Show off your aux fuse panels.

Got all this bullshit squared up and installed and running. Wanted to do this project/install exactly how I had envisioned it and make it as future proof/expandable in the future.

Mounting bracket is a modified power switch bracket that was originally for a bussman block and switch pros. Orginally setup for 2 blue sea breakers. Negative bus is hidden on the backside opposite of the Power switch. Had a custom plate made up and bolted to it for this configuration.


100amp Bluesea terminal fuse
2 awg from fuse to bulkhead power post.
4 awg and inline 120a fuse to Garmin Power switch (came oem like this)
6 awg to 50amp Bluesea breaker
6 awg from breaker to Bluesea mLVD
6 awg from breaker to 6 circuit blue sea fuse block in sealed up rear cubby panel. Everything will enter/exit cubby via cord grips/ cable glands.

 

When you relocated your clutch reservoir did you cut the line to shorten it or were you able to make it work without cutting?

 

Dumb question but I'll ask for the sake of safety.
So I have a 6 way fuse panel, this one: 6 Gang Switch Panel https://a.co/d/gIYW6H0

I have a set of ditch lights and a light bar wired to it. I recently got a pair of 6in LED circles lights for the grill.

these are the lights in question: https://www.led-colight.com/blogs/news/explore-the-trailblazer-series

It came with its own wiring harness, and had a rocker switch coming from the relay. On the back of the switch is a red, yellow, and black wire that are connected with spade connectors and hardwired to the relay. In order to wire it to my aux fuse box/ control panel, do I just connect the yellow and red together and crimp them into one of the free terminals, then ground the negative?
The lights themselves are run to the battery and the ground point near it.
I'm a total novice at wiring and don't want to cause an electrical fire!

 

I’m assuming your harness is the typical single relay harness with a crappy circular switch, yes?

Cut the leads that go to your lights right at the relay on the harness they came with, then run the ground wire to ground and the power lead to your relay panel, and then make sure the fuse for that circuit is rated the same as the relay harness fuse. Also double check your relay at your Amazon panel is also appropriately rated.

 

Yeah its the typical circular one like you said. I can replace it later, but my question was if wiring it the way I asked about is ok? Removing the physical switch and using the supplied switch wiring to trigger the relay from that aux fuse box/ panel combo? I tested it and nothing melted lol.
The reason why is that the lights came with a 25amp in line fuse off the positive O ring connector, and the aux fuse box only has 20amp slots available

 

If you’re not blowing the 20A fuse then you’re ok. It would be more of a problem if you were splicing a 25A fuse into wiring meant to pair with a 20A fuse. You want the fuse to fail first.
Edit- curious what you mean by “only 20A slots available”. Does it come with only 20A fuses?

 

Those lights should draw 10A, or less if the power is overstated. Measure the current.

 

Like @tacoma_ca said, colight says each light is 60watts, which translates to both lights pulling about 10 amps if you just go with a 12v system calculation, which in reality with the vehicle on the voltage is slightly higher so less than 10 amps for BOTH. Now I’ll just say the cheap Amazon panels will skimp on wire gauge, or run CCA, or straight aluminum wire. But if each circuit is safe for 20amps then you could do what I originally said which is cut the power and ground leads at the relay on your harness and run the lights to your Amazon panel.

If you rather stick with using your panel as a trigger for your harness which overcomplicates a bit then see this diagram which is basically probably what your generic harness has going on :



You’d have to cut the wire that goes from the switch to terminal 86 on the relay and connect that to your Amazon panel. That’s it. Heat shrink the other two loose ends that would’ve gone to the switch. In that case though the 20 amp fuse on your Amazon panel is just fusing itself as a trigger lead and you could downsize the fuse to like a 2 amp.

 

Awesome, the second part is what I was looking for originally. However now seeing that the lights aren't pulling that much, I may just wire them to the aux box. Much appreciated

 

I was able to bend it in a way that avoided cutting it. Pain in the ass though.

 

I am annoyed with tapping into my in-cab fuse box and playing the game of finding accessory circuits so I would like to make an in-cab solution to provide a single source for constant and accessory circuits (such as my dashcam with parking mode). I'm contemplating where to put it; right now, I have some spare RTMRs on hand so I can use relays if I want, but I could get a fuse holder instead. Throwing this out there to solicit ideas during my brainstorming phase.

 

I have a 5M so I put an 8-way fuse holder and ground buss under the cup holder panel which I made more easily removable by taking of the clips. The fuse panel is split into a 40A always hot side and 10A ignition hot side.

 

Where are you tapping to get the always and ignition sources? I'm sure I've seen you post about it before. Do you have pictures in this thread?

 

Probably straight from battery for high current. Lower current options are the standard under driver door sill for towing package always on, also sunroof feed (always on) and 12V aux (ignition on) under steering wheel where you are already at

 

I have an RTMR and 80A breaker on a diy tray by the master cylinder. Also on the tray are 2 stand alone 40A fuses since Bussman and Blue Seas panels are limited to 30A circuits. #4 cable feeds the breaker and on to the RTMR while #10 feeds the 2-40A fuses from the breaker. One fuse feeds a compressor and the other feeds the fuse panel in the cab. I replaced the 2-12v ports and 4 small switch slots with a 7 slot switch bank and now the 12V port wire supplies the ignition hot 1/2 of the panel. A relocated port draws power from the always hot side to keep the phone etc juiced. The ignition hot side only supplies the minimal currents needed for triggering circuits, any serious current (>1A) comes from the always hot side through the #10 wire. Another in-can source for always hot power is the door locks fuse but I would recommend limiting the total current from any given fuse slot. I tapped the dash lights circuit behind the AC controls for all my switch illumination.

 

Just an aux beam 8 position. Been on the truck since the spring with no issues. Only thing I did was put the power feed on a switch rather than a switched 12v feed. To power camp/awning lighting. Looking forward to adding a few more lights and onboard air to it down the road.

 

Check the specs on your fuse panel and compressor since most panels seem to have a 30A per circuit limit and compressors are usually more than that. You can daisy chain from the panel supply cable to a stand alone compressor fuse for supply.

 

It will be used to control a seperate relayed circuit as you are right the Amp draw is far to high for the current relays in the panel

 

Ok, I think I understand what you did in-cab. You've got a fuse panel tucked somewhere in there for all of your accessories, but any you do not want to be always available, you use relays activated by the ignition hot circuit, and you still get a one-stop shop for connecting new accessories regardless of the kind of availability you want them to have. Did I get that right? Do you ground them locally or run it back to the fuse block? Where did you place your in-cab relays?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm working nights and my brain is fried. I've been rereading your comment for a while and still probably got it wrong. I'm trying to find a good design that is space-savvy but provides a single destination for all of my in-cab accessory needs. Right now, I think that looks like 3 buses/blocks: one for always hot, one for ignition hot, and a ground for convenience if I don't ground the accessory locally. I'll tap some ignition-only circuit to power a relay which will supply power from the always hot bus to the ignition hot bus that way I only need a single relay for all ignition hot circuits but still provide power safely off of the trigger circuit and don't have to tap more than 2 OEM circuits.