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cewilson
11th November 2008, 08:00 PM
I started rewiring the rear of the old girl today. Previously I had the fridge hard wired into the secondary battery with an in-line fuse, and no other power at the rear of the vehicle.

Well I went into Jaycar and picked up 4 x Merit Plugs, and 4 x Merit sockets. I also finally mounted my work lights to the rear of the roof rack for those nights were I always seem to set up in the dark! :angel:

I started by drilling a couple of holes at the back of the roof rack, and mounting the work lights:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album837/Misc_009.jpg

I then wired them up for a merit plug. Considering they draw approx 6 amps at most, and the merit plugs handle 20 amps I am happy with the way it is. I didn't want to drill a hole in the roof, (yes I know I have holes everywhere else) hence why it's not permanently wired. And in all seriousness, how often do you really use them?

From there I sorted out the fusebox. For this I used parts from Jaycar - I x enclosure and 2 x 4 way fuse gang blocks. I've fused both sides (positive and earth) because I can. No need to do it, but I did. :p

http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album837/Misc_001.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

Wiring is stuff I had around the shed, but all of it is minimum rated to 30 amps (in reality you only need 15 or so). From there I fitted the merit sockets. This ended up being a pain in the bum, as the thread is 12mm long - and so was the plywood I was mounting it into. :mad:

And at 18mm, it isn't a small diameter either. However a bit of (not so good) work with the drill piece worked that problem out. Hint - fit these bloody things BEFORE you fit the storage drawers into the vehicle. :angel:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

Oops - the fuse box is located on the passenger side - same side as the battery. I ran the wiring through the side of the storage box. The wiring is all in conduit to protect it - however each line is also fused. The two wires you see without conduit is my main power feed - I am yet to connect that up and finalise it. :cool:

http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album837/Misc_008.jpg

I ran two lines across to the drivers side storage box for the fridge and light that side. It also is inside of conduit. I attached it to the cargo barrier with zip ties (real high tech here) :lol:

http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album837/Misc_007.jpg

Completed:

http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album837/Misc_006.jpg

http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album837/Misc_005.jpg

With one of the lights plugged in:

http://www.4wdlinks.com.au/albums/album837/Misc_004.jpg


Tomorrow I need to complete the line to the battery. I am also tidying up the battery area, so I'll most likely put up a post about my dual battery system. Bet there aren't many (if any) Defenders running around with a 830 CCA main battery and a 140 A/H deep cycle :wink:

Cheers
Chris

EchiDna
11th November 2008, 09:48 PM
looks great, but I fear you will lose your lights the first tree that rubs along the roof rack on a track... bye bye worklights....

slug_burner
11th November 2008, 11:02 PM
looks great, but I fear you will lose your lights the first tree that rubs along the roof rack on a track... bye bye worklights....

dito

use the rack to protect the lights at least when you are travelling forwards.

cewilson
12th November 2008, 07:16 AM
The lights fold inwards when I'm not using them (back towards the inside of the roof rack). I did look at this and that's why I chose there to mount them. The other thing is one 13mm bolt either side and they are both off the bracket if I needed too.

However saying that - I'll definately have to be more careful in the future than I have been previously.

Cheers
Chris