Question About Installing LED Lights Using Navigation Light Switch

[MrLeadfoot]

I am installing LED bar lights and made a mount for them that allows me to quickly put them up when I fish at night, and then disconnect them and put them away when I don't need them.

In the up position, my 3-way navigation light rocker switch turns on both, the front red/green nav light and the rear white anchor(?) light. Middle is off, and the bottom position only powers anchor light (makes sense).

I don't have any more spots for additional switches on the console of my Viper Coral, and am considering connecting the LED bar lights to the bottom position of the nav light rocker switch (somehow). This way, I can have them on when "parked" and fishing at night. Of course, I'd disconnect them with the quick-disconnect harness I'm using, or install an inline switch to the lights, so I don't blind anyone when under way.

I've tested the draw on the lights, and all told they only draw 3.06 amps. Does anyone know how the navigation light circuit is protected? For example, is there a fuse for that circuit that I should check to see if the 3.06 amps will exceed its capacity, or perhaps there's curcuit breaker? If so, where would that breaker be, and how can I determine if it's OK to just splice right into the wires going to the bottom position of the switch?

Of course, other comments, opinions and suggestions would be most welcome.

[Stropp]

Run a relay off that circuit and power directly from the battery. 3.06 amps isn’t all that much but I would not risk adding. My cobra has a circuit breaker system under the drivers console.

[MrLeadfoot]

Thanks for the reply.

Turns out that I have a rocker switch in the console that's not being used. It says "live well lights", but I have no live well lights. The top spade on the switch looks to be a ground on a black wire, daisy-chained to the top spade on other switches, and to some gauges.

The middle spade is connected to an orange wire, daisy-chained to other switches. Since the rocker lights up in the On position, I assume that the orange wire is power to the switch, as well as powers the light in the switch.

The bottom spade is not connected to anything. Am I correct in assuming that this spade becomes powered when the switch is on? If so, would I simply connect the positive wire on my lights to this spade, with an inline fuse of course, and then splice into the daisy-chained ground with the negative wire of my light?

[Stropp]

It should work that way. Get a volt meter and test but I bet they just wired them all and they were ready for options.

[MrLeadfoot]

Just to clarify, given my discovery of the unused switch are you're saying it's OK to connect my lights directly to the switch directly without the relay (as described in your previous reply)?

I seem to have a large rectangluar black plastic circuit breaker box under my dash like you do. Does that mean I don't need to put an inline fuse on the positive wire going from the switch to the lights?

Lastly, do you mean to use the voltmeter to simply confirm that connecting the spade with the orange wire to the spade with the ground wire to confirms a live circuit, or did you have another test in mind?

Thanks again.