Lots of Aux Lighting, Need 12V

Hey guys, i am slowly converting my MK4 Golf into a sort of Overlander vehicle.
I dont intend to do a tent ontop, but i would like to do a longer(than usual) metal basket and have Triple Row LED Light bars on all four sides.

I envision a 42" hanging from the front.
a 20" mounted in the rear.
four 4" pods, two mounted on each side(Driver and passenger)

This will be in addition to the 26" i have mounted under grill, in the bumper.
Each will be on a rocker switch mounted in the dash, so 4 switches in total.


What I am interested in, is finding a strong 12V source for each setup.

I am curious if an Aux. Battery is an option?
A smaller battery, that recharges like my cranking battery, but the load of the lights can go through there. To not put to much of a draw on the Alternator, or cranking battery. Is that proper logic?

OR
Run through open circuits in the fuse panel on the drivers side?
The 4 small lights can run off almost any circuit. The larger 42" needs to be pretty heavy duty, fuse wise. The 26" is currently ran off the battery Positive, and ground to the Chassis.
The 20" being the one left, I'd assume i could go off anything on the fuse panel with that too.

Is it as simple as, Draw Positive from there(Adding a fuse in the open space) and running it to my Relay and Light as needed?
Can any open circuit in there run a 5a, 10a or 15amp fuse?

thanks for the help guys.

Given Volkswagen's often fragile electrical systems post-battery, I'd not want to really add anything that was going through one of the circuits on the fuse link box under the hood. Instead, I'd go straight off the battery, for both power and ground, by using the threaded studs already there. I'd want some sort of fuse as close to the positive battery connection as possible, in case of a wire rubbing through somewhere, but still take care of proper routing so that it is secure. If the lights themselves use any substantial current, I would NOT run that through the switches, but instead use relays to carry the load, and just use the switches to work the relays. You can power the switches from the BAT+ lug on the bottom of the under hood fuse panel. I have used the underhood relay box (the one that has the coolant heater relays) for a convenient place for an accessory relay, but there is only room for a couple IIRC.

And keep serviceability in mind. Nothing is worse than a rat's nest of what looks like 5th grader science experiments going on under the hood with crap wrapped around items like the air filter lid and rubbing loose against things.

I agree, I would not run this through the factory wiring.


I'd look for a small "distribution block" to run 1 wire from the Battery to the distribution block, then use relays to trigger the power for each circuit/light.


Maybe something like this
https://www.delcity.net/store/ATC-&...MI1PmSj_Gn4wIVioCfCh2pLwjgEAQYBCABEgJ32PD_BwE

You may want to read this: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-build-and-install-a-bussmann-rtmr-fuse-relay-block.399454/

RexNICO said:

I agree, I would not run this through the factory wiring.


I'd look for a small "distribution block" to run 1 wire from the Battery to the distribution block, then use relays to trigger the power for each circuit/light.


Maybe something like this
https://www.delcity.net/store/ATC-&...MI1PmSj_Gn4wIVioCfCh2pLwjgEAQYBCABEgJ32PD_BwE

Click to expand...

Thats actually a thought id had since the original post. I'll have to look at available products and decide. Seems the best, as to not clog the battery terminal.

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

oilhammer said:

Given Volkswagen's often fragile electrical systems post-battery, I'd not want to really add anything that was going through one of the circuits on the fuse link box under the hood. Instead, I'd go straight off the battery, for both power and ground, by using the threaded studs already there. I'd want some sort of fuse as close to the positive battery connection as possible, in case of a wire rubbing through somewhere, but still take care of proper routing so that it is secure. If the lights themselves use any substantial current, I would NOT run that through the switches, but instead use relays to carry the load, and just use the switches to work the relays. You can power the switches from the BAT+ lug on the bottom of the under hood fuse panel. I have used the underhood relay box (the one that has the coolant heater relays) for a convenient place for an accessory relay, but there is only room for a couple IIRC.

And keep serviceability in mind. Nothing is worse than a rat's nest of what looks like 5th grader science experiments going on under the hood with crap wrapped around items like the air filter lid and rubbing loose against things.

Click to expand...

Great post. Let me start by expressing how annoying it is to see the rats nest, or clearly unthoughtfully ran wires. When i was in my teens I did that to get by, i didnt know any better. Now I am pretty good with soldering, heat shrink wrap and being creative with routing for a mariad of reasons(chaffing, aethsetics and more)

Hadnt really planned to use the fusebox On top the battery, although, since you mention it, that does make sense to try(not me) since it does send alot of power through there.
I'd originally planned to add pins and a fuse to open spots on the side dash fuse box. I think the mention of the questionable VW electronics is wise.

The post after yours mentions adding a power block, i think that makes the most sense for my idea of lights.

For anything additional lighting wise, a relay and a switch per circuit is the only way to go.


You state to use the battery terminal for both Pos. And Neg. Is there any reason you dont suggest to run a short ground to metal? (So long as rust prevention is a focus, using bare metal for ground)

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

Rob Mayercik said:

You may want to read this: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-build-and-install-a-bussmann-rtmr-fuse-relay-block.399454/

Click to expand...

OHHHH! I see. I am not against making stuff myself. I infact have a "Make: electronics" kit for a reason. And I do all my LED/resistor soldering on my scale RC cars. But, I think a fuse block, as mentioned, will suit my purpose just fine.
Interesting info. Someone took a lot of time to put that together!

The wiring is not foreign to me. I made this thread to find a suggestion where to pull the best, most reliable power from with out possible sacrificing my OEM battery, or worse, any oem wiring by drawing too much from the wrong spot.