New fuse & relay panel

[RRoller123]

I did 2 relays and fuses for my headlight relays and it is a good thing, because coming back from a club meeting awhile ago I left the high beams on during a dark country portion of the ride and my wife and I had our wits scared out of us when they suddenly went out and we were barrelling along a twisty road at 50mph in the pitch black, no moon. Fortunately the low beam circuit worked. Turns out I had made a miscalculation of the current draw for the high beams and the fuse just blew. Wiring capacity was fine. A simple fuse value change corrected the problem. After that I tested the High and Low beam circuits by leaving them on for a full half hour each in the driveway (with the engine running) to be sure they were reliable enough to trust at night. You get some redundancy if you use 2 separate circuits and that is a reeeeaaallly good thing with lights.

[blurple124]

Okay, this is all good to know. I was planning on doing what you are saying, with 1 relay and fuse for the low and another set for the high.

Maytag, I get what you are saying now. That is a clever thought, I will have to look into that!
When I do my rewire (which will probably be next summer, but I am planning it out first) I will probably put LED lights in for everything except the headlights and alternator warning indicator. In doing this, I figure 18 gauge wire will be plenty on pretty much everything except electric motors (wiper, fans, pumps) and power from the starter stud to the alternator then also to the fuse box from there.

Any problems with this thinking from your experience? I guess I'm not really sure what kind of current draw to expect from some of the components.

[basarabam]

This is also on my list. I tore out EVERYTHING under the dash, forward and back. Seemed like a whole LOT of wires, where the heck did they all go? LoL!

Sometimes I think I bite off more than I can chew. I am a proficient fabricator, mid level mechanic, but a novice when it comes to electronics. I just couldnt take looking at all those wires and knowing there was so much wasted space and confusion! My OCD kicked into high gear I guess.

Hopefully you will allow me to pick your brain on this one!

[maytag]

I tore out EVERYTHING under the dash, forward and back. Seemed like a whole LOT of wires, where the heck did they all go?

HAHA! That's exactly what I said! You should see the bucket's and buckets of wire I pulled-out of my car that just did NOT need to be there.

would love to help any way I can. there are several others here who've done a full re-wire as well, and I'm sure we can all give tips on what we've learned.

I think if I do it again (when?) I would start with the dash. I'd convert the gauge-lights to LED, and then wire the ENTIRE dash with CAT5. This was Daniel's idea, so credit where credit is due. But I love the idea. (I'm not talking about anything on the dash that'd be carrying more than fractional amps. There ONLY switches on my dash control relays.) And I'd pig-tail it all waay long, like 5' or more, so I can get it all where I want it.

Once the dash is done that way, I'd build my fuse / relay panel. Draw it out, so you can show what relays are being fed by which fuse.

And biggest tip I'd give you: Don't solder anything, or crimp anything, or heat-shrink anything, or liquid-tape anything until you know everything works and you didn't forget anything, like backup lights, or license-plate lights, or windshield sprayer, or what-have-you. It's a lot easier to go back and revisit every connection, cutting wire to correct length and doing final makeup than it is to keep undoing and redoing connections 'cuz you found something else you forgot.

lastly:
Grounds are STILL the biggest culprit of things working improperly. And don't let MajicWrench tell you that you're the devil for doing this!

[basarabam]

To be honest, I didnt know what the relays were for so I went and read 4+ articles explaining what they are, what they do and so on.

That was extremely insightful but still leave some gaps like the 4 wire connection you use, 1 for the switch, 2 for the actual use and one for a light/indicator?

I see you used 10 relays but only 8 fuses, so more than one relay to a fuse circuit?

You use a relay for everything or just certain things? (horn, lights, blower motor, starter?) What about interior lights and things that have a small draw?

Do you mind me asking where you sourced your relays and connectors?

[majicwrench]

Maytag you would be happy to know that last night I installed TWO relays in an Onan generator remote start system and it works wonderfully.

But on our cars?????.....relays fail. I change em all the time. Fuel pump relays, cooling fan relays, heater fan relays, they are just a cheapy little electronic switch. And when you put one in a circuit, you vastly INCREASE the amount of wire AND the potential connection issues. As someone wrote a ways back in this thread, something about changing one rat's nest for another.
BUT don't let that stop you, tis your car and your time, and methinks anyone trying this will learn a lot.
\ BUT if you bring it into my shop afterwards, bring your VISA.
Keith

[basarabam]

Maytag you would be happy to know that last night I installed TWO relays in an Onan generator remote start system and it works wonderfully.

But on our cars?????.....relays fail. I change em all the time. Fuel pump relays, cooling fan relays, heater fan relays, they are just a cheapy little electronic switch. And when you put one in a circuit, you vastly INCREASE the amount of wire AND the potential connection issues. As someone wrote a ways back in this thread, something about changing one rat's nest for another.
BUT don't let that stop you, tis your car and your time, and methinks anyone trying this will learn a lot.
\ BUT if you bring it into my shop afterwards, bring your VISA.
Keith

Keith,

What do you use instead of relays if you are against them? I am not for or against, just trying to learn what best to do with this beast!

[majicwrench]

Oh I have nothing against relays, like I said I just put two into a remote start setup for a gentleman way up in the woods. I do have an issue with putting em in circuits that don't really need em. Like I said, you just add a ton of wiring and connections + a relay to the system, more complexity and more things to fail.
The factory wiring is well designed, and they did not put any more wiring into it then was needed.
Now if you have some sort of aftermarket item, as an example headlights drawing more amps than the original system was designed for, a relay is a good option.
Keith

[basarabam]

Got a question.

Say I wanted to forgo a light switch and just a ignition on system. I am changing my headlights with Jeep Liberty lights and dont want to mess around with switches. there will not be any high beams, just on and off.

So when building your board there, do you go straight from the battery to the fuse box then from the fuse box to the relay?

[eman2112]

I found a site that sells relays and fuse panels cheap.
http://Www.delcity.net
I also found some great videos on YouTube about relay circuits.
Adptraining is the name of the uploader. I found these videos quite helpful.