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Show off your aux fuse panels.

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by Newlife, Dec 29, 2013.

  1. May 4, 2018 at 6:02 PM
    #541
    tacomarin

    tacomarin ig: @travelswithchubbs

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    Love all the great examples here and I'm excited to build my own fuse panel! I'm a bit of a noob to wiring but have been trying to do my homework. I'm hoping some of you might be able to help me with this project. I am going to be adding a Blue Sea fuse panel soon to power some accessories. My first project is adding some LED lighting inside of my truck top that I'm going to be wiring up to this switch panel: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077Y2R6ZF/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Each of the switches came pre-wired with 15 A fuses to the accessories. All the power wires are jumped together and connected to a single 16ga power wire and 16ga ground, including the USB and cigarette lighter outlet. I was originally planning on running individual power to each of the switches from the fuse bank under the hood, but having the inline fuses is fine too. My question is now about running a single power wire from the fuse bank under the hood to power all the accessories. The 4 light strips are all going to be drawing 2-3 amps, the USB port has two ports at 2.1 amps, and I think most cigarette lighters accessories typically max out at 10 amps. So all in I'm around 25-30 amps.

    I'm estimating my overall length to be around 16 feet, but may be a little longer with the ups and downs that it will take to get there. So I think my options for this are:
    1) Run one 8 gauge wire from the fuse block with a 30 amp fuse and power all the accessories from that wire
    2) Run two 10 gauge power wires from two separate 20 amp fuses, one for the light switches, one for the power outlets
    3) I'm planning on running the ground wire straight to some good grounding point at the back of the truck, so I think a single 10 gauge wire will work there.

    Does that seem right? Thanks for reading my novel and for any input you can provide!
     
  2. May 5, 2018 at 7:44 AM
    #542
    bagleboy

    bagleboy Well-Known Member

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    If you're running a ground wire why not run it back to the battery?
     
  3. May 5, 2018 at 8:22 AM
    #543
    tacomarin

    tacomarin ig: @travelswithchubbs

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    From what I’ve read most people recommend grounding as close to the accessory as possible. No real benefit in running it all the way back to the battery as far as I can tell.
     
    robssol likes this.
  4. May 5, 2018 at 2:34 PM
    #544
    robssol

    robssol If it ain't broke, leave it the eff alone!

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    Frame 2.0, Fog lights anytime, Seatbelt reminder delete, Secondary air filter delete, LED bed lights, Running boards, 2017 Rims, Devil Horns by Andres, Ultra gauge, Cup holder/consol/glove compartment lights, Interior LED conversion, Blue Sea aux. fuse panel, fuse panel mounting plate by Yotamac, ProEFX heated towing mirrors, LED engine bay lights, Redline Quicklift Elite hood struts, Wet Okole Heated Seat Covers, Pop and Lock tailgate theft deterrent mod 2.0, Plasti-dip rear bumper. Decal free visors, Washable cabin air filter, Overhead consol auto dimming override switch, BulletProof Fabricating Skid plate, 2lo module.
    Back in the day audio equipment with a bad ground far from the battery would create ground loops and crappy sound.
     
    VE7OSR likes this.
  5. May 5, 2018 at 9:14 PM
    #545
    bagleboy

    bagleboy Well-Known Member

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    Snug top Rebel, Thule tracks, ditch tracks, Bagged rear suspension, F/R anytime camera, intermittent wiper switch...
    I haven't taken a poll but I do know that one of the more common problems is a bad ground. Since the frame and body panels are steel it's not unlikely to get dissimilar metal corrosion which can turn a good connection into a bad one. Some of my accessories are in hard to access, exposed to the elements places so I'd rather just run the added wire back to a more easily accessed, better protected location that's easily inspected/maintained instead of scraping paint and hoping it won't rust. Just as the fuse/relays are centralized and protected, so is my ground buss. I'm not saying "don't do it", I'm just telling you why I don't .

    If you do ground to the frame near the accessories, check the total current of them all to see if the wire from the battery to the chassis is thick enough. It's already too small for the 80A of a Bussman rtmr or a 100A Seagate so you might want to to upgrade it.
     
  6. May 6, 2018 at 1:57 PM
    #546
    Stew22

    Stew22 Well-Known Member

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    New guy question.
    How do you determine what amp breaker to install? I have seen 80amp - 150amp installed. What is the right size?

    Thanks
     
  7. May 6, 2018 at 2:28 PM
    #547
    paranoid56

    paranoid56 Well-Known Member

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    all depends on what you are setting up and what fuse block setup you are using
     
  8. May 6, 2018 at 6:47 PM
    #548
    bagleboy

    bagleboy Well-Known Member

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    Snug top Rebel, Thule tracks, ditch tracks, Bagged rear suspension, F/R anytime camera, intermittent wiper switch...
    It should match their rating of the fuse box. The bussman rtmr is 80A, the Seagate is 100A, there are others. The cables should also be rated for that current.
     
    Stew22[QUOTED] likes this.
  9. May 6, 2018 at 6:50 PM
    #549
    Maxcustody

    Maxcustody Looking for answers, Refer to the EAD manual.

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    dual battery set up with Blue sea panel...........

    IMG_1572.jpg
     
    robssol likes this.
  10. May 6, 2018 at 8:01 PM
    #550
    Stew22

    Stew22 Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the information.
     
