Wiring Nightmare for a beginner.....

[LadyAnya]

Re: Wiring Nightmare for a beginner.....

What size breaker/fuse is usually used on the main line? Is it a matter of calculating the amps of all devices on board then determining fuse/breaker size?

 

[fish_on_the_deck]

Re: Wiring Nightmare for a beginner.....

But could someone please tell me if a negative and positive bus is what I need? Could I just use a neg bus for the grounds and hook the hot wires into the fuse box?

I agree with scca vette, thats its not neccesary, but thinking through the setup will likely make your installation easier ang give you more options in the future. A lot depends on the fuse block you select, etc.


The fuse blocks scc vette showed for example dosent have a single input cable (coming form the battery), but instead requires each load cable to be split out. The lug with small terminals like you posted a pic of near the top of this thread would make that type of fuse block much more workable.

Also, with one of the breakerized panels I posted near the top you wouldnt need a fuse block at all, just a single line into the switch panel (although a lug in the console still could be useful for futur additions). From there the wiring provided with the panel goes right to a $5 terminal block from which you can connect any load wiring to... then you never have to wory about fuses.

There is no set in stone "right" way to do it. With experiance comes the ability to plan ahead and know what you might want during install, or a year down the road when you want to add an amp and sub, or spreader lights, or a margarita/daiquiri machine... you know... the essentials.

 

[fish_on_the_deck]

Re: Wiring Nightmare for a beginner.....

What size breaker/fuse is usually used on the main line? Is it a matter of calculating the amps of all devices on board then determining fuse/breaker size?

Breakers are to protect the cable they feed. Size your breaker or fuse at the rated current (amps) of the cable. But... size your cable according to the load.

So, add up the loads (amps) of all your components, give yourself a fudge/upgrade factor of say 25-50%, then pick the next larger cable for that load. Size your breaker/fuse to match the max current of that cable size.

 

[Allmand]

Re: Wiring Nightmare for a beginner.....

So could I use a positive bus in conjunction with a negative buss to avoid using a fuse box at all? Also, could anyone tell me where I could find a Fuse block that I can run the battery positive cable to directly and branch out hot wired from the fuse block? Same question if I decide to use a pos bus...is there a bus out there that I could connect the pos battery cable to directly?

Thanks

 

[fish_on_the_deck]

Re: Wiring Nightmare for a beginner.....

So could I use a positive bus in conjunction with a negative buss to avoid using a fuse box at all? Also, could anyone tell me where I could find a Fuse block that I can run the battery positive cable to directly and branch out hot wired from the fuse block? Same question if I decide to use a pos bus...is there a bus out there that I could connect the pos battery cable to directly?

You can avoid a fuse block at all if you select a switch panel with built in breakers or fuses... you are going to run each load through a switch panel right? Then you woudl also need a negative bus like the one from genuine dealz below.

Here is a fuse block that looks like you can run a single positive cable to from the battery then branch out out the positive wires from here to an un-fused switch panel, then on to the loads. then you would need the negative buss below.

http://www.iboats.com/Screw-Termina...12-Circuit-Blue-Sea-Systems/dm/view_id.163743

Here is a buss that you can connect a battery cable to (with #10 ring terminals) and then this branches out for the smaller load wiring with #8 terminals... you could use this as your negative bus.

http://shop.genuinedealz.com/Items/...150 Amp 48V Common Bus w/ 2 Posts & 10 Screws

So, you could use either A or B below for positive, and C for negative (see attached):
A) fuse block (iboats above) and un-fused switch panel
B) breakerized / fused switch panel
C) bus bar (genuine dealz above)

-fish

 

[Allmand]

Re: Wiring Nightmare for a beginner.....

Thanks, spelled it out clearly. I think I will go ahead and stick with the original idea. Fuse block in conjunction with one neg. bus bar.

Thanks for the links as well.

 

[MLD]

Re: Wiring Nightmare for a beginner.....

Or go with a blue sea systems fusebox 5025 or 5026. (6 and 12 circuit with negative bus)