Installed Hella 500's Fuse keeps blowing???

[LK1]

Hooked up a pair of Hella 500's with the included kit and the fuse coming off the battery keeps blowing. I triple checked all the connections, am using the included relay (tried a different one) and even upped the gauge of the wire coming off the battery going to the relay, upped the gauge going from the relay to the lights and the fuse blows immediately when I turn on the switch.

The only thing I haven't confirmed is the ground at the switch but the green LED glows when I power up the circuit.

I am baffled. The only thing I can think of is that I have 3 power taps connected directly to the + terminal of the battery but none of the other accessories is blowing their fuse.

I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[Brindleboxer]

LK,

(Assuming you are hooking up per the driving light diagram, fog are different per Hella directions)
It sounds as though you tapped the headlight ground wire and not the power. Try troubleshooting at the connection first.

If this does not prove to be the problem, hook two wires to a sealed beam headlight, connect 1 wire to the fused wire. Try your circuit again, if light comes on you have a short in the system. If it is from a frayed or grounding wire you can wiggle the wires to try and locate it. If the light goes out while doing this you have found your short.

If this still does not work I would suggest pulling all the wiring and laying your circuit out on the driveway or garage floor and doing a mock up. This way you can verify all your connections and ensure you have continuity.

Another place to look is ensure your relay is wired correctly, #85 should be switched power; #86 ground; #30 power; #87 output power (in this case your lights).

Also, in the future if you believe your relay is bad you can do the following: jump #30 to #87, if your accesory works then your relay is bad.

Let us know if any of these help.

Glen

 

[LK1]

Glen,

Thanks for your help. It ended up being the lights themselves! Hella's diagram said to hook the black wire (relay 87) to the lights and ground the blue. Even though the lights aren't supposed to come wired, they were, and they were wired incorrectly. A call to Hella confirmed it, swap the wires and presto...........some bright ass lights.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Brindleboxer]

LK,

No problem, I was pretty sure it was a grounding/shorting issue. Good to know that you got help from the company.

 

[LC80Ducati996]

Had the same issue with my 700FF hellas...

I just disconnected the lights out at the ARB and put a test light across it. Light! So I found that it was the lights too.. F-ers. Great product marginal instructions. Should have just left wires inside lights discconnected and put instructions to wire them in the manual. Not wired see lamp replacement for instructions... ETC

 

[Lka1988]

...some bright ass lights.

If ya want brighter lights, swap the meager 55W H3 bulbs out for 100W H3's. Now THAT is some bright ass light. I got flashed from a mile away once....

 

[LC80Ducati996]

Or the 130W h3's Just remember.

260 = 12 * Amps

Amps = 260/12

Amps = 21.666

So use wiring, relays and fuses capable of 22amps.

Also switched power is'nt going to happen with the lights. I wired terminal 85 to the dash switch and high beam + to the other leg of the dash switch and wired terminal 86 to the high beam ground. Wiring term 86 to chassis ground resulted in the hellas working on both high and low beam. On hilly and curvy rural roads I like being able to dim the lights fast and kick back up fast. Also comes in handy when a tailgater goes around or a oncomming car forgets to dim.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

Glen,

Thanks for your help. It ended up being the lights themselves! Hella's diagram said to hook the black wire (relay 87) to the lights and ground the blue. Even though the lights aren't supposed to come wired, they were, and they were wired incorrectly. A call to Hella confirmed it, swap the wires and presto...........some bright ass lights.

Thanks for your help.

I just happened on this thread trying to find an answer to a question about fuse size but this guy just raised another for me. I'm just bumping this to get an answer from whomever as I'm well aware this thread is almost 7 years old.

Can someone confirm the ground wire color coming off the lights (blue or black)? The Hella instructions don't specify. The relay wiring uses a black wire to connect to the lights. One would think Hella is insinuating the black wire on the lights are positive and the blue wire is negative.

Edit ****

As luck would have it, as soon as I posted this question I found the answer. http://backcountryjournal.blogspot.com/2011/01/hella-500-ff-driving-light-installation.html