I just purchased some bulbs from ebay for my fogs, and when I got them they are 100w. Will these fry my wires?? Should I count them as a loss

 

idk but i think 100 watt bulbs are for off road use only.

 

i could care less if they are for off road use only. There are enough ricers around here with Hids in there lows, brights and fogs. I would just like to know if there is a safe way of hooking these bulbs up. Like maybe making a harness with an inline fuse in it really close to the bulbs

 

You could use the existing fog lamp circuit to power a relay and power the 100w bulbs through that. Just hook it to the battery, and don't forget a fuse as close to the positive terminal as possible.

100w / 14 volts = 7.14 Amps

I would use a 15 amp fuse because right when you turn a filament on, there is what is called "in rush" current because the resistance of the filament is initially relatively low, then increases as it warms. This happen in the blink of an eye, but still I think a 10 amp fuse is cutting is close.

 

I've been running 100W H3s for probably a few years now, no problems.

 

how much brighter are they than the stock wattage? would you say its worth it?

and to answer your question, the wires will probably be fine. its harnesses you have to worry about when you switch to higher wattage, and h3's dont really have much of a harness, other than the rubber plug which should withstand heat pretty well.

 

pmohr youve had no problems..did you do anything to your circuit.

 

so your saying, use current wiring, add an inline fuse and run a wire from the factory wiring for more power. I no understand. could you make an ms paint pic please

 

No, he's saying to use the stock system to trigger a relay, which takes B+ straight from the battery to power the fogs.

Nope.

They're decently bright. I just happened to pick them up because they had no 55w bulbs there. I had to modify the mounting base of the bulbs IIRC, they're designed to not go into a 55w housing.

 

ill get my buddy to figure it out for me, at the shop. Thanks for the pmohr

 

That's correct. Also I'd like to point out a mistake I made. The current draw would double because you have two fog lamps, obviously.

Pmohr, so you did not increase the size of your fog lamp fuse? Because, as I said above, two lamps would be 14 amps (approximately - there's a decent amount of uncertanty). That's very close to the 15 amp fuse that protects it. Personally, I might run another power lead from the battery to power the lights independently with a relay.

 

Nope, never bothered to. I've never had a problem with them, so never really thought about it.

One of them did blow relatively recently and it's a PITA to find 100w H3s around here, so I'll probably just throw some regular 55w bulbs back in there.

 

I am not following along here or maybe you are just glossing over the obvious. The fogs already operate via a 30 amp or so relay and pmohr said he didn't modify his stock wiring. If the relay is, in fact, rated for thirty amps then perhaps the entire circuit is designed to handle that much (the wire gauge should provide the answer). At most the fuse might have to be increased in size but perhaps a slow-blo version would be sufficient. If I remember correctly, specs on fuses include a timing chart which will indicate how long they can hold for currents over their rating but it may be that a "standard" fuse will be able to absorb the inrush current you speak of, it sounds like that was pmohrs experience.

 

I do agree that if you have no problem then everything should be fine. Experience is the best test. It's just damn close.

jdooley, I'm not talking about the relay, I'm talking about the fuse. And its dangerous to make the assumption that the entire circuit is rated for 30 amps just because the relay is. Assumptions with electricity start fires. As long as the wire gauge is around 16, there should be no problem with a constant draw of 14 amps. 18 gauge would be pushing it though.

I'm just looking at the numbers from an engineering standpoint, and though this setup may work, its close to a lot of tolerances. You typically want to give yourself a little more headroom. This is one of those situations that works in application, but on paper looks not so good.

 

what did you have to do to modify the base? did you have to cut/grind the shape of it?

 

tiger shark, i just realized who you are, im spaceman on myspace

 

hey, whats up

 

Some side cutters, just snipped away two tabs, IIRC.

 

I've been running 100W H3's in my factory fogs no problems. Now i've switched to my PIAA 959's running 100W bulbs. No problem either.

 

I'm running 110watt H4 bulbs in my truck.

The key here is that if your gonna do it, do a relay harness that uses a 14 gauge wire, has sturdier light plug harness, and draws power from the battery. (that being for Main headlight bulbs)

as far as H3 bulbs goes, the uppage in wattage is not enough amperage draw to make a difference in heat really.

 

Danggg, 100 watts. and DrunkieTheBear 110 watts? Whoa. I bet that $hit Blinds people haha.

 

Here you go:

H3 100w:


H3 55w:


As you can see, the only difference is in the tab on the left side above, presumably so one doesn't use 100w bulbs in housings designed for a lower wattage bulb. All you need to do is snip it off or bend it back, whatever, then the bulb fits in just like factory.

I've seen some 100w bulbs that don't have that tab, so it may be a hit-or-miss type thing. I just found some 100w bulbs at Autozone a few hours ago, they've got the tab (and the previous ones I picked up from AA did as well).

 

When I ran 100w h3's my OEM foglight's reflector peeled off. I wouldnt run them ever again.