What To Do

[swilliams]

This is for my 86 C10. I am not good with electrical so i need some direction. As it stands i have an MSD Ignition, Alt and 2 40 amp compressors that are wired to my battery. It looks messy not to mention i will be adding electric fans FITech fuel command center and a Holley sniper EFI. What can i do to clean it up. Please any options will be better than the mess i will have. Thanks.

[1967KaiserM715]

I would create a relay/fuse center under the hood, run 1 power wire to it, from there you can add switches to run your accessories if needed. since most of your extra needs are always in need of power(with the exception of the com-pressors) a simple Blue Sea System fuse block could cover most of your needs-you will need to verfiy amp rationgs of your accesories-most fuse blocks are only rated for 30 amps per circuit(up to 100 amp total). this is where relays come into play allowing more amperage straight from the battery.

consolidating wires, and using loom will do great things in making the wiring look better, plus it makes it easy to route the loom, then trying to feed each separate wire in a different location.

[swilliams]

i have not used relays on anything it just seems to add more wires to the problem. 4 or 5 wires instead of just the 1. What will a relay do for me.

[80Chevy4x4]

A relay lets you run one power wire to it and then you run wires to the places it needs to go...it will clean up the wire mess and it will also protect your system because it takes just a little power to activate the relay allowing full power to power the accessories.

[bd]

i have not used relays on anything it just seems to add more wires to the problem. 4 or 5 wires instead of just the 1. What will a relay do for me.

Essentially, a relay allows a high-current circuit to be controlled by a physically separate and discrete low-current circuit.  Relays transfer the burden of electrical load, eliminate voltage losses across long wire runs, and isolate control circuitry from corresponding load wiring, which allows appliance control to be managed through smaller gauge wires and lighter duty switches.  Small gauge wire is more flexible and requires less space inside loom than large gauge wire, decreasing loom cross section and making the loom visually less obtrusive.

But, the use of relays must be selective.  For instance, the MSD box and alternator should not be wired through relays - they need direct, as short as possible connections to B+ and ignition.  On the other hand, the air compressors, e-fans, electric fuel pump, and any other high current draw appliances that require driver or microprocessor control will benefit from relays.

Determine exactly what you are going to run and where appliances will be located on the vehicle, then evaluate the electrical requirements and plan the layout accordingly.

[swilliams]

does that mean i can run more than 1 accessory off of 1 relay reducing the number of wires coming off of my battery?

[bd]

does that mean i can run more than 1 accessory off of 1 relay reducing the number of wires coming off of my battery?

As long as you want all of the connected accessories to energize simultaneously.

Whether you run relays or not, there shouldn't be more than two connections to each battery terminal.  This is because every connection increases the potential for moisture intrusion and corrosion.  In addition, every connection introduces a small amount of inherent resistance.  During times of low current flow, added resistance may have negligible effect.  But, when current flow increases, such as during engine cranking, air compressors pumping, cooling fans running, power windows rolling up or down, alternator charging at high output, etc, a small amount of extraneous resistance can become significant and cause voltage losses that impeded appliance function.  Extraneous voltage losses can grossly hurt electrical performance.  If you have many accessories that need direct connections to B+, you should mount a junction block in a convenient location and connect it to the battery through an appropriately gauged cable.  Then all of your added accessories can connect to the junction block.

[swilliams]

Thanks for the help.

[roundhouse]

The fuse boxes from jeep Cherokees are easy to add in
They have plenty of fuses and relays

The fuse box that's on top of the batteries in a lot of volkswagens are an easy way to add several fuses. The v w ones have large fuses some are 30-50 amps


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[swilliams]

Thanks for the idea.