Thread: Check here before your wire up!

Folks, if you’re planning on doing any wiring or getting some wiring do, I suggest you first post up what you want to get done on AULRO and get info on what is the correct way to do what ever you are planning on wiring up before you do your wire up.

The reason I have made this suggestion because I have just rewire a Land Rover that has been damaged by an electrical fire.

The story behind what happened demonstrates that even when an owner does what he or she thinks is the right thing to do, disasters can happen through the incompetence and out right negligence of so called professionals.

I’m not naming the owner or the type of LR because the results could easily be the same for any Land Rover.

I supplied a kit to a dealership to install a dual battery system in the engine bay of the Land Rover.

The kit was installed as per the instructions.

Then some time later, the owner needed the Land Rover to be wired up to be able to power a 3 way fridge and charge a house battery in a caravan.

An auto electrician carried out the work.

A month or so back, there was a fire in the engine bay of the Land Rover.

While the damage was limited to the engine bay and was covered by insurance, it was still a very lucky owner that the fire was not a lot worse.

The cause of the fire was a result of the poor quality work carried out by a number of different people, from the auxiliary battery back to the caravan.

For a start, the autolec had installed 6mm AUTO cable ( 4.5mm2 ) for both the fridge circuit and the battery charging circuit and had used 25 amp circuit breakers on each cable.

The fact that the cable was WAY under size and would have cause a huge voltage drop over that length, to be able to be of any real use, as a so called tradesman, the autolec SHOULD have know better.

Then some “PROFESSIONAL” had provided a lead that connects between the rear of the 4x4 to the caravan plug and had used 15 amp 240vac extension cord flex to connect the battery, fridge and common earth return.

This is nothing short of criminal negligence.

So this left the system with a 25 amp circuit breaker at one end and a 20 fuse in caravan at the other end, and 15 amp wire in the middle.

So as I have suggested, if anybody is contemplating getting some wiring done, before you get the job done, post up the details of work you want done and there are quite a few on this forum who can give you the info you need to make sure any quote you get for the job and once the job is done that it is effective for what you intend to use it for and it is safe.

Its a safety thing....

I've personally been caught out by this doing a partial rewire on one of my vehicles to add a trailer plug, I didnt think to check the rest of the workmanship on the vehicle and burnt out the entire harness at one central point. I got lucky and got the battery off and fire out in time to save the vehicle then scavanged enough wiring to get basic instruments and engine power up to cover the last 200km.


Im not sure about others but if you can get the car to me (or I'm coming your way for another job) I'm always happy to throw the MK I's over something for free if its a safety issue.