M1009 - 12 V Power Distribution Block - Battery Preference

[MakeReady]

Hi SS Community - MakeReady in Texas - Just finishing a bunch on interior upgrades including radios - lights etc...

I am adding a 12V Only power distribution block or two in the front and back of cab.

Question: Is there any known preference for which battery I would draw the 12V feed to the distribution block?

My thinking is the rear battery as it is not being used for the starting load.

Thanks for the feedback and have a great week!

 

[MakeReady]

Hi SS Community - MakeReady in Texas - Just finishing a bunch on interior upgrades including radios - lights etc...

I am adding a 12V Only power distribution block or two in the front and back of cab.

Question: Is there any known preference for which battery I would draw the 12V feed to the distribution block?

My thinking is the rear battery as it is not being used for the starting load.

Thanks for the feedback and have a great week!

UPDATE: I maybe stepping into it here - I was just looking at the batteries and the rear battery negative is not chassis ground (12v potential there), whereas the front battery negative terminal is chassis ground. So it appears I will have to use the front battery to establish a 12v distribution point. Does that make sense?

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[NDT]

Yup that makes sense. For light electrical loads you could use the existing 12 volt power stud near the glowplug solenoid.

 

[Keith_J]

Yes, the back battery can be used IF you remember to isolate the negative and properly fuse both negative and positive.

By using the 12 volt key switched positive as the negative for such a system, any additional load reduces current going through the ignition switch.

This is how I have my 12 volt power set up. For the rear lights inside the M1031 box, I used pairs of 12 volt LED light strips in series, these are now 24 volt lights.

 

[MakeReady]

Ok thanks for the feedback NDT and Keith - I will connect busbars to the front battery and from there to my new fuse blocks. I am looking for some high saturation ferrites for EMI filtering as well that will connect to each fusebox feed (currently one for the front cab and one for the rear cab). Also will do some load testing once i get all these harnesses built and lights / radios / M102 connected. Have a great evening and keep Making Ready!