Lights on B7610 ROPS

[traildust]

I hope this is going in the correct forum. If not I'm sorry Mr.K

When I purchased my tractor (B7610) five years ago I wanted to add extra lights. So I did, on the ROPS like most everybody else.

I drew up a wire diagram and tapped power off of the stock work light fuse. It's located under the left removable engine cover towards the back and is stock OEM at 20 amps.

I decided to place all of the main circuitry in the useless tool box that is located under the drivers seat.

The lights are attached to metal bars that are fastened to the ROPS with squared U-bolts. The U-bolts are covered in heat shrink to keep from causing metal to metal problems.

I drew the diagram for my tractor but obviously it will work for just about anything that generates power. Just tweek the amperage as needed, up or down.

Just rember Ohm's Law:

If you know any of the two you can calculate the third.
For instance: 1 Lamp is 55 watts and 12V DC. 55 devided by 12 = 4.58. Round up to 4.6 amps. Easy!

I hope this information will be of use for people looking for lighting options and posabilities.

The pictures are self explanatory but if there are any questions please ask.
Any criticism is also welcome

Scott

 

[traildust]

Traildust, you must know Wildfire! Nice electrical work!! I wish the kid that put the remote starter in my pickup had an idea of what clean electrical work looks like!!

Hey Thanks Vic, a comment like that from you is HUGE!


Scott

 

[shine]

I went with two 35w-HIDs one on the ROPS mounted with a stainless steel pipe clamp and one on the standard rear work light location. Taped power off the battery, used a inline 20A fuse, plastic split loom to the switchs. Used a water resistant electric box for the switches The HIDs are kind of spendey but they realy light things up and are easy on my charging system. At the risk oh sounding stuiped what are relays?

 

[traildust]

I went with two 35w-HIDs one on the ROPS mounted with a stainless steel pipe clamp and one on the standard rear work light location. Taped power off the battery, used a inline 20A fuse, plastic split loom to the switchs. Used a water resistant electric box for the switches The HIDs are kind of spendey but they realy light things up and are easy on my charging system. At the risk oh sounding stuiped what are relays?

Hi there Shine,
Those HID's are pretty sweet but were out of my price range. The lights I have are the ones always labeled as "tractor lights" at the Auto Zone. While they do pretty good they will not be as good as your HID's.

The relays in an electrical circuit will handle all of the load for the device. The switch will handle none of it.
Most electrical switches are not designed to "pass on" hardly any power. If I wired the lights straight to my switches then the power hungry lights pulling the 9.2 amps through the switch would melt the switch.

The solution is with the relay. Relays are the device to handle all of the working loads. Now the switch is really just a "trigger" for the relay. Flip the switch and it sends low current 12v to the relay. A coil inside the relay now pulls heavy duty contacts closed passing on the heavy current loads.

There is a phrase for some of the stuff I work on. DC controls and AC performs. Activate a switch and the low power DC passes through the switch to the relay. The relays coil pulls the contacts closed allowing high current AC power to perform.

Another example is to activate a 3 phase 115v motor you would need a relay. The relay can handle all three phases when it's told to by the little DC switch (trigger).

In my picture of the open tool box the little black squares to the left are the relays. I flip the red and green switch's and the 12v trigger activates the coils in those relays closing there contacts and sending a combined 18.4 amps to the the lights.

All this happening right under my A$$ Lord I hope nothing goes wrong !

Did any of this help or did I just make it worse? I tend to do that.

Scott

 

[shine]

AW LAWDY
Thanks for the explenation Scott. One more question how much amperage will a stanard toggle switch handel before a relay is needed? Do I need relays on my 35W lights? I should have said two questions.
Steve

 

[traildust]

AW LAWDY
Thanks for the explenation Scott. One more question how much amperage will a stanard toggle switch handel before a relay is needed? Do I need relays on my 35W lights? I should have said two questions.
Steve

Hi there Steve,
From your picture you are running two circuits, one switch is the ROPS and the other is in the work light position.