  11. May 10, 2018 at 1:15 PM
    #551
    yote

    yote Washington State University

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    robssol likes this.
  12. May 25, 2018 at 10:52 AM
    #552
    4T3Underhill

    4T3Underhill Well-Known Member

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    Decided to build one myself. There is just enough space to get the factory fuse box cover off, and you kinda have to reach underneath the Aux box to reach the smaller fuse box to get the cover off, but its double. (but how often do you need to get there anyway...;))

    I used this company as a reference in building the aux fuse box. They build custom fuse panels for automotive purposes.
    https://ceautoelectricsupply.com/custom-relay-panels/

    Another reference I used was this thread.
    https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-build-and-install-a-bussmann-rtmr-fuse-relay-block.399454/

    I first needed to find a electrical box that would fit nicely in that location in the engine bay. I also wanted to keep it as factory looking as possible. Another consideration was waterproofing and dust proof. The box cover has a gasket which helps.
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T5AQPA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    And the rubber grommet which the wires comes out of the side of the box is pretty tight. Its not waterproof per say, more water resistant. If your looking for a "full" waterproof option I'd go this route for running the wires.
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0748JLNR...aH&pd_rd_r=QVPQ4M0CHW2QEKSSVMDB&pd_rd_w=vRdWh

    As I wanted to keep this as watertight as possible. I chose to get some of these wire connectors. Which adds a level of safety and reliability. Also makes if very easy when I might ever need to disconnect this system. They make everything from 6pin to 1pin connectors. I opted for the 2pin and 6 pin for my build.
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QTE0PZ6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    I wanted everything electrical to be within this box so space was limited. So I opted to try out these automotive relays which have fuses incorporated in them. They are rated up to 30AMP (which is just fine for the type of Acc ill be running). I chose these instead of having a separate fuse block, just to eliminate more wiring and fuses.
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBAO1SA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Of course another safety feature which you see other members use is a 12v 80amp circuit breaker. I have this mounted in the Aux box and have a 4G wire coming from this out of the box through a grommet to the battery. Blue sea makes a very nice one of these, but a generic one might do the trick such as:
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CZDY4JW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Within the box is two 8 pin bussbars which all my acc wires connect too and ground wires. The wires then continue out of the box to another 6 way plug where I can individually plug each acc wire and ground wire into (such as roof LED or bed LED). Also coming out of the box from the relay are 5 hot wires for my switches that are located inside the truck in the console.
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A770HO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Mounting the box was relatively easy. As there are two mounting bolt holes located in the engine bay right where the box is. To make sure the box is extra secure I made a "Z" shape bracket out of 1/8" thick metal about 1" wide located on the outer side of the box. Which is mounted to the factory bolt of the fuse box and on the underside of the Aux fuse box. (picture will explain better...)

    Feel free to PM me if you have questions. My apologize if this is confusing at all...




    IMG_4719.jpg
    IMG_4718.jpg

    IMG_4052.jpg
    IMG_4171.jpg
    IMG_4708.jpg
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2018
    L3GO_MAST3R, CRW, Stryker420 and 11 others like this.
  13. May 25, 2018 at 10:59 AM
    #553
    Badderup

    Badderup Well-Known Member

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    Very clean. Looks great! Does each relay have it's own fuse attached?
     
    4T3Underhill[QUOTED] likes this.
  14. May 25, 2018 at 11:04 AM
    #554
    bagleboy

    bagleboy Well-Known Member

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    Snug top Rebel, Thule tracks, ditch tracks, Bagged rear suspension, F/R anytime camera, intermittent wiper switch...
    I'd say yes, look at the green dohickeys by each relay.
     
    CRW likes this.
  15. May 25, 2018 at 11:25 AM
    #555
    ACEkraut

    ACEkraut Well-Known Member

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    I think it looks exceptionally clean. Very nice job! I would encourage you to share the information in this thread. It will probably save you a lot of individual replies and I am sure many members would enjoy seeing the information. If you are not willing to share it in this thread then I will start a PM with you to find out.
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2018
    4T3Underhill[QUOTED] likes this.
  16. May 25, 2018 at 11:35 AM
    #556
    4T3Underhill

    4T3Underhill Well-Known Member

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    Yes! I was kinda skeptical on them. But after seeing reviews and such on youtube and other members I bought them. They are great and free up some space which was nice. They are rated up to 30AMP.
     
  17. May 25, 2018 at 11:39 AM
    #557
    4T3Underhill

    4T3Underhill Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely. Ill update my original post with all the info.
     
    ACEkraut[QUOTED] likes this.
  18. May 25, 2018 at 12:51 PM
    #558
    Badderup

    Badderup Well-Known Member

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    Wish this would have been posted about a month ago. I bought one of the Blue Sea fuse blocks and some relays. The two of these together take up a ton of space.
     
    4T3Underhill[QUOTED] likes this.
  19. May 28, 2018 at 4:06 PM
    #559
    here4cake

    here4cake Well-Known Member

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  20. Jun 3, 2018 at 9:19 AM
    #560
    ThorsTRD

    ThorsTRD Pretty good at F'n shit up.

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    Let's just call it my 401K.
    Great thread. Time to get busy on mine now.
     

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