RFRM Bussman Fuse Box & Relays - SPOD? HA!

Appreciated.

If you were just referring to the Sharpies and the drilled block of wood(drilled a hole all the way through one direction, then using a step bit, did a hole in the intersection from above). -> I ran out of different colored wire to use. Instead of ordering more. I drilled a block of wood as a jig for striping the white wire I had already. That way I could visually identify the lead I was working with. Even cooler is that I made the holes on both sides so I could stripe 2 colors at once if I wanted or needed to.


The RFRM is basically a Fuse box that also houses Relays similar to out OEM Fuse boxes on our respective vehicles. Some of us used the Blue sea Fuse block. 3 things wrong with it, 1. it is only a fuse block, 2. on our vehicles water resistance is a nice feature to have. They blue sea block is no where near water anything 3. being it is only a fuse block, we still need to mount our relays somewhere.

In this thread -> http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/69853-blue-sea-aux-fuse-block-install.html

They did a nice clean install, however, the relays are STILL just hanging in the wind. I can tell you from less than a year on my exposed relays. I have corrosion on mine and that is not a good thing., it decreases the DTF (duration til failure).

Heres a pic from that thread showing the relays on the right side. This is an ok example. There are some that have 10 or so just attached everywhere under the hood.



Here is one from another board showing what some people do with the relays - FYI - Interesting camera setup on his rig too.



RFRM -> everything in one box, wiring from the rear to make it cleaner, and being water proof / IP66 rated is top notch for me.

 

Another great write up too -> http://offroadpassport.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1228

 

Small update on mine. I was shipped the wrong connectors. The company is shipping out the right ones to me now, so that gives me a little time to further research the connectors


Free of charge! CCI great company to deal with.

 

Tonight, I tackled ~200' of excess 12 gauge wire I installed for accessories. Additionally, I cleaned up a little of the engine bay mess in preparation for the RFRM install.

I had a horrible HUM whenever I used the lights and the radio at the same time. Resolves that issue. Decided to ground ALL the accessories as close to each of them as possible. Everything still works, and NO RF NOISE! :smile:

Jumpered all the switches together (constant power, and negative/ground). Ran a dedicated Ground-, and a Dedicated Constant+ fused for the switches. Removed all the individual leads of each for the 6 switches/ accessories that I have.

The hardest part about tonight? Fighting the mosquitos and other biting flies!

Also decided on a neat little accessory I am going to put in mine. A couple inches of the 5050 LED Strips that I have. small switch in there too. That way i can mess with it and use the cover as a flashlight.

Now, I already have a hood light I made myself. It provides TONS of light. I can see everything great! But thats the problem, so much light the alcoholic neighbor gets upset and raises hell with me. In this case, Less is more!

 

After and before ripping half the wire out. Can't wait to get the rest of that mess of relays out of there. Just need the proper 280 terminals, Wednesday. Thursday or late Wednesday night install.



This was before, looked a little cleaner, but you couldn't fit one more wire in that hole.

 

Hard to tell, but changed the fuses from full sized and wrong amps. To Mini Fuses in the right amperage per accessory. When I sell this Blue Sea box, theres going to be lots of Full sized fuses to populate it if the price is right.

 

We can justify however we want. I do not like corrosion.

 

I really hope you were using wire grommet to protect those wires from chaffing on the firewall.

 

Am. The initial pic was when I had all the wires protected with loom. Then the next set was after I pulled all the extra wire out. Before I used a piece of loom to line that hole. 2 days left before I drop the RFRM in there.

Need to work on fabbing a mount now.

 

There are many people with the seemingly organized fuse panels in the trucks that could be even cleaner. A short walk through on HOW to accomplish what I mention here. Some things you need to get before we start.

1. wire stripper, or a nice razor and some patience.
2. What am I saying, you NEED a sharp razor or knife for this also. Get one.
3. Wire Diagram for YOUR switches
4. Locate the Switched+/ Trigger+ from your relay to the fuse <- important wires! 1 on each relay.
5. Optional, soldering iron.


Looks good, right? Clean, organized.



GO from that to this



Wiring diagram



Irwin Vice Grip wire strippers.
-

I like to start in the middle of the wire, closest to the last switch on either side. Reason being is the strippers stretch the plastic on the wire and sometimes make you think you have more on the opposite end than you really do.

SO figure out where you want to have your wire harness come out and leave a foot and a half of extra wire to work with

Like so.



Strip back the wire twice. so that you have about 3/4" of exposed wire.



Take your razor or a knife and remove the piece of wire sheathing in the center.



Now that the sheathing is removed, you can fold the wire in half and twist it together.



With these connectors, you can open them up and remove the spade clip. Pull the wire through the opposite end where it would normally go and either CRIMP, SOLDIER, or BOTH. Pull it back through and close it all up.



Completed Termination.



Repeat as many times as it takes to reach all the switches you have in your array.



Then repeat on the next color for each run.

 

Or instead of spade clips. You could use some solder and heat shrink or electrical tape. Just jumper each wire over themselves.

 

Now that is cool. What a great idea with the loop and the 90* terminals.
Will definitely be using your idea....

 

You can adapt that to any redundancy in an electrical system. If no 90°, use regular vertical ones. You could solder directly to the switch. Even use this for the relays themselves for the positive and negative wires.

 

I did pretty much the same thing except I used the otrattw sockets.

 

Nice. Any pics?

 

Some new flame retardant braided loom came in today.

3/8" & 1/4"

 

Finally I can start re-crimping

Correct one on the right

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Nice. Progress!

No problem any time!

 

Any ideas on a waterproof container I can just put 8 relays in?