Jim Miller wrote:
Mike, I've been doing this type of work for over 30 years. In my opinion
there are some accessories that are ok to connect to the fuse block and
others that are not.
In many veichles the power feed wires to the fusebox are not very large.
They are designed to handle the factory load and not a lot more.
Accessories like CB radios, Radar detctors, and Cell phones do not draw
much amperage and can be connected to the fuse box without fear. If you
want the device to turn off with the key, I would suggest taping into the
factory radio power wire. If you want the device on all the time try the
cig lighter. CBs and radar detectors draw less than 2 ampers and will not
overload these circuits. Now audio amplifiers and fog lights can easily
draw more than the fuse box wiring was meant to handle as an additional
load. These accessories should be wired direct to the battery with their
own inline fuse or circuit breaker of appropriate amperage for the device.
Locate the fuse as close to the battery as possable. Then run a large wire
to the device to be powered. Fog lamps are ok on 12 guage wire or larger.
Audio amps over 100 watts should be run on 10 guage or larger. Also ground
the devices to the body or frame as close to the device as possable. It is
not necessary to run ground wires to the battery as the battery is grounded
to the frame and the frame can handle the load better than any wire.
Sometimes use of relays can ease the load on switches on items like fog
lamps. Audio amplifiers usually have a wire that connects to the radio for
remote control (usually to the radios power antenna lead). This can be a
small wire as it will not carry much current. Hope this helps!
Jim Miller
Waco, Tx
mike kulczycki wrote:
> i've been gradually adding accesories to my truck, first an amp, some
> fog lights, and now i want to wire in my cb, but the problem i'm having
> is that i've been using the existing fuses in my 94.
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