12V power source faq

CMS-GT4

Active member
What about the fuel pump? Has anyone had their walboro fuel pump burn up by wiring it in the same way as in the directions?
 

Denver_whiteST185

New member
I just say this and though this info would be good to sticky. Please, if there's any informative threads that need to be stickie'd, just pm me
 

toayoztan

Moderator
Hey guys. I plan on running a distribution block. I have 3 gauges and a spal fan to hook up. On the distribution block, i know i can double up gauges to run off one fuse, but my question is, how do i know how large of a fuse to put in in the distribution block? Do i look at the specs for the manuals, or do i just keep (within reason) adding a bigger fuse, til it quits blowing?

Also, i plan to hook up a bosch relay inbetween the battery and distribution block, and using a switch (such as antenna, radio, etc, like Gary mentioned) to complete the connection to the distribution block when i turn the car on. So my quesiton is, will the bosch relay hold the amperage, after hooking up all 3 gauges, and the spal fan? If i want to hook up more and more stuff, would hooking up yet another distribution block with another bosch relay be better? I think if i'm on the right track of thinking, if i hook up too much still to the distribution block, it'll pull to much amperage and blow the bosch relay...right?

I know how to set all this up and how to hook up relays, i'm just curious, again as mentioned above, what fuses to get for the distribution block, and if the bosch relay will hold up.

Or I might do with Simba did, put a big inline fuse in source. Then have bosch relays coming off the distribution block.

I have another question though...don't they have relays rated with higher amperage, say 50amps? Then all you would have to do is have one trigger going to that relay (inbetween the batt and dist block), and be done with it (which is the same idea that Gary mentioned..just rated higher amperage).

Thanks!

Bryan
 

toayoztan

Moderator
Okay so i was thinking of something like this. Is this okay? Where do i need to stick fuses?

Excuse the "detail", as i was bored and a little buzzed last night :)

wiringfh4.png


Bryan
 

GT4RC

New member
1BADGT4":33mi43gm said:
I would put fuses between the "Constant 12v source" and the assc.

Yes, and fuses are put in place to prevent burning up the wire that they are installed to, meaning the size of fuse required is relative to the guage of wire, and should always be installed as close to the source as possible, which is why many power distribution blocks integrate a fuse block. and make sure you install a fuse between the block and the battery, relative to the guage of wire.

Here is a fantastic site to reference to:
http://www.the12volt.com/
 

justjoe

New member
I just got this so I could wire everything nicely..

blue_sea_5025.jpg


http://www.amotostuff.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=BS-5025&Category_Code=

It was really hard to find one with ATC fuses..
This can be run with or without the cover.. which is nice.

I know it is a pain to sit and run the relay and everything else, but I figure that once it is done, I will have it available for atleast 6 devices running inside the car.

And since I will be running an HKS boost Gauge (w/memory), a PLX AFR and a PLX display.. that will be 3 right there.
I will update with pics in the project thread when I am done with the install. (what a pain).

Then I will have to think about installing the Alarm!! :shoots: :shoots: :shoots:
 

WarTowels

Active member
Can I make a "common" ground for all my electronics- say 3 gauge pods.

Short wires (14gauge) coming off the three gauges, and then connecting to a 8 gauge amp wire which would then be grounded? Instead of using 3 long wires and grounding them all, they would just connect to a thicker gauge and just the one wire would be grounded.

Hopefully that makes sense.

-Towels
 

bluemonkey

New member
IMO, I would go that route just make sure the wire will have a good contact. I figure, that way if there is a problem with the wiring, it'll be easier to point out which one has the problem. If all three go out at once, you know its the ground unless more devices go out that are set on this ground.

One thing though, should one of the gauges get a large charge that exceeds how much it can handle, would it toss the extra into the ground and pass to the other gauges? I really doubt that can happen but I'm not 100%.
 

txironhead

New member
CMS-GT4":1m5bq6f8 said:
I really wish there was a simple how to book to into car electronics.

http://www.amazon.com/Automotive-El...r_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235366019&sr=8-14


We did a distribution block on my nephew's Mustang, the PO had about 15 wires running to the hatch where there used to be several amps, crossovers, neons and all kinds of crap. We yanked all but two, used one to pull a single heavy gauge (2ga, I believe) wire for the distribution block and the other to connect to the radio's acc wire for the relay to the distribution block. We mounted everything to the back of his subwoofer box, and after 2 12" subs, 2 6X9's, two amps, powered crossover and several ducted cooling fans were installed, you really had to look to see the wires. We got the positive distribution block at an audio shop, the relay from a local supply store (forget which one), and for the grounds we actually got a "ground strip", the kind you'll find in your house's circuit breaker, from the local hardware store and grounded it directly to a body-to-chassis bolt. Everything was tested for correct voltage and worked like a charm. We did an inline fuse before the relay and most of the electronics had built-in fuses. Later on, we wired in a "bypass" so he could "daisy chain" with his friends when they had a party and have several speaker systems in different cars running off of the same cd. Apparently one of his friends had one of those "welder" alternators on his big truck and had the setup to power several systems with only one vehicle running.

It's not a hard thing to install and set up, but once you do, it makes later electronic addons, not to mention hiding the wiring, SOOO much easier. Also, most things that require a "constant on" need it for flash memory, like the radio settings on your stereo, and they don't require mega amperage, so having a smaller, lower draw block for those might be a good idea, and just set it up with it's own master fuse before the relay going to the big distribution block.
 

DudeMan

New member
Is it okay to use glass style fuses in the distribution block?

There's a ton on eBay that use the glass style but none that use blade like Gary posted.
 

MWP

New member
CMS-GT4":1nacz58v said:
So I made this to connect all my under dash grounds. MWP says not to. Can someone explain why?
photoxi.jpg

Because when you pull more current through one, youll get a voltage drop across the rest.

Dirty ASCII:
Code:
CHASSIS GND ------ wire ------- JOIN |--------- wire1
                                     |--------- wire2
                                     |--------- wire3
                                     |--------- wire4

An extreme example...
Assume you pull 10A through wire1, which due to the resistance of the wire creates a 1V drop in the wire section from CHASSIS GND to the JOIN.
All the rest of the wires will no longer be at 0V (chassis ground level), instead they will be at 1V.

You may pull far less than 10A, so have much less of a voltage drop, but some equipment (like gauges) will be very sensitive to this and it'll throw off readings.

Im not saying it'll create problems, but in practice it is a bad thing to do if you can avoid it.
This is how ground loops are created (audio guys will know all about this).
 
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