Grandby running lights - current draw?

[Jon R]

I’m getting my truck wiring set up for a 2021 Grandby to be delivered next month. I need to size the wire and fuse for the running/clearance lights. Does anybody know how much current they draw? I assume they are LED. Thanks.

 

[ri-f]

I’m getting my truck wiring set up for a 2021 Grandby to be delivered next month. I need to size the wire and fuse for the running/clearance lights. Does anybody know how much current they draw? I assume they are LED. Thanks.

FWC runs 10 AWG from under the hood to the fuse box in the camper, and it's already fused. Are you planning to wire it differently?

 

[PaulT]

Your truck supplies the fused power for the running/clearance lights. The installer taps into the truck’s circuit near a rear taillight. Should be a simple connection. The load is about 20 small LEDs. May be less than a couple of amps.

On my Hawk on Tundra, the installer used those blue plier installed squeeze connectors on wires near the trailer light socket.

Paul

 

[ri-f]

Your truck supplies the fused power for the running/clearance lights. The installer taps into the truck’s circuit near a rear taillight. Should be a simple connection. The load is about 20 small LEDs. May be less than a couple of amps.
On my Hawk on Tundra, the installer used those blue plier installed squeeze connectors on wires near the trailer light socket.

Paul

LED exterior light package: 5 amp fuse

 

[ramblinChet]

I have a 7-pin trailer connection in my bed and I am planning to pull the power for the running lights from there. For the battery I will be running another +/- connection with heavier wire since I plan on installing dual batteries.

 

[PaulT]

LED exterior light package: 5 amp fuse

These are the LED corner down lights & the LED side lights not the clearance/marker lights. To test, disconnect the camper battery power lead and turn on your truck headlights. You should see the marker lights illuminate. Otherwise, the truck marker light signal would be energizing a relay in the camper to illuminate the marker lights.

Even if you don’t buy the exterior light option, the marker/clearance lights have to work.

Paul

 

[ri-f]

These are the LED corner down lights & the LED side lights not the clearance/marker lights. To test, disconnect the camper battery power lead and turn on your truck headlights. You should see the marker lights illuminate. Otherwise, the truck marker light signal would be energizing a relay in the camper to illuminate the marker lights.

Even if you don’t buy the exterior light option, the marker/clearance lights have to work.

Paul

Paul, I'm just talking about the exterior LED lights at the top of the camper - 2 on each side at top (forward/aft) which I think of as upper side markers, and 3 at the top front and top rear ( 2 at the front corners and 1 long LED in the front and rear middle), which I think of as clearance LEDs. Are you referring to something different? Not sure I understood correctly what you were saying. Maybe my terminology was wrong when I said exterior LED package.

I have all those camper exterior LED lights, which are standard on a Hawk shell. They are powered from near the rear lights on my flatbed. in addition to the upper LEDs I have lower side and rear LEDs built into my CM flatbed, which are a seperate thing altogether. And they all work together (upper and lower LEDs) when I have the headlights turned on. And I look like a miniature tricked out semi. Not very stealthy, but lots of visibility.

Rich

 

[PaulT]

You and I are talking about the same lights for clearance/markers. These don’t need to be fused by the owner for camper installation as they were already fused by the truck mfg. The marker lights work even if you don’t buy the camper battery option.

The same circuit in the truck also goes to the towing harness for trailer lights.

Paul

 

[ri-f]

You and I are talking about the same lights for clearance/markers. These don’t need to be fused by the owner for camper installation as they were already fused by the truck mfg.

Paul

So what is the 5 amp fuse on the shell's fuse panel (left side, bottom fuse on the 6 fuse panel)? In their manual it claims to be a 5 amp fuse for exterior LEDs?!

 

[rando]

That is for the exterior LED area lights - these are an option listed as 'Exterior LED Package' and are different from the running/clearance running lights. The clearance/running lights are only on the campers wider than 80" (Hawk, Granby) as it is a DOT requirement for vehicle 80" or wider. They are not powered by the camper, but by the truck.

 

[ri-f]

That is for the exterior LED area lights - these are an option listed as 'Exterior LED Package' and are different from the running/clearance running lights. The clearance/running lights are only on the campers wider than 80" (Hawk, Granby) as it is a DOT requirement for vehicle 80" or wider. They are not powered by the camper, but by the truck.

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Jon R]

OP here. My question was regarding the clearance/marker lamp total current. Those lights are powered from the truck via the “third wire” of the camper connection to the truck. (The other two being the connection to the truck battery for charging.) Normally the installer would connect the third wire to the tail light circuit for the trailer, usually at or near the trailer connector.

My new truck has a trailer security feature that, if you lock the truck with a trailer hooked up, checks the trailer light circuit for the present of lights every 30 seconds or so. If the trailer is no longer connected, it sets off the truck alarm. This checking of the light circuit causes the lights to flash.every 30 seconds. I don’t want my marker lights doing that, so I’m running the camper marker light supply wire to the truck fuse box to hopefully connect it to the truck clearance light circuit. I could power it from the camper but i don’t want to have to remember to turn it on and off.

I needed to size the wire. I figured 20 amps would be more than enough for a dozen small LED lights. I was already running 6 awg wire from the bed to the engine compartment so I added a 16 awg wire in the run.

 

[ri-f]

I needed to size the wire. I figured 20 amps would be more than enough for a dozen small LED lights. I was already running 6 awg wire from the bed to the engine compartment so I added a 16 awg wire in the run.

Jon, I can't imagine a dozen LED marker lights adding up to more than 1 amp. I haven't measured the draw but for what it's worth, if you were to buy LED markers that had 2-3 LEDs per lamp the typical draw is about 0.05A per lamp.

 

[Jon R]

Thanks for that confirmation. I looked at LED trailer lights at West Marine and came to a similar conclusion that it couldn’t possibly be more than 2 or 3 amps.

Now I just need to figure out where to tie in to the truck marker light circuit without doing any damage to the wiring of my new truck. I’m going to try one of the front fender marker light connectors, which are easily accessible under the hood.

 

[ri-f]

Thanks for that confirmation. I looked at LED trailer lights at West Marine and came to a similar conclusion that it couldn’t possibly be more than 2 or 3 amps.

Now I just need to figure out where to tie in to the truck marker light circuit without doing any damage to the wiring of my new truck. I’m going to try one of the front fender marker light connectors, which are easily accessible under the hood.

Jon, you had me too curious, I isolated the LEDs and took the reading :my meter read 0.5A total. So, there you go. Rich

 

[Jon R]

Thanks Rich. That tells me I can tie into the truck at a fender marker light connector even though those wires are quite small, which is helpful.