Accessory Wiring

[gitney]

Hi All,

I'm not sure if there is already a thread on this subject but i've just put some extra wiring in my 110 to get ready to put some accessories in and i thought i'd put up a few photo's of what i've done. I thought it's a bout time i contributed something to this forum instead of just pickin everyone elses brains. :)

I pulled two new cables with a 60 amp fuse on the +ive directly from the battery box over to the space under the driver seat. See photos. (Currently i've only got one battery but this wiring is ready to be swapped over onto a second battery once the finances are in order )

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I pulled the cables through the existing hole where the earth cables currently come through, and on the drivers side the cables came nicely through a hole through the back of the box.

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Then i made up a box mainly from Jaycar parts which had three terminal strips, and a 60amp plus capacity automotive relay. One strip has a constant 12V, the other is an Accessory 12V driven by the relay, and the other is the earth strip. I'm driving the relay from the accessories fuse for the cigg lighter fuse in the fuse box under the steering wheel. I forgot to take a photo of it but i got a fuse from jaycar that has a little wire coming out of one end that i can use to tap into the circuit. I did this because i didn't want to touch any exisiting wiring at all. Be careful with this type of fuse that you make sure you get the fuse the right way round so that when/if it blows you're wire is isolated from the voltage.
I put the box on the far right side of the drivers side wiring box.

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Currently i've only wired a couple of extra 12v cigg lighter type ports in, (one under the dash, and one in the centre glove box). But the reason i made everything so juicy is because i want to be able to wire my compressor off this circuit, and whatever else that comes along in the future. I've also made sure i fuse anything going out of the box. There should be enough capacity to power everything i need.

Cheers.

[Felix]

Looks like a nice setup mate, I've done a similar thing on my RRC. However, I have just put one power distribution terminal for constant power (T30), and have run three fuse boxes off this point. One T15 (ignition switched) one TR (accessories) and one T30 (constant power). I have six fuses per terminal. This way, you have everything fused and safe, and very organised.

There is a fuse box you can purchase from vehicle wiring products in the uk which has two input terminals- so you can run one fuse box with two banks of 6 fuses.

But that's just another way of doing it- your way is still much better than 99% of other trucks I see (auto sparky)!!!

[iPom]

As Felix says well done...at least you've put some well placed thought into your project....I've seen countless appalling 12 volt installs on many varied vehicles and boats. I personally would have done it differently although yours will work fine. I assume you are going to use in line fuse holders? If you can, run a feed to a fuse panel as Felix as done. This way you can label it and all your fuses are in one bank, it's a lot easier.

[CraigE]

Good stuff. I used a Blue Seas fuse box with positive and negative bus bar.

[Beckford]

I forgot to take a photo of it but i got a fuse from jaycar that has a little wire coming out of one end that i can use to tap into the circuit.

Did the fuse look like the attached?

(Just picked it up from Jaycar at Lunch. Have to double check the fuse size tonight.)

How do I work out how many accessories I can safely run off a the vehicle's standard battery / alternator?

I assume that it is a good idea to install a second battery system, for large fridges or HF radios?

[gitney]

Hi Beckford,

Yep that is the type fuse i got. Like i said before, make sure you plug the fuse in the right way round so that if the fuse blows it cuts off the circuit to the little wire dangling out of it.

I think the puma alternator is 150A? i could be wrong. I don't know how much max current draw the car draws but i'd say that a fridge + HF radio + a lot of other things would be fine when the car is running. Spotlights and winches are probly the thirstiest accessories. A fridge only draws 3 or 4 amps when its running, so the main reason for second battery is for when you're stopped for a while. To figure out how much load all of your accessories put on the circuit just look on the back of the device and it should tell you how many max amps of milli amps the device draws then just add them all up.

Cheers,
Chris

[chook73]

Hey Gitney nice work, I am not sure if you have seen it but Daniel from Mulgo (vendor on this site) does a product called the ex-box which relocates all of the electrics from under the drivers seat to under the centre cubby.

I cant recommend doing this enough, not only do you get all of your electrics higher and a handy arm rest but you also get a lot of storage under the drivers seat.

I put a post up the other day with a photo of the interior of mine if you scroll down.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/members-rides/85537-chooks-new-defender-110-a.html

It also might be worth checking how much your compressor draws, mine is a 40amp.

[Beckford]

I also agree the X-Box is a great bit of gear.

High quality and the instructions are excellent.

My favourite feature is the space I now have under the drivers seat for recovery gear, tools and spare parts.