Ken the electrical guy Q n A

Hi @Kens04Taco, awesome thread!
I searched a bit, and I’m not sure if this has been asked, my apologies if it has.

Do you have a list of items to buy for a secondary fuse box. I want to start electrical projects but what to do it right from the get go. Trying to avoid splicing into any wires on the harness.

Thank you!

 

Hey buddy! Thanks, it’s grown more than I expected but I’m happy there’s a place for us to talk to about this stuff.

oh man, you’re about to open Pandora’s box lol. Let’s start with this. Let me know what you have, what you use for truck for. And what you’re looking to spend roughly for the project.

 

Truck is a daily driver, I do lots of road trips and off grid camping.

Wanting to do some simple stuff like hardwiring my dash cam, hard wiring a CB, rear lights in bumper, extra power in the dash, front camera, bed lights, under hood lights.

In the future I’d be doing onboard air, some camping lights on my cab rack, maybe a light bar, and a winch.


I’m going to start by doing the jobs that are hard wired until I have the funds to do a full switch panel/switch pros.

I just want everything to be ran completely separate from the trucks wiring harness

 

Cool seems like how much people use their Tacoma’s.

If you want to have the the truck completely independent of the factory wiring you’ll basically need an auxiliary fuse panel. Blue sea makes a nice unit but Amazon also has some kinda neat little fuse/relay boxes. You’ll need to tap into the factory wiring for an illumination 12volts for switches. Besides that, you can leave the rest untouched.

If you are running anything above 20-25 amps I would recommend running a relay because above that you’re running into most switches max capacity.

Busman makes a very nice fuse/relay box which has almost everything you need.

For a basic set up you need:
A fuse panel
Copper power wire (8-4 gauge depending on fuse panel capacity).
Relays
Some small distribution blocks for trigger wires and grounds (optional but highly recommended)
Switches
And stuff to turn on.
Connectors or heat shrink and solder

If you want to send me a list of what you want to buy I can look at it and give you my opinion

 

Awesome man, really appreciate it. I'll get you a list tomorrow or a little later this weekend.

 

@Kens04Taco , great thread!
question- how do i test temp sending units?
have two aftermarket temp gauges (aem) in seperate locations. upon cold starts they read different to one another. one reads closer to ambient than the other. thanks!

 

well let’s start with some more Info what type of vehicle do you have?
Do you have one or two temperature sensors?
Where are they or it located?
Is it reading coolant temp?
Are there two or one wire going to the sensor?

Most commonly temperature sending units for trucks/cars are reading the coolant temperature. As the temperature rises the resistance value output from the sensor rises. If I was going to test the the sensor I would disconnect the sensor connector in the morning when the truck is cold. Get you multimeter out and test the resistance. Write down this number. Plug the connector back in. Start the truck and let it get to operating temp. Shut the truck off. Unplug the connector and test again. Write this number down. If you search online you can find the resistance values for your temp sensor at a given temp. Compare these values with what you have. It should be in the neighborhood. Doesn’t have to be exact. If it’s close and you’re not sure you can post them here and I’ll take a look. If the numbers are out of spec then ur sensors no good. If the numbers are good then I’m assuming your gauges are calibrated differently. I’ve ran into issues like this before.
Could also be a wiring issues

Anyways I hope this helps.

 

two aftermarket digital gauges in a 2015 tacoma for coolant. one in the upper radiator hose, the other near the top of the firewall in a coolant hose for my s/c. I wired them at different times, but both are powered by my fuse block underhood. i used a much smaller wire for one of them. that happens to be the gauge im doubting. just find it strange how both gauges read consistently different upon cold starts.
your explaination was helpful, thanks!

 

Hi Ken! Hooking Halo lights up to a switch box I have a question.

22awg wire, if extended in length by 8 feet....would that degrade it's capability to give power?

 

are you powering just the halo? 22 is very small but depending on your load it could be fine. Do you know the draw or watts of your halo ? What’s the full length from power source to halo

 

Thank you for the quick reply.

Wire length 6.5 feet (all 22awg)

Halo draw...I'm not sure. 12v was the only thing I saw listed
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/halos-profile-pivot-switchback-LED-M-XSBHALOS?quantity=1


I'm tying both halos into the same 12 power source on my switch panel.

It worked initially when I installed it.

Troubleshooting:
I took the pass headlight out and connected it to the known working halo (driver's side). It worked.
I hooked the non-working halo driver (pass side) to the known-working drivers side headlight. It did not work.

So I'm thinking the wiring is bad, or the driver is bad, or the wire length (at 22awg) is causing the problem

Thank you again for your input!

 

So the driver is def shot. The Retrofit Source is sending me a replacement. Amazing customer service.

I'm still curious if the22awg wire is good to go for 6.5 feet to the switch box or if I should get thicker wire.... thanks!

 

Very cool thread and I appreciate your starting it. I'm always doing something with electrical with a racecar, and the truck so now I have a place to go.
Thanks again.

 

Sorry about the late reply. Without knowing the exact wattage of your leds I can’t say for sure but 22 seems small for my taste. I personally run oversized wires with a lot of stuff. The only time I find exact size requirements is when I’m building a competitive drag or race car where weight is critical.
I’d say run a large gauge wire like an 16 gauge. It’s more than enough to your halos. Like I said without knowing the wattage I cant give you a firm answer.

Cool, well hopefully that’s all you need to do. Might wana upgrade the wire just to be safe but that’s up
To u.

 

No problem buddy!
Sweet man share what you got going on. We’d love to check it out

 

Here’s my current project. It’s a 1934 custom ford Victoria. This car is getting 3 electric motors and controllers. It’s a full EV conversion that I’m doing for Tim Allen. It’s quite the project electrically but it’s very rewarding and fun. I’m hoping to get her turning the motors on her own power in the next 6 weeks hopefully sooner.

What’s everyone else working on? Let’s see it


Controller communication and other related circuits loomed and T’d I still have to install the connector covers and some more tweaking to get it to “flow” the way I want but it’s closer!

Mock up of a contacter, fuse,shunt, and relay box I’m getting ready to fabricate after I get it set up the way I’d like.

These are the battery cages that hold the 3 Tesla model s batteries. As you can see they are paralleled at the batteries via busbars I made. Then all 5 packs are ran in series to give us our final voltage.

And this is the car. Kind of an old pic but you get the idea.

 

Ask and you shall be confused by me...lol
Panel for the race car. 90 Mustang. Ecu is in the center top.
Zim

 

Holy sheet metal worship. I'm all in on this. The electrical part is very cool but I know almost nothing. The metal work is my big thing. Love it. Beautiful car.
Zim

 

Awesome! Thank you. I ordered the 16 gauge and will use it once the replacement driver arrives. Thanks for the knowledge!

 

always good to have resources. I have access to schematics if anyone needs it, I wont be able to post pics but can tell you where and what color the wires are.