Show off your aux fuse panels.

Hoping to get some help here
I am planning on installing a aux fuse panel and I honestly have no idea what I am doing. Does anyone have a detailed thread on how to do this? I don't even know what fuses to install for my lights and winch, or what gauge of wire I need to connect the breaker to the battery. Any help would be much appreciated!!

 

I hope mine can look this clean after! I don't even know where to start right now to make sure I do this right lol.

 

Takes a little bit of time. I'm OCD and didn't want excess or a rats nest of wires. So I've been making everything exact length in terms of the power/ground for the panel and how I wanted it routed. This is the set I made for @ChadsPride

And for the accessories I'm hooking to it, I'm taking my time, routing nicely, wrap in loom, exact length with a little excess.

Wanted the ditch light harness to look somewhat factory, like it's supposed to be there too lol

 

I would recommend purchasing a finished product like the SPOD:

http://www.4x4spod.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=700-Mod

It's pricey, but you'll spend damn near that building your own aux fuse panel
/relay set up. Trust me.

---

EDIT: SwitchPros is another great option:

http://www.switchpros.com/

 

What gauge wire are you using to connect to the battery? Also, what fuses do you recommend for lights?

Thanks!

 

Ya the spod is nice af! You only route one pre-made harness into the cab and hook up to your switches. And here I am making switch harnesses

 

I used 8g copper wire and copper eyelets for the power/ground cables for the aux panel. I'm not running on board air or a winch. And for 0-4ft 8g is perfectly fine given the circuit breaker is 100a. For my LED lights hooked to the panel I'm using 15a fuses

 

This is a pretty good write up of a diy solution.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wiring-an-aux-fuse-block-relays-and-switches-in-a-2016.401253/
This will explain a lot about the wiring and ratings for everything.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...fuse-relay-block.399454/page-20#post-15763685.

 

Thank you! That helps a lot! Could you use 10g for hooking it to the battery?

 

Thank you!

 

Personally I wouldn't depending on what all you will be hooking up to it. I will only be running some led lights and whatnot. Someone else will have to chime in to give you a better answer. But I used the chart I posted. My circuit breaker is 100a, and wires are less than 4ft so I went with 8g. Bought 5ft red and 5ft black from O'Reillys via bulk wire. Made my set and chads set, and still have enough left over for another lol.

 

When building an auxiliary power setup or adding another electrical accessory, I use BlueSea's Circuit Wizard to calculate the appropriate wire gauge based upon the amp draw and wire length. It's a great tool. I find the website version is a bit more user friendly when compared to the mobile app.

http://circuitwizard.bluesea.com/

 

I really appreciate the help. Sorry for pestering with a lot of questions.

☺️

 

No problem! I'll help with what I can, but that's what TW is for

 

Here's a link to the thread that I've been studying along with this one and others. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-build-and-install-a-bussmann-rtmr-fuse-relay-block.399454/
Basically, you size wire according to the current load of your auxiliary device and choose the fuse to match. Relays are used to control currents that are too high for a switch. The battery cables to the auxiliary block need to handle the current of all the auxiliary devices it fuses and have its own separate fuse or breaker that matches the auxiliary block max current. The wires going to the switches that control the relays carry less current(~100mA) so they don't need to be as heavy as the auxiliary device wires. Lots to learn but if you take the time it sinks in eventually. Don't worry about asking questions, worst case somebody eats their size 12's trying to make you feel small.

 

Thank you! It's been great learning all of this. I just didn't realize how much there was to learn! But this is all part of the reason why I got my truck.

 

To calculate amperage for each circuit / load -
Take the rated power of your device (expressed in watts) : Current (amps) = Power (Watts) / 13.6 VDC
- you could also use 12V as the Voltage value for loads operating when the engine is not running.

To determine the best size fuse - ex If the calculated current value comes out to 7.8 Amps - the next available fuse sizes are either 5A or 10A; install the next size up at 10A. Your wire size should be rated as per the fuse size.

For LED lights, typically the rated power is theoretical. Ex a 50W LED comprised of ten 5W LEDs is not run at the rated LED power as it would self destruct. Typically the actual power & current is 75% of rated maximum. That said, fuses are there to blow quickly if something goes wrong, and the current value, typically when something goes wrong increases rapidly. A Fuse rated at 10A will tolerate 10A load for a few seconds, whereas if the current rises rapidly above 10A the fuse will blow much faster reacting in a few thousands of a second.

 

Actually, fuses are rated to hold 110% of their rated capacity nearly indefinitely at room temperature, so a 10A fuse will hold 11 amps without burning out. There are derating factors that come into play at higher temperatures but it takes a lot of heat to get to a 10% derating of the fuse. Take a look at the fuse datasheet linked below. Even at 60C (140F), you're only at a derating of 5% of the rated capacity. A 10A fuse would act like a 9.5A fuse and hold 10.5A without burning out. If you want the fuse to burn out at a specific current/time threshold then you would want to downsize your fuse.

http://www.littelfuse.com/~/media/a...fuses/littelfuse_lowprofilemini_datasheet.pdf

 

Yes, you can get fuses with different ratings/ time delays but generally when something goes wrong, the amperage climbs rapidly, and the fuse blows. If you have sensitive electronics then specific fast blow fuses are used, but for automotive use, normal delays are fine. For motor loads such as an air compressor, resettable circuit breakers are better, as the motor has a hi in rush current that can sometimes pop fuses that react too quickly.

 

Yonah... Love the truckbed! That is some mad work there. I wish I had that! Eventually I'll get to the Dual Battery Set-up