Tower light bar doesn't work

[totalbrody34]

Ever since i first bought the boat (new in 07) and used the lights on the tower speaker bar they never operated for more than a minute before it would pop the circuit breaker. I would reset the circuit breaker and they would work for less than a min and pop again. I did this for a little while till they they stopped working all together. Two summers have passed and now i want to try to fix it.
Do you think it's the circuit breaker (located under the switch)? Should i try replacing it? And where do i pick one of these bad boys up, i don't live near a dealership.
Your suggestions/advice would be appreciated, thanks.

[totalbrody34]

i tried putting a new circuit breaker in and still didn't work....

[tazz3069]

I also have tower lights on my boat. Now, there could be a couple of things wrong. First check to see if there is an inline fuse for the lights. Now you say, that it pops the circuit breaker. Is that the little button at the bottom of the switch? Did you install the lights after you bought the boat? Really doesn't matter if it came with or you installed after. Now the problem. The lights draw too much power for the switch to handle. For example, the switch may handle 2amps. The light might be drawing 5 amps. This causes the circuit breaker to trip.
If there is no inline fuse, then I would check to see if the switch is working. Remove the wires and touch the hot wire(from battery) to the switch leg(going to the lights). If that works, then the switch is bad. Now for the fix. I installed a relay between the lights and the switch. The switch operates the relay witch operates the lights. The wiring is very easy. I have a drawing on how to wire the relay. The relay is rated for up to 30 amps. You can find these relays with a wire harness on ebay for cheep. Here is a link. Keep us posted and tells us what the outcome is.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/30-40-amp-SPDT-SPST-Relay-with-5-Wire-Socket-Harness_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14 QQhashZitem53da75bda8QQitemZ360147434920QQptZCarQ5 fAudioQ5fVideo

[totalbrody34]

thanks for the reply tazz, i'll let you know if i can get it to work. Is your light setup factory or aftermarket?

my light bar is stock and yes i was referring to the circuit breaker located below the switch. Makes sense that it draws too much power, but why then would they sell it from the factory like that?? strange
not sure if there is an inline fuse, i'll take a look.

[gcnettl]

The relay is what you need, and maybe some heavier wiring between your lights and the relay. Here is a neat little chart that compares wire gauge to maximum amps that it is designed to carry. Even with a relay, if your wire is too small, then you will still pop a circuit.
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

[tazz3069]

Mine is an aftermarket.