The questions buyers actually ask
Terms, certification, specifications and who you are dealing with. Where the honest answer is “it depends on your order”, that is the answer — with the reason it depends.
Wholesale, OEM and dealer terms
What is your minimum order?
It is set against the models and the volume in your enquiry rather than posted as a blanket figure. A shop trying one line and a distributor filling a container are not sensibly held to the same number, so we quote yours and confirm it in writing before anything is made.
How long does an order take?
Lead time is quoted once the model list is fixed and stated in the proforma invoice, not as a range on a web page. An order spanning several product lines runs longer than a single line, so the honest answer depends on what you are ordering.
Can I get samples before ordering?
Yes. Sample cost, shipping and whether it is credited against a first production order are agreed before anything ships. We would rather you tested the product than took our word for it.
Do you supply direct to end users?
Our business is wholesale: wholesalers and importers, distributors, brand owners, 4x4 workshops and retailers. If you are building your own rig, tell us where you are and we will point you at someone who stocks us, or talk to you directly if nobody does yet.
Can we order in bulk across several product lines?
Yes, and most orders are exactly that. Switch panels and all four lighting lines can be mixed onto one shipment rather than bought line by line, and the quotation is built against the model list you send us. Bulk pricing follows the order, not a published tier.
Do you offer OEM, ODM or private label?
All three. Private label puts your logo and artwork on a product we already make. OEM changes the product to your specification — circuits, ratings, optics, colours, what ships in the box. ODM designs something new to your brief. What each one changes in tooling, minimums and lead time is quoted against your project and confirmed in writing before anything is made.
Are you a manufacturer or a trading company?
Neither description fits on its own. RuggedRay is the brand and the supplier: the concept, the electronics, the interface and the app are defined and designed in-house, and dedicated manufacturing partners build to that specification under our own quality control. That is why a hard technical question from your customer has an answer, and why a specification change is a decision we can actually make.
Certification and compliance
What certification do your products hold?
Our switch panels are tested to CE, FCC, RoHS 2.0 and REACH, with certificate numbers and the issuing laboratory published on the product pages. LED headlight bulbs hold CE, FCC and RoHS 2.0. Our LED work lights, LED driving lights and LED light bars hold no certificates, and we say so on the page rather than borrow a claim from a supplier sheet. Certification for those lines can be arranged where an order needs it, agreed and confirmed in writing.
Do I need CE, FCC or RoHS certification for my market?
That depends on your market, and it is worth settling before you order. Buyers in the United States and Australia rarely ask us for these marks on auxiliary lighting; the ones who do are usually entering a market that requires them at the border or on the shelf. That is what we are asked for rather than a reading of your market, so check what yours requires. Where a mark is required it is a condition of selling, not a formality — tell us what you have to meet and testing is planned into the order.
Whose name is on the certificates?
Guangzhou Trutec Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. RuggedRay is the brand; that company designs, manufactures and certifies the products, and it is the name a distributor will find when cross-checking a certificate. The certificates list both trademarks.
Can you send the test reports?
Yes, on request, for the lines that hold them. Certificate numbers are already on the product pages so you can check them before you ask.
Products and specification
What voltage do your products run on?
Switch panels run on 12–24V DC, so the same part suits a 12V 4WD and a 24V truck. Lighting varies by model — the exact input range is in the specification table on every product page.
How many switch panels are in the range?
There are 8, in 4, 6, 8 and 12 gang, spanning relay and electronic switching up to a touchscreen flagship with electronic fuses. Every channel is rated individually, so a compressor and a light bar sit on their own protected paths.
How waterproof are the lights?
The lighting we publish is rated IP67 and IP68 depending on the model, and the rating for each one is in its specification table. We publish the figure the factory has confirmed and leave the field blank where they have not.
What warranty do you offer?
It runs from 2 to 5 years depending on the model, and each product page states its own. Our LED driving lights, LED light bars and LED work lights carry the full term across the range. There is no single figure that is true of everything we make, so we do not print one.
What is the difference between electronic and relay switching?
A relay is a mechanical contact that opens and closes under load, so it can pit, weld shut or chatter; electronic switching has no contact to wear. We build the same panel both ways and price the difference in warranty rather than argument: the TC-SW6 and the TC-SW6R are both 6-way with identical 2×30A, 2×20A, 2×10A channels and the same 60A ceiling, and they carry 5 years and 3 years respectively.
Does the switch panel protect each circuit?
Every channel is rated individually, so a compressor and a light bar sit on their own paths rather than sharing one. The TC-SWT10 goes furthest: electronic fuse switching on every channel, a per-channel working monitor with overcurrent protection, and LVCO low-voltage cut-off that protects the starting battery while you are parked. None of that replaces protection at the battery end of the supply cable.
What does an IP rating actually mean on these products?
The first digit is dust, the second is water, and a higher second digit is not automatically "better for your build" — it describes a specific test. Our switch panels are rated IP65, except the TC-SWT10, which is quoted as "Control box IP67 / Screen IP65" because it is two enclosures: the box lives under the bonnet, the screen lives on your dash. Published lighting is rated IP67 and IP68 by model.
Can I control the switch panel from my phone?
On the models with Bluetooth, yes, and the radio sits in the wired panel rather than in the remote. The app does four things: Backlight colour, per switch; Icon, per switch — the same 70-icon set; Mode, per circuit — toggle, momentary, flashing or strobe; Grouping, so one tap drives several circuits. Bluetooth is standard on some models and an option on others — the TC-SW8B is built either way — so check what your panel was specified with before you plan around the app.
Why do some specifications say "to be confirmed"?
Because the factory has not confirmed that figure in writing yet. A specification on a brand site is a promise, so we would rather show a gap than an estimate. Ask about any of them and we will chase it for you.
Fitting and wiring
How far does a wireless switch panel work?
Approximately 30 m line of sight, remote panel to control box, on 433 MHz. The remote is rechargeable — Rechargeable 1500 mAh lithium — around 38 days per charge with the backlight off, 21 days on medium and 9 days on high, at roughly three hours use a day. About three hours to full, rated for around 300 cycles.. To be straight about it: Wireless certifications (FCC ID / CE RED) in progress, available for volume orders.
How many circuits can I run at the same time?
Read two numbers, not one. Each channel has its own rating — the TC-SW8 splits into 2×30A, 2×20A, 2×10A, 2×5A — and those add up to 130A on paper, but the panel passes 60A. Size each circuit against the channel and your worst-case simultaneous load against the panel total.
Should I choose a 4, 6, 8 or 12-gang panel?
Count the current before the switches. The TC-SW4 passes 40A, the TC-SW6 and TC-SW8 60A, the TC-SWT10 80A and the TC-SW12 100A — so eight ways buys somewhere to put the current, not more of it. Add up what runs at once, leave one channel spare, and buy for that.
Does a 24V truck let me run more off one panel?
More power, not more current. Our panels are rated 12–24V DC, and the TC-SW8 is quoted 720–1440W — the same 60A ceiling expressed at each voltage. The same lamp draws half the amps at 24V, which is why a 24V build fits more onto one panel.
Where does the control box mount, and what goes through the firewall?
The control box mounts in the engine bay and the panel mounts on the dash, with only a signal cable between them — the current that runs your lights never enters the cabin. Mount the box away from the exhaust and turbo side, and give it air rather than strapping it to something hot. Pass the signal cable through an existing rubber grommet where you can, with a drip loop and cable ties to the factory loom.
What cable size and fuse rating should I use?
We do not publish one, because the factory has not confirmed one and a guessed figure in a fitting guide is the figure somebody wires their vehicle to. The principles hold regardless: size the cable to the channel rating and to the length of the run rather than to the lamp on the box, protect the supply at the battery end where the cable starts, and have the work checked by someone qualified if you are not certain.
Can I fit a switch panel myself?
Plenty of owners do, and the layout is designed for it: two boxes, one loom, and no heavy conductor crossing into the cabin. Plan the icon layout before anything is stuck to the dash, earth to clean bare metal rather than to a painted bracket, and test one circuit at a time before the trim goes back on. If any of that is unfamiliar, this is a job for an auto electrician.
The company
Where are you based?
Guangzhou, China — one of the densest automotive-electronics hubs in the world, which puts our engineers minutes from the lines that build to our specifications. We do not pretend to be somewhere else, and we do not need to: it is why we can iterate quickly and control quality batch by batch.
Do you actually design these, or rebadge them?
We define and design them: the concept, the electronics, the display interface and the mobile app. Our manufacturing partners build to that specification. It is the reason a hard technical question from your customer has an answer.
How do I reach a person?
Email info@ruggedray.com, message the WhatsApp number on our contact page, or use the enquiry form — all three reach the same people. We typically reply within 24 hours (GMT+8).