Yak61 Report post Posted August 19, 2012 I am flat towing with a Fleetwood Class C on a Ford 450 chassis. I keep blowing 10 amp stop light fuses when the stop lights are on for more than short uses. Looked for a short since the fuse is overheating and concluded there are dual stop lights on the coach and the two bulbs on the toad. All are 1157 bulbs. when I researched the bulbs are drawing 2.1 amps ea on the bright side x 6 = 12.6 amps. When I remove one bulb in the car, things are fine insert the 6th bulb and it blows. Any suggestions? are there lower amp 1157's or leds available or other devices to limit the amps drawn? Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted August 19, 2012 Yak61 Welcome to the Forum. What size Fuse do you have on the Stop light? If it is a 10 amp you might change to a 15 amp and see if that helps I see that you are saying that there are 6 of the 1157 bulbs I can only count 4. Two on the coach and two on the toad. Are you counting the third light on each? In the past I would tow, with a 1 Ton Ford Duely, tandum trailers with both trailer wired on a Harness. All lights on both would light and all turn and stop lights worked. I continued to burn out Head Light Switches due to the load. But I never had a problem with just the stop lights. If your fuse is hot when it blows, it's doing what it was designed to do. Blow when over loaded. what you may have is a bare wire that i causing the heat and blowing the fuse. Check for a frayed wire somewhere in the harness. I would start at the plug on the coach and go from there. Good luck. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yak61 Report post Posted August 19, 2012 Herman, There are two lamps on each side of the coach for a total of 4 + the two in the car. Wouldn't a 15 amp possibly overload the wire? Yes the fuse is hot after it blows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted August 19, 2012 Yak, I'm not doubting your word. I have just never seen 4 stop light on a vehicle. I have seen one stop light with the running light together, hence the 1157 bulb and a turn signal separate from the stop light. From what you are saying I would check for a short in the wiring for the stop light. You could remove all the bulbs and with a continuity ground one side and check the stop side of each plug to see if there is a short. If the cont. light goes on or buzzes it means that there is a short in that stop light bulb wire, some where. and yes if there is a short even the 15 amp fuse would still get hot. The short could be ever so slight and would cause the fuse to get hot and blow.One more thought, pull all of the 1157 bulbs and have someone apply the brakes. See if the fuse still gets hot and blows. This could tell you if you have a short and you could check with the tester as I said before. Hope this helps and I didn't confuse you too much. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dickandlois Report post Posted August 20, 2012 Stop light fuse sizes in the range of 15 to 20 amps are quit common and as Herman mentioned the 15 amp fuse is about right when a circuit is drawing 12 plus amps. Regarding the heat issue. The bulbs get hot real fast if one holds them with there fingers. Power for one bulb is 25 plus watts and small 25 watt soldering irons heat things up fast also. What is the fuse rating listed on the fuse block or in the Ford Chassis manual? Remember you added two more bulbs when connecting a Toad if that is where the total of 4 bulbs comes into play. One could use LED bulbs for the brake lights ,if you are using magnetic or a light bar on the read of the Toad. The flasher will still work if the same lights are used for the turn signals. That would reduce the current draw on the circuit if you are real concerned about over loading the wiring with the added load. Rich. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pscarey1 Report post Posted August 20, 2012 Yak - I did a quick search with Google and found 1157 type LED bulbs on Amazon for $5.70 for a pair. This will reduce the load and will most likely prevent the fuse from blowing. That is if it is just a load problem. Other sites had them in different colors and ranged in price from about 5 to 20 bucks. I might even try this myself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted August 20, 2012 I have tested led bulbs and they are not as bright although they draw less current. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yak61 Report post Posted August 23, 2012 Tried the 1157 LED it has 12 LEDs. It reduced the amps but was definitely not as bright, I think because all of the leds do not face the lens. No problem with the fuse blowing. Then figured out they are Bargman lights. Purchased two LED conversion lens that have 16 leds built in about $40 each. Look as bright as the 1157 and Bargman said they reduce the amps to about 30% of the 1157. No fuse problems after leaving brake lights on for over 2o minutes. Picture shows the LEDs on top and 1157 in center light. May replace the other two lights later. Thanks for the replies and suggestions. Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted August 24, 2012 Yak61, Welcome to the Forum. Glad to hear you have had good results with the LEDs. But I must ask, why would you have your foot on the brake pedal for over 20 minutes? Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