From your set up one switch is running it's own light.

Ok, if each light is 35w divide by 12 and get 2.9amps, round up to 3. Each of your switches is passing a load of 3 amps.

You may be just fine but you really should look into the limits of the switch. For instance, I just grabbed two random switches from my stash, one is rated only up to 2 amps and the other, being more robust goes up to 20 amps.

One thing to consider with a 20 amp switch that in theory could work with a 240 watt lamp. Would you really want that much current passing through the switch you are holding your finger on?
This is another way to look at a relay, it improves safety by leaps and bounds by removing the electric loads from the operator (us).

Make sure to check the limits of your switch and I believe at a low 3 amp rating you will be fine without a relay (If your switch is rated for it).

If you began adding more lights and increasing the load than you will have a relay in your circuit.

Hope this helped,
Scott

 

[stuart]

Fantastic job with the wiring. Electrician or engineer?

"All this happening right under my A$$ Lord I hope nothing goes wrong !"

Consider it a seat warmer.....

 

[traildust]

Fantastic job with the wiring. Electrician or engineer?

"All this happening right under my A$$ Lord I hope nothing goes wrong !"

Consider it a seat warmer.....

Stuart,
Thank you very much for your generous compliment. You have me blushing

Wiring skills I have picked up on the job as an aircraft mechanic. Lots of avionics troubleshooting and wire repair.

Consider it a seat warmer.....

When I chose the location I kept thinking about the old VW bugs with the battery under the back seat. A slacking seat quickly turned into a toaster oven

Thanks again,
Scott

 

[Wildfire]

Scott, Scott, Scott. How in the heck did I miss this post? Obviously I'm not paying enough attention here.

Wow, Wow and double Wow! That is some very fine work my friend. It's so good in fact that I would not have a problem letting you do an electrical work for me.
That installation is one of the top five favorites I've seen on the net and that's in a category of hundreds that I've seen. Next time someone tells me I'm too fussy I'm showing them this thread

You sir just got a pat on the back from me for this one

 

[traildust]

Scott, Scott, Scott. How in the heck did I miss this post? Obviously I'm not paying enough attention here.

Wow, Wow and double Wow! That is some very fine work my friend. It's so good in fact that I would not have a problem letting you do an electrical work for me.
That installation is one of the top five favorites I've seen on the net and that's in a category of hundreds that I've seen. Next time someone tells me I'm too fussy I'm showing them this thread

You sir just got a pat on the back from me for this one

Paul,
I am extremely flattered by your kind and generous compliment. Me, being a pretty humble person, finds it difficult on how to respond.
From what I have seen of your work throughout all aspects of the web you are an amazing renaissance man capable of turning any kind of junk into a work of art. What you don't have you are able to fabricate from nothing and the end result is mind blowing.
So for me to receive a compliment of any kind from you is truly an honor and I thank you.

On a lighter side, if this gig I'm working now ever ends I'll be making a trip to the great white north for an entrepreneurship!

Thank you,
Scott

 

[stevefox]

Thanks, Traildust
I understand everything in your diagram, but still have one dumb question - what is the right way to tap power off the 20a work light fuse? I found the white fuse box, I see a red wire going into the bottom under the 20 Amp fuse. Is that the wire I connect to? (where does it go, anyway?).

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[meanjean]

I as well missed this post.
I as well am impressed with your work.

Can you post pics of the hardware you used to mount your lights?
Great spot for the toggles.
Great spot for the tool box you added behind the seat. Something I've been meaning to do.

A1 work all around.

 

[craig wheatley]

I know this is an old post but it was very helpful. I had a less complicated install. 2006 B7610. The 20amp work light circut actually had an available wire already run to the rear of the tractor (white/blue), that was activated by the ignition switch.

 

[Bearcatrp]

I got one of these to attach to my ROPS. The magnet is very strong. Just plugs into the cigarette lighter.

https://www.amazon.com/LEMIL-Magnetic-Cigarette-Lighter-Spotlight/dp/B09L17HFVM?th=1