If I upgrade to 100W bulbs in my Hella 500FFs that came with 55W bulbs, will it damage my wiring or housing etc. in any way?

it might fry your relay eventually. the wiring would get hot and might burn out. let us know if it holds up. you might just need a bigger relay though.

I'm not sure if I want to try it then or just stick with the 55W. I was considering it for the extra light output but I don't want to risk frying anything

As long as the 55 and 100 watt are what they're pulling off the system then:

55w/12v=4.5 amps per bulb
100w/12v=8.3 amps per bulb

so it'd be around 9 amps with two 55w bulbs, or 17 amps with 2 100w bulbs. Most bosch style automotive relays are 30/40amp (meaning 30 amps normally closed, 40 normally opened.. or is that the other way, I honestly forget!). There's charts online that show approx what gauge wire to run for a certain amp over a certain distance, but with 20 amps you'd be fine with a 12 gauge or 14 gauge depending on the length you were running. The biggest factor would be just the extra heat from the bulbs. I know the stock fog light housings on my 01 handle 100 watt output (55w pull IIRC) bulbs just fine (well until my tape job melted from the head in the housing enough to short and pop the fuse)

Il have to check the relay and what are wires are. As far as light output will 100W bulbs be significantly brighter or are they not really worth it?

they'll be brighter :-) (as long as the 55w was output and the 100w is also the output rating).

The 100 watt bulb gets hotter so I might be worried about the housing or holder melting. If you want a bright cheap light try looking at the 4wd hardware site. the pro comp 100 watt 6" round KC clone lights are 29.99 each. For the price they are great. they are 3 times as bright as the Hella 500 lights I have on my Suzuki.

http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?jeep-sid=82&plID=0&partID=11767



Paul

How do I tell that? It just says 12V/55W bulb and 12V/100W, does that not necessarily mean output?

It should say in the specs. Different gases/designs change the output.
For example:
PIAA H3 Intense White: 110 watts of light from only 55 watts
PIAA H3 Plasma Ion Crystal Yellow: provides 85watts of light using 55 watts of power

I mean I'm sure there's some fudging in those numbers, but you can see they pull 55 watts of power. So you just have to see if that 100 watts is power pulled or output to determine how much power you're putting on your +12 feed line and relay.
(I think Hella or someone had an H3 that pulled closer to 100 watts and was listed as "off-road only" but I didn't put that in the stock fog light housings on our 01 because the stock circuit was fused at 10 amps.. figured that'd be pushing it lol)

I was looking at the Hella Xenon Blue 100W. They say for offroad use only but Id be putting them in my 500FFs on the roof anyways. Im kinda leaning towards just keeping the 55W bulbs that are in them now haha

Maybe a HID fog light setup would work. it would be brighter and hotter but the current draw would be the same. Just an idea

Maybe a HID fog light setup would work. it would be brighter and hotter but the current draw would be the same. Just an idea

I thought about getting an HID converted set of the 500FFs with the group buy but ended up going with the halogen for $70 rather than the HID for $150ish because of money right now during school. Hopefully tho I can swap them for HID here eventually