MarcusOReallyus
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This was a fun little project, and I thought some of you might find it interesting.
A while back I did the resistor bypass, and I upgraded the GP wiring when I did. You can read about that here.
Along with that, I wanted to clean up the wiring to the 12v junction block. I had a burned connector there, and I didn’t like the fact that that particular wire runs a pretty good distance with no overcurrent protection (fuse) of any kind.
Here’s that burned connector:
As with the last project, I had the cables made by BestBoatWire.com, using the clear heat shrink option on the terminals. I really like that, because it lets me keep an eye on the condition of the terminal.
To keep Tim from yelling at me again, I added some wire loom to a few places, and a few places he didn’t mention. I hadn’t really paid attention to it in the past, but when I started this project I found that the factory wiring is really not well protected AT ALL. There are two points where hot wires lie across an edge of grounded metal, and one point where the main lead to the starter lays along the inner fender. Zero protection! So, I added some loom to those points, too. Take a look at a few before and after:
I also corrected a mistake that doghead pointed out, and took my 12v feed directly from the front battery terminal, instead of from the rear battery negative post.
Back on another thread, antennaclimber measured the maximum load on the 12v loads (cab, lights, headlights, the whole shebang) at ~30 amps, IIRC. I fused the new circuit at 40, and mounted the fuse holder to the inner fender wall near the battery. Now that circuit is protected before it starts its long trip across the firewall, and I have one less fusible link to mess with. (I hate fusible links.)
Now that it’s installed, I wish I had stayed one gauge size down. Yeah, I said down. Smaller. Less copper. Bigger is not always better. Even though it was only about a buck more for the size I used, it’s just not necessary. It’s only carrying 30 amps, max (less if you have a headlight relay mod, on my to-do list) and this is just pointless overkill. I do like some overkill, but this is just a bit over the top.
Still, things are better than they were. On my future list is getting rid of the rest of the fusible links, but that’s a story for another day. (I hate fusible links.)
A while back I did the resistor bypass, and I upgraded the GP wiring when I did. You can read about that here.
Along with that, I wanted to clean up the wiring to the 12v junction block. I had a burned connector there, and I didn’t like the fact that that particular wire runs a pretty good distance with no overcurrent protection (fuse) of any kind.
Here’s that burned connector:
As with the last project, I had the cables made by BestBoatWire.com, using the clear heat shrink option on the terminals. I really like that, because it lets me keep an eye on the condition of the terminal.
To keep Tim from yelling at me again, I added some wire loom to a few places, and a few places he didn’t mention. I hadn’t really paid attention to it in the past, but when I started this project I found that the factory wiring is really not well protected AT ALL. There are two points where hot wires lie across an edge of grounded metal, and one point where the main lead to the starter lays along the inner fender. Zero protection! So, I added some loom to those points, too. Take a look at a few before and after:
I also corrected a mistake that doghead pointed out, and took my 12v feed directly from the front battery terminal, instead of from the rear battery negative post.
Back on another thread, antennaclimber measured the maximum load on the 12v loads (cab, lights, headlights, the whole shebang) at ~30 amps, IIRC. I fused the new circuit at 40, and mounted the fuse holder to the inner fender wall near the battery. Now that circuit is protected before it starts its long trip across the firewall, and I have one less fusible link to mess with. (I hate fusible links.)
Now that it’s installed, I wish I had stayed one gauge size down. Yeah, I said down. Smaller. Less copper. Bigger is not always better. Even though it was only about a buck more for the size I used, it’s just not necessary. It’s only carrying 30 amps, max (less if you have a headlight relay mod, on my to-do list) and this is just pointless overkill. I do like some overkill, but this is just a bit over the top.
Still, things are better than they were. On my future list is getting rid of the rest of the fusible links, but that’s a story for another day. (I hate fusible links.)
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