Thread: 12v junction box

Andy

Just go to somewhere like Dick Smiths / Tandy etc., and buy a small project box (size to suit)

Sealed Polycarbonate Box (H2864) - Dick Smith Electronics - Australia.

and also get a plastic connector strip/terminal block (normally 12 connectors to a strip)

12-Pole Terminal Block (P4848) - Dick Smith Electronics - Australia.

Make all your terminations/connections in the box - then run simple wiring/multicore to the socket


PS After you have made all your connections - fill the box with melted candle wax - that will keep it sealed and water tight

Thanks Ladas
Today was a real downer in my trailer project.Just hadnt gazed into my crystal ball with the wiring,and living in a small country town when you realise you need bits it cant happen.Everything up to the all into one cable conversion is mickey mouse.
Will re-do the join when I connect up the trailer dual battery system yet to be sorted.
Andrew

I'll second those boxes as being good - we used two of them at Christmas time last year to hold the dimmers for the (computer controlled) lights.
We had one tied up in a tree, and another buried in the ground; each with about 10 or so wires going into them. After being out in the weather for over a month, they were as good as the day we sealed them up. (And nothing went wrong with our electronics either - all set for this year )

We stuck the cables in through cable glands - which, if you're going to use this sort of box, you probably ought to do - to keep the dust & water-proof rating up.
Putting the seal on the lid properly is a little tricky at first, and takes a bit of patience and practice, but worth doing.

If you want a real water tight seal. You can solder the joins then use Heatshrink Caps. These are a small piece of heatshrink with a closed end, and a gel cartridge in the end. When you heat, it shrinks around the cable and releases the gel and seals the join. We use them in garden lighting.

Probably a bit hard to source in your area, but in the big cities you can just go into a garden light centre and ask for heatshrink caps.

Stu