, there’s a short to ground in the skirt light circuit. Thus causing the skirt light relay to turn on/off in tune to how fast the lights turn on/off, even with no skirt light fuse installed

When I was at my shop last, I pulled it outside and it started acting up. The fuse for the tractor marker lights blew. I unplugged the skirt lights, reset the circuit breaker and carried on into town

[DDlighttruck]

On the LH side of the frame rail at the rear is a junction box for all the light wiring.

Would I be smart to install a similar one on the RH frame rail just for chicken lights? It would cut down on clutter in the main junction box.

Then the other thing I was wondering is if I should make more runs with insulated two tire, so I could split up each side of the truck. Still pulling power from the same circuit, but that way I could isolate problems faster. The way it is now the chicken lights are one big circle circuit, with weatherpack connectors at each junction. So it’s nice to be able to unplug a section and work your way down the line to diagnose.

I guess you could run a jumper inside the junction box, so have power coming in, jumper over to one terminal for RH of the truck and jumper to a terminal for LH side of the truck....?

The skirt light circuit has a 20 amp breaker in it, you’d think that would be lots for 100-150 LED lights?

[Waterloo]

I have added two separate circuit panels/boxes in my truck. I would do it as it really cuts down on the wiring mess, and you will not have to worry about running out of room or getting creative and causing even more issues. Each panel in my truck is running direct from the battery, each have their own grounds. No issues to date, and they filled up quickly. So, if you think you will need 5 circuits, I would get a box that can handle at least 12.

[Rawze]

(10-18-2019 )DDlighttruck Wrote:  If I had to hazard a guess at this point, the marker lights and skirt lights are connected in the junction box to the same hot post. Then, also guessing, there’s a short to ground in the skirt light circuit. Thus causing the skirt light relay to turn on/off in tune to how fast the lights turn on/off, even with no skirt light fuse installed

When I was at my shop last, I pulled it outside and it started acting up. The fuse for the tractor marker lights blew. I unplugged the skirt lights, reset the circuit breaker and carried on into town

I've seen a bad bulb do that in the past too. Could be a bulb itself overloading the circuit, or internal filament shorts out when it is wiggled or heats up just right. on and off the whole circuit goes when they do this.

Just a thought, could be as simple as that, may not be your problem. Maybe look at any that are significantly brighter or dimmer than the rest?, or perhaps banging on each one while lit to see if there are any weak filaments?

[DDlighttruck]

(10-25-2019 )Rawze Wrote:  

(10-18-2019 )DDlighttruck Wrote:  If I had to hazard a guess at this point, the marker lights and skirt lights are connected in the junction box to the same hot post. Then, also guessing, there’s a short to ground in the skirt light circuit. Thus causing the skirt light relay to turn on/off in tune to how fast the lights turn on/off, even with no skirt light fuse installed

When I was at my shop last, I pulled it outside and it started acting up. The fuse for the tractor marker lights blew. I unplugged the skirt lights, reset the circuit breaker and carried on into town

I've seen a bad bulb do that in the past too. Could be a bulb itself overloading the circuit, or internal filament shorts out when it is wiggled or heats up just right. on and off the whole circuit goes when they do this.

Just a thought, could be as simple as that, may not be your problem. Maybe look at any that are significantly brighter or dimmer than the rest?, or perhaps banging on each one while lit to see if there are any weak filaments?

I have one skirt light that is at the “start” of my skirt light circuit. After that I can unplug the rest of that circuit.

That one single light does get dimmer when you add in the rest of the lights, and get brighter when you unplug the rest of them

I dropped off a spare light panel at a shop yesterday, I think it’s well overdue I go through the lights and make them all LED plus redo the wiring while I’m there

[DDlighttruck]

(10-24-2019 )Waterloo Wrote:  I have added two separate circuit panels/boxes in my truck. I would do it as it really cuts down on the wiring mess, and you will not have to worry about running out of room or getting creative and causing even more issues. Each panel in my truck is running direct from the battery, each have their own grounds. No issues to date, and they filled up quickly. So, if you think you will need 5 circuits, I would get a box that can handle at least 12.

How are these set up? Are they switchable? I’d like to be able to use the factory fuse/relay/switch to control the skirt lights if possible

[Waterloo]

I used these Blue Sea units, https://amzn.to/32KXK4S
My front panel is open, kind of, I hooked it into the battery saver that came with the truck. That unit that shuts down the electric in the truck when the batteries reach a certain low voltage. It has a line that feeds direct to the battery, I tapped into that. If I forget to turn something off, it works, and shuts everything down.

The rear panel is switched, I run the power through this relay, which also feeds the amplifiers, power comes direct from the battery box. https://amzn.to/2WlviEj

I was having issues with the old stereo system, wasn't the ground, messed with that multiple times, something was coming through the fuse panel, this solved my listening issues. Now the stereo is dead silent, no more hiss or hum, that feedback from the motor is gone.

Stereo or not, I would still install at least one of these panels somewhere in the truck, to much electronic crap out here anymore, and these trucks can be a nightmare to wire up something quickly. One of these panels, once installed, makes adding stuff easy and fast.