Show off your aux fuse panels.

I am drawing out plans for my aux fuse box and calculating wire gauges needed.
What percentage of voltage drop would be acceptable for a pair of baja designs led lights?
The WireBarn calculator defaults to 2%.

 

I'm hoping there are some electricians reading this thread....I'm struggling with the same question on a few different devices

I'd like to think that the new modern LED lights are pretty forgiving....if you look at some of the wire gauge/amps tables and take 'em at face value, you'd have to run 12 gauge wire everywhere

There are a couple (supposedly) engineering sites that say 3% or 4% is even okay, suggesting that devices will be that forgiving

And of course, worse than our lights not working would be that risk of sparks and smoke and fire....

 

Most LED lights work over a pretty wide range of input voltages. Almost everyone is using Cree LEDs which have an operating range of around 9-18 volts, so unless they have extra circuitry in the light to change that you can run pretty high line loss and still have the light function. If you assume a battery voltage of 13.8 volts while the vehicle is running, you'd have to have a loss of approximately 13% to get down to 12 volts. If you assume an 8 foot run of wire and a 4 amp load, to get that kind of loss from your relay to your accessory, you'd have to be running something ridiculously small (around 26-28 AWG or smaller).

Just run something reasonable like 12-18 AWG and you should be find for most things. It's only when you start looking at running large loads on long runs that it becomes an issue (like an OBA setup in the bed).

 

Thanks very much, Jeremy....that fits with my practical (but uneducated) experience....

Most appreciated.

 

Thanks man! I made that myself! There are some pretty legit ones available for purchase tho. Check around the forum. TacomaPros down there in the Vendors section has some stuff I think.

 

2%-3% is not bad in a 13.8v system, youll be safe running a 14 awg wire to power your baja design lights.

 

I have searched High and Low in this thread and others but cannot seem to find the bolt size listed for the Gen3 fuse panel bracket where it bolts in near the fender. If anyone has any idea where I could find that information that would be amazing!

As for the above electrical question... Electrician here... generally speaking we use 3% drop as the maximum allowable and we size wire based on charts in the electrical code but those only go down so far wire size wise. In general #12awg is good for 20-25A and #10awg would be good for 25-35A in the electrical world but the heat under the hood may change the rating!

 

^ I believe the bolt is an M8. I thought I read that somewhere in the thread....Mine came with bolts holding the clutch resovoir on though

 

@Thunder chicken got any pics of your setup? Trying to figure out how to go about mine with the reservoir in the way

 

Back a few pages.....
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/show-off-your-aux-fuse-panels.308677/page-34#post-18969754

 

Thank you! Bolts are cheap, but guessing can get expensive! I do miss having the clutch until I get stuck in traffic... Thanks for the info and I like your clear plastic idea for the mount!

 

My memory being what it is, better be safe and get 2 m6, 2 m8, and 2 m10!!!
And at -20 today, it’s a tad bit of a chore to pull one out to check!

 

Yup, M8. There are places under the center console that use M6 and M5 bolts as well.

 

Who makes this one?

 

The post directly above the one you quoted mentioned paranoid56.

 

Paranoid Fabrication

 

If anybody wants me to make cables for your setup, let me know. I carry 4awg but can order a bigger/smaller gauge if needed for your setup

 

Powdercoated! Thanks again @paranoid56

 

I put together these 4AWG cables for him, happy customer! I can build you the same cables if you’d like

 

So, I have given up in frustration trying to search for 'wiring harness boot' or variations thereof. Not just here on TW, but on google and Amazon and so on....I've found cable pass throughs for desks, hundreds of wiring harnesses for almost every function, and yes, lots of rubber boots...just none that would fit me.

And this thread likely covers what I am after...I am all but finished my auxiliary electrics panel, and to keep it clean - and because I will likely, ultimately, have a whole pile of wires - I want to put another hole and rubber boot through the firewall.

Any suggestions on where i can find 'boots' or 'grommets' or whatever else those handy rubber-things-you-poke-your-wires-through?

And I am old enough not to be embarrassed when I'm told it was easily found somewhere that i had already looked. After so many years, your ego - like a lot of other once-important body parts - tends to shrink.

Thank y'all....