| Author |
Message |
    
Jeff Anderson (Groovydude)
| | Posted on Friday, October 11, 2002 - 09:43 pm: | 
|
Sorry for the some what stupid question. But i`ve never did any Mods to a vehical before and i`ll be installing a CB tommorow. I want to wire it into the Fuse Box inside the Disco. Now I know where the Fuse Panel is but how do you go about wireing someting into it????
Thanks in advance!!! |
Ken Tipton (Irish_Nv)
| | Posted on Friday, October 11, 2002 - 09:49 pm: |
|
The eaisest way is is to just bare about 1/2" of wire. Pull out the radio fuse and place the wire that you just bared in the fuse slot and put the fuse back in the fuse will hold the wire in. MAKE SURE you put a fuse within 12" of the fuse box on the wite that you just added. There are other way this is the quikest way I wouldn't suggest it for anything with a heavy load but a cb unit will be ok. |
Jeff Anderson (Groovydude)
| | Posted on Friday, October 11, 2002 - 10:02 pm: |
|
Is there any good spots in or near the Fuse Box to ground my other Wire?? |
Ken Tipton (Irish_Nv)
| | Posted on Friday, October 11, 2002 - 11:20 pm: |
|
just use a self tapping screw and ground the wire to any bare metal. |
Erik G. Burrows (Erik)
| | Posted on Sunday, October 13, 2002 - 11:18 pm: |
|
Jeff,
I don't know if you've already installed your CB, but I would strongly recomend another powering solution. I mounted my radio in the center of the roof console, and stole power from the 'HomeLink' box. It's on a 10 amp fuse (if I remember corectly) which is more than enough for a unmodified CB radio. If you're going to mount the radio lower, think about tapping into the cigar lighter, or even running a line direct to the battery.
In the latter case, you can use loop connectors around the battery clamp bolts. Definitely do fuse both wires if you're going direct to the battery.
If you don't want to run two wires to the battery, look around under the front console. All over the place are common grounding taps, which you can utilize.
In my truck, I ran a conduit from the battery area back through the firewall, under the carpet to underneath the passenger seat. There I mounted a 'powerpole' multi-plug, and run my ham radio, amplifier, etc. from there. It's a good solution, but I'm starting to tax the amperage of the wires, so I'm thinking about switching the conduit for a single run of 2/0 welding wire, and tapping to the frame for ground. Anderson powerpoles are very nice for automotive electronics. Check out Powerwerx for powepole products up to 75 amps. |
Al Oliveira (Offroaddisco)
| | Posted on Sunday, October 13, 2002 - 11:30 pm: |
|
Just a heads up for anyone wiring to the cig lighter up front. I'm pretty sure that the front outlet is 1amp (or 2max) so depending on your needs it may not cut it. Mine is also really noisy (CBers PL tone). The rear outlet on the D2 is a 20amp circuit. |
Erik G. Burrows (Erik)
| | Posted on Monday, October 14, 2002 - 12:26 am: |
|
The cigaret lighter is rated at only 1 amp, but it's on a 20 amp fuse. This circuit however utilizes a positive distribution header that may also be used by other things, so beware.
Also, all non-direct circuits will be noisy. All those wires very effectivly conduct the noise of all the gadgets in the truck.
To counter the noise, you can run a direct line to the battery. Sheilded is best, and ground the shield, but not required. You can also purchase an automotive noise filter.
I run a direct line to the battery, and use a filter, which cuts out almost all electrical noise. (I still get some however, on the 6 meter band of my HAM radio.) |
Paul T. Schram (Paulschram)
| | Posted on Monday, October 14, 2002 - 11:04 am: |
|
CBers PL tone LOL!
If you place fuses in both the positive and the negative lines, place a second fuse on both sides of the bulkhead. Otherwise, you can suffer a failure of the ground fuse and find the case of your radio, or the braid of your shield still supplying power to whatever caused the first fuse in the positive side to fail, thus causing such undesirable responses as a fire.
While it seems like a good idea to fuse both sides and was something I advocated for a long time, when the above comment was made to me, I discontinued fusing the ground line and merely fused the positive on both sides of the bulkhead.
For those questioning my comment and asking for the theory behind it, the thought is that the ground fuse might not blow due to the other wires at the same potential carrying some of the current, thus the fuse doesn't get hot and open-circuit. Or worse yet, if the fuse does blow, the return path still exists through the other ground circuits.
CBers PL-I have to share that one with my dad.
Peace,
Paul |
Shane C. (Qsiguy)
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 02:02 am: |
|
You only need to fuse a circuit in 2 places to protect the entire circuit when you wire directly to the battery. #1 fuse needs to be within 10-15 inches of the source (battery + terminal) and the #2 fuse near your accessory (CB). The ground circuit doesn't need a fuse very often but if you are in doubt it won't hurt anything. The purpose of fuse #1 is to protect the wire you ran from catching on fire should it short out and fuse #2 is to protect your accessory. So if you are running several accessories on the same wire from the battery the #1 fuse near the battery should be just larger than the max the current requirement will be for all circuits combined (make sure to use sufficient wire size) and the #2 fuse(s) (one for each accessory) should be proper amp rating for the particular accessory.
You can eliminate many noise problems by keeping your ground wire as short as possible. I never run a ground wire all the way to the battery unless I am installing something on a fiberglass vehicle (like a boat) or where there are no good grounds available. A long ground wire will cause "ground loops" where the ground at one end is different than at the other end or on other related circuits which will often cause noise. Also whenever possible don't run your power wires anywhere near other power wire harnesses (particularly ignition wires).
Shane |
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page