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So I've run out of room on my battery, what do you all do in this case?

10K views 64 replies 26 participants last post by  lindel 
#1 ·
I put on my new KC's, and now I can't fit everything on the battery. I have an amp, back up lights, my winch and the KC lights. I was thinking about setting up a terminal strip on the fender next to the battery and wiring everything to there and then having one wire from the terminal strip to the battery. I'd probably keep the winch wire on the battery, but I'd want to put all the small stuff on this terminal strip. Has anyone done this? I think this would work, but want to get some second opinions.

Thanks
 
#7 ·
No I don't

Also, you're gonna need a hefty reliable battery with all those accessories. The Die Hard Platinum series from Sears has gotten great reviews. My Optima (yellow top) has served me well, but I've heard that they are nothing near the quality they once were.
Yeah I've heard the same... I have the Duralast gold from Autozone, I'll see how that one does, but will probably end up upgrading... that Die Hard is pretty expensive!
 
#3 ·
Go to an electronics shop and get a terminal board. Available in all sizes and amperage capabilities.

Mount it where you like, you can feed all of your attachments off of it.
 
#5 ·
Go to an electronics shop and get a terminal board. Available in all sizes and amperage capabilities.

Mount it where you like, you can feed all of your attachments off of it.

Yep that's what I did on my old cj too much on the battery post. Do as you suggested leave the winch and move the rest.
 
#6 ·
Thanks... I just picked up a terminal strip and terminal connections. I got 12g wire to go from the strip to the battery, that'll be enough right? It'll just be two sets of lights and the amp, and probably another set of lights in the future. Oh and my cb, forgot about that
 
#9 ·
Yeah I think its 14, but not positive... I guess I could actually as my brother seeing as he is an electrician haha
 
#12 ·
Pics
So for some reason I had it in my head that fender closest to the battery was empty, but it actually has the airbox on it, the other fender is empty however. I took some pics of possible mounting locations, what do you think?

Here's the strip:



Here's the driver side fender



A Possibility



another possibility

 
#61 ·
Pics
So for some reason I had it in my head that fender closest to the battery was empty, but it actually has the airbox on it, the other fender is empty however. I took some pics of possible mounting locations, what do you think?

Here's the strip:
A Possibility

There's a buncha smart folks in here giving you advice and unless I missed it somehow, they didn't tell you that mounting anything to your PCM will probably be a very bad idea. :angel:
 
#17 ·
If you go to a Marine Store you can get really good Water Proof J-Boxes/Terminal Strips.
 
#22 ·
Yeah its a connector strip, sorry... but I have these little jumpers that connect the adjacent connectors, if that makes any sense.

you cant run an amp on 12 or 14 gauge wire. get an aux fuse box and have 4 gauge leads to the battery.
I don't understand why I need an aux fuse box. Since the existing setup is just a pile of wires on the battery, I just wanted to move them off the battery. So why wouldn't just using a terminal strip work? It would be doing the same thing, just moving the stuff away from the battery.
 
#20 ·
Might if it is a small 150w amp. I was going to say 3 gauge, but hesitated because I am no electrician. Glad you chimed with 4. I was also going to say mount it in the cockpit so you don't have to run every wire through the firewall. Also, if you only need to connect a couple things, there should be two terminal posts in the underhood fuse box right in front of the battery. At least mine has them.
 
#23 ·
I think they are refering to the supply wire to the terminal not being large enough. I used a marine terminal that had the stud sticking up from the main battery lead. I don't remember wire size, but it was about 1/2the size of the actual battery leads.
 
#38 ·
That is pretty wimpy. I'd run something WAY bigger. I have an amp (4g for 300w total rms), offroad lights (8g), and a 0g winch and it all fits fine. There is no way I would ever use that terminal strip for anything on a jeep except maybe to run external gauges or something small. I have these stinger terminals on my car and they have room for tons of extra stuff. I think they have a 0-2g port, two 4-8g port and some other size.


On my RV power distribution system I used something like this with fused outputs.
 
#40 ·
My one year old Duralast Gold has no side posts.

Luck of the draw I guess. Whatever the Autozone dude reads on his screen, then goes and grabs off the shelf is what you are stuck with.

Unless you educate him before you pay.....which I did not.
 
#42 ·
I have always thought you run a heavy gauge wire from the battery to your new terminal block, inline fused for total amperage pull. Be it 40, 50, 60 amps (maxi fuse comes to mind) then each accessory you hook up gets it's own fused power wire rated for its amp's, and all fuses are to be as close to the supply as possible to protect the remaining wire
 
#43 ·
I have always thought you run a heavy gauge wire from the battery to your new terminal block, inline fused for total amperage pull. Be it 40, 50, 60 amps (maxi fuse comes to mind) then each accessory you hook up gets it's own fused power wire rated for its amp's, and all fuses are to be as close to the supply as possible to protect the remaining wire
Yeah that's what I was thinking, and all the individual wires already have inline fuses
 
#44 ·
no fuse = fire

The wire from the battery to the first fuse is highly susceptible to fire. If it is abraided and shorts it will heat up to the capacity of the battery. That is the cause of most under hood fires.

The first (main) fuse is to keep from overloading the wire from the battery to the block. Typically that is fused at the source, but in this case, it protects the multiple wires from adding up and overloading the main wire.

Each individual fuse is rated for from 2 to 10 times its actual load. Say a 14 gauge wire for 15 amps and it only carries 2 amps normally. Still the 15 amp fuse will protect that wire from more than 15 amps and overheating it.

If you have 10 circuits like that, each fused at 15 amps you could get 150 amps on the block (theoretically) before it would blow any of those fuses. So, the main fuse (say 50 A) is to protect the main wire from more than 50A of load. It still doesn't protect from a short between the battery and the main fuse.

In a winch installation, there really should be a solenoid as close to the battery as possible. That solenoid is only energized when you are winching. That way, if the cable frays, it doesn't fry the Jeep.