[aprssig] 12V wiring ideas

[Curt, WE7U]

On Sat, 29 Oct 2011, david vanhorn wrote:

> I'd like to find something that will let me transition from the #8 or #10 ga
> hot and ground leads to powerpoles without having a huge clunky box.

Check out powerwerx.  They have some stuff that would be a bit cleaner than the large metal boxes:

     http://www.powerwerx.com/powerpole-power-distribution/

I'd suggest going from the #8 or #10 cables directly to powerpoles, then plugging in one of their gadgets to give you more taps.  If you want a fuse per gadget you'll either have to go to the box-type distribution or add inline fuses at each device.

I'm running #10 wires directly from the battery, fused at the battery (both leads), into a Saratoga power panel inside the passenger compartment.  I like the liquid electrical tape goo for coating things inside the engine compartment and use the $5 (or so) Harbor Freight crimp tool that just happens to work for powerpoles.  I chopped off the factory battery clamps and installed my own, put the red/green felt disks on the battery terminals first, and coat them with clean motor oil periodically.  Keeps the terminals nice and clean so I don't have to periodically clean them with baking soda and water like I used to.

-- 
Curt, WE7U.        http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
Babysitting your tracker:  http://info.aprs.net/index.php?title=ControlOperator