one more stupid question about headlight wiring ... Options

[SirAndy]

so, i got my new H4 headlights with the 55/100 bulbs. i also got 4 good relays to make sure the headlights get all the juice they need.

here's my question:

- shouldn't i be able to just run 1 (one) heavy gauge wire to each side?

i might be thinking this through too much, but i never use the low beams and high beams at the same time, so why not share the 12V feed for both (per side) ???
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

does that make sense at all?
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) Andy

[TonyAKAVW]

Oh, and remember--most electrical things take more current to start going than their steady-state draw.

Thats a good point for something like a set of HID headlights where there is a large differential between steady state and startup condition, but for an incandescent headlamp the difference isn't much and the startup condition is much shorter.

If an incandescent bulb reaches steady state in a millisecond or 10, the wire isn't going to measurably heat up. For an HID light it takes up to several seconds.

One wire sounds good Andy, but be careful about stranding multiple smaller wires. Bundled wires don't add perfectly. For instance 10 wires capable of handling 1 amp each, bundled together cannot handle 10 amps total.

-Tony