powering electronic gizmos

[fenrisx]

(I wasn't sure if this was the most appropriate place for this.. but at least it's in one of the Mobile Electronics sub-forums.)

I was wondering what's the best way to power things like CB/Ham radios, GPS units, etc. Currently I've got my CB powered by fishing the wire into one of the fuses under the steering column. It works, but I don't like that it's basically 'rigged'. I've seen some pictures where people made their own fuse box inside the engine bay. I'd like to do something like that, but don't know what all is involved and needed. I wanted to reroute the CB to something like that, and also power my GPS unit that way, instead of taking up the cig-lighter. (For some reason the cig-lighter will power the GPS, and charge my wife's phone, but the two extra auxiliary power outlets under the ash tray won't. Plus, between my wife's phone charger, and the cord for the GPS.. that's a lot of cluttered wire by the shifter that I don't like!

Does anyone have any good writeups for this sort of thing?

[DHC6twinotter]

A lot of part stores sell fuse blocks. You can mount one of those inside your 4runner, then run your CB, extra 12v outlets, or whatever else off it. You would just run a large wire from your battery to the fuse block, then all your individual wires from the fuse block. I have a cheap one I picked up from Pep Boys, and once I start modding, I'll probably mount it somewhere inside the cab.

I'll probably end up mounting a second one under the hood somewhere for lights or whatever.

Just my $.02.

[fenrisx]

Good point.. It'd probably be wiser to mount it inside the cab, and then just have to worry about running the one wire through the firewall to the fuse block, instead of having to run wires for each gizmo through the firewall and making sure I seal it up properly afterward.

Gracias

[CJM]

I had all my stuff setup running off a small fuse block I mounted to the firewall. I ran a + power line from the battery using a 10 gauge wire. What I did then was fish all my wiring from the cab out thru where more electrial wires run in my harness under the drivers side. I then sealed it up with some RTV just to be sure.

Worked great.

[corax]

I ran a fused/circuit breaker'd power line into the driver side kick panel and connected it to an "isolator" (labeled B+ in the pic below) The isolator was snagged from either an old Ford or Chevy truck/van (both used them & fairly common). That is my constant power terminal inside the cab, I used to have a medium size amplifier connected here. I also ran power from the "constant power" through a relay to a "switched ignition" isolator to connect anything I want turned off with the ignition switch (aft mkt fuse box for CB, engine oil pressure and over temp lights, etc). The relay control is the only thing that I have tapped into the factory switched power.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk171/batardsalamano/random%20projects/fuseblock1.jpg

holes cut for the individual fuses
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk171/batardsalamano/random%20projects/fuseblock2.jpg

[troyboy162]

i have a small relay controlled power block behind the plastic pannel on the left side of the driver foot well. im happy i mounted it in the cab to keep the amount of wires i run through the firewall to a minimum.

[Bob98SR5]

make one circuit dedicated to all your toys. why i say this is b/c i tapped my existing system. somewhere along the line, i didn't do something right and my battery would drain within 3 days of not being driven. so if you make your own circuit, you can easily isolate it or disconnect by pulling a fuse or just simply unhooking it from the battery

consider making a ground fuse block too. sure, you waste alot of ground wire and having everything running to it, but wire is cheap.

[Erich_870]

I drilled some holes in the firewall where the clutch petal would be mounted in a manual rig. Then I used some wire grommets to make them water tight and prevent the wire from chafing.

Here's some pics:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/Erich_870/Toyota%204Runner/FirewallGrommet021.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/Erich_870/Toyota%204Runner/FirewallGrommet020.jpg

Having a fuse block inside the cab makes sense. It will keep it safer from water damage. Just make sure you have a fuse on your main power cable near the battery too.

Erich

[4x4mike]

I've got a 6 spot Blue Sea junction box that is mounted under the center console under the radio. It's completely hidden and easy to get to. I ran an 8 gage wire from the battery into the cab through sealed factory wire bundles. This wire goes to the Blue Sea. I have my 2m radio, CB radio, GPS, rock lights, Hella bumper lights and a 12 volt socket to rear wired into this box. If I need to the entire thing can be removed in minutes. I didn't drill any holes or make modifications for this power supply. Each circuit has it's own fuse and if you ave to troubleshoot it's far easier than running around the entire vehicle. If and when I need to remove it, it's cake. Another bonus about the location is that you can run wires through the console tunnel and out to the exterior of the vehicle through the parking brake hole. Everything is clean and except for 2 switches you'd never know it was there.

[mastacox]

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/prf-70207.jpg

The way I did it- a Painless Wiring Cirkit Boss 7-ciruit Block (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PRF-70207/). It comes with 3 constant-hot circuits and 4 ign-hot circuits, giving you enough to power most anything. Wiring is simple (duh) and it comes with everything you need! The cover makes the setup "weather proof" and has a sticker underneath it to label the fuses.

Mine is powering:

350W Inverter (2 constant hots)
3 auxillary cig lighter plugs (1 constant hot)
URD Fuel Timing Calibrator (1 IGN hot)
Wideband O2 Sensor setup (1 IGN hot)
Trans Temp Gauge (1 IGN hot)
(1 IGN hot unused)

The IGN wire is tapped into the ECU's power wire, so the IGN circuits are only on when the ECU is on (ignition in ON position). If you want to power some other accessories that you might want on in ACC mode, just tap into the cig lighter. Another nice thing is with so many circuits you can wire individual accessories, and size the fuse to match it; makes trouble-shooting easier and safer for the components.

[Crinale]

good info in this thread.. ill be saving this for later, as i'll be getting into the electrical stuff in my new truck probably next month, and i want to do it right this time.