wiring for dummies

[CountyMounty]

I am planning to add several electrical accessories soon; 6 strobe lights with power supply, vhf radio, and a rechargeable flashlight for starters. I am debating if I want to tackle this myself or pay someone to do it. I really like the DIY stuff (unless I mess it up ) but unfortunately I have not been blessed with a whole lot of automotive knowledge. I knew I should have taken those shop classes stuff back in highschool would have been a lot more usefull now than that AP crap. I know I could sucessfully just run wires direct to the battery for all devices and fuse at the battery but I would prefer not to do it that way. I have done an extensive search on the net this morning and I'm not finding much information, you'd think they would have a wiring for dummies book or website but I guess those two words together just doesn't seem safe. what I'm hoping is maybe I could run one wire (say 8-10 guage) from battery into cab and then split from there or buy a fuse block to install in there and then go from there. Anyway, I would appreciate any advice or links that may helpful to me as I have a few days off from work soon and would really like to accomplish this myself you know so it will make me fell all smart and stuff :lol:

 

[Todd Z]

You could run a sub panel as you stated, That will clean up the engine compartment, But then at the sub panel you will have all the wires....

I always recommend a relay be wired into the circuit. If you don't and have a high amp dray , your switches must be higher rated, thicker (lower gage) wire and more chance of a failure..



As for a wiring book, i am sure they are out there. I think they are like automotive wiring basics...



I may even have one of my old school electric books .....

Todd Z

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Todd is correct in all aspects. Like him, I STRONGLY suggest going the route of using relays. This takes the load off of your switches and makes for a over-all safer installation.

 

[Jacob Dryer]

Definatly use a relay or you will most likely end up with a dead battery at some point.



http://www.bcae1.com/relays.htm



maybe way more info than you need, but that whole site has everything you should need to know about wiring anything electrical in the car audio world. Which is almost identical to anything else that you want to wire into your truck since it's all 12 volt DC.