Switched 12v fuse block finally installed.

[los7883]

So here in a bit I'll be adding the whole fog light set up and kinda like the way the amber back lights look. I did have an issue with having a bunch of wires tapped into a single fuse for my switched 12V so decided to add a relay and a small fuse block to make things a little safer and allow me to add on to it if I need to later. This is what I ended up with a Blue Sea Systems water resistant fuse block, seals all the way around and around each wire, built for boats but wanted something that sealed up for the Bronco too just in case it ever gets wet under there.

Inside I have the Switched 12V coming in (green wire) and then 4 circuits that can then feed back lights or other stuff I may need eventually. I have the whole setup rated for 40 amps but don't think I'll come close to that. Will probably set up two of them for 10amps then two 5amp circuts for my backlights.

So this is what I started out with, a cheap little $10 unit and smaller 25amp relay from Amazon. What I didn't like about it is that it didn't seal up and the back of the block has exposed metal that shorted out when installed onto the bracket, very poor design. But laid it out on cardboard first to get everything mocked in place.

The bracket is a Galvanized Strong Tie bracket from Home Depot, it was cheap, like $3 but thick enough so that I didn't have to worry about it bending, but too it was thin enough for me to bend with what I have here at home. Added a couple of bends and holes and it was good to go. Primed and painted it flat black so it didn't stick out too much under the hood.

Here's the relay and harness I made, the relay is a 5-wire 40/60 amp relay with a built in spike supressor (diode supressor) to avoid back voltages when the relay de-energizes. I saw quite a few videos on youtube talking about the amount of voltage that can get induced into a circuit once the relay is de-energized (100V+) so I didn't want to take a chance of it blowing up the circuit I used to trigger the relay. If you guys end up doing something like this don't go buying just any relay on Amazon, make sure it has spike supression. Yea if you're using it to power a fuel pump or cooling fans then a regular relay is probably ok, but for anything electrical I'd suggest you get one thats protected. This relay can handle 40amps NC and 60amps NO, so decided to go with 40amps just to be on the safe side. There was a 60/80 amp one on Amazone but thought that would be a bit overkill.

Here's the fuse block mounted on the bracket ready to be installed. Overall I'm pretty happy with it. Feel a lot better adding accessories to this than tapping one circuit over and over. Have plenty of inline fuses here so it's super safe and I don't have to worry about it pulling too much current. Now just have to save up some money for my fogs!!!

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[RimrockPaul]

So here in a bit I'll be adding the whole fog light set up and kinda like the way the amber back lights look. I did have an issue with having a bunch of wires tapped into a single fuse for my switched 12V so decided to add a relay and a small fuse block to make things a little safer and allow me to add on to it if I need to later. This is what I ended up with a Blue Sea Systems water resistant fuse block, seals all the way around and around each wire, built for boats but wanted something that sealed up for the Bronco too just in case it ever gets wet under there.

Inside I have the Switched 12V coming in (green wire) and then 4 circuits that can then feed back lights or other stuff I may need eventually. I have the whole setup rated for 40 amps but don't think I'll come close to that. Will probably set up two of them for 10amps then two 5amp circuts for my backlights.

So this is what I started out with, a cheap little $10 unit and smaller 25amp relay from Amazon. What I didn't like about it is that it didn't seal up and the back of the block has exposed metal that shorted out when installed onto the bracket, very poor design. But laid it out on cardboard first to get everything mocked in place.

The bracket is a Galvanized Strong Tie bracket from Home Depot, it was cheap, like $3 but thick enough so that I didn't have to worry about it bending, but too it was thin enough for me to bend with what I have here at home. Added a couple of bends and holes and it was good to go. Primed and painted it flat black so it didn't stick out too much under the hood.

Here's the relay and harness I made, the relay is a 5-wire 40/60 amp relay with a built in spike supressor (diode supressor) to avoid back voltages when the relay de-energizes. I saw quite a few videos on youtube talking about the amount of voltage that can get induced into a circuit once the relay is de-energized (100V+) so I didn't want to take a chance of it blowing up the circuit I used to trigger the relay. If you guys end up doing something like this don't go buying just any relay on Amazon, make sure it has spike supression. Yea if you're using it to power a fuel pump or cooling fans then a regular relay is probably ok, but for anything electrical I'd suggest you get one thats protected. This relay can handle 40amps NC and 60amps NO, so decided to go with 40amps just to be on the safe side. There was a 60/80 amp one on Amazone but thought that would be a bit overkill.

Here's the fuse block mounted on the bracket ready to be installed. Overall I'm pretty happy with it. Feel a lot better adding accessories to this than tapping one circuit over and over. Have plenty of inline fuses here so it's super safe and I don't have to worry about it pulling too much current. Now just have to save up some money for my fogs!!!

Looks good. Be aware of wire sizes and ampacity. P

 

[SierraBronco]

Looks like the OP was still around in September-maybe he’s still here.

Looks good! The surge you mention when turning relays off-could you elaborate more on that? A few of us have recently installed 500A relays for our winches, and this makes me curious how a winch could be affected. Is it only a concern when the device is actively drawing power?

 

[los7883]

Looks good. Be aware of wire sizes and ampacity. P

Thanks! Yea I built it based on what I’d be running off of it. Nothing serious.

 

[Brian_B]

Looks great, I like that install location

 

[los7883]

Looks like the OP was still around in September-maybe he’s still here.

Looks good! The surge you mention when turning relays off-could you elaborate more on that? A few of us have recently installed 500A relays for our winches, and this makes me curious how a winch could be affected. Is it only a concern when the device is actively drawing power?

When researching relays on youtube I found several videos that mentioned voltage spike when the circuit is de-energzied. Most videos you see on youtube show the use of a regular relay and don't mention the use of a relay with a diode to protect the circuit from the voltage spike. I myself didn't want to take a chance and decided to use one that has it built in to the relay. You can also purchase diodes that you would mount external to the relay but I wanted one built-in. Of course this made it harder as they're really hard to find but again I wanted to make sure my setup was protected. Here's one of the videos I watched that spoke to the spikes and the need for a diode to protect your system.

 

[SierraBronco]

When researching relays on youtube I found several videos that mentioned voltage spike when the circuit is de-energzied. Most videos you see on youtube show the use of a regular relay and don't mention the use of a relay with a diode to protect the circuit from the voltage spike. I myself didn't want to take a chance and decided to use one that has it built in to the relay. You can also purchase diodes that you would mount external to the relay but I wanted one built-in. Of course this made it harder as they're really hard to find but again I wanted to make sure my setup was protected. Here's one of the videos I watched that spoke to the spikes and the need for a diode to protect your system.

Thank you!

I did some research and it definitely is a very real thing. I have about…none…inches of wire between the positive terminal and the winch relay so wiring in a sufficient diode will prove to be a challenge. But they do exist! Terminal connections too!

 

[SierraBronco]

When researching relays on youtube I found several videos that mentioned voltage spike when the circuit is de-energzied. Most videos you see on youtube show the use of a regular relay and don't mention the use of a relay with a diode to protect the circuit from the voltage spike. I myself didn't want to take a chance and decided to use one that has it built in to the relay. You can also purchase diodes that you would mount external to the relay but I wanted one built-in. Of course this made it harder as they're really hard to find but again I wanted to make sure my setup was protected. Here's one of the videos I watched that spoke to the spikes and the need for a diode to protect your system.

Man-this is fascinating. Digging in on the topic. I had no idea this surge was a thing. Thanks again for bringing this up!

 

[los7883]

Man-this is fascinating. Digging in on the topic. I had no idea this surge was a thing. Thanks again for bringing this up!

Yea no problem. It might make that much of a difference because a LOT of people run relays without resistor or diode protection but I myself just didn’t wanna chance it.

 

[SierraBronco]

Yea no problem. It might make that much of a difference because a LOT of people run relays without resistor or diode protection but I myself just didn’t wanna chance it.

Yeah I’m finding there are a lot of different options. Would be interesting to pull some of my small ones apart and see if they already have diodes installed. I’m finding mixed, useless information on the 500A relay I have for the winches. Just gonna need to hit up the company and ask them.

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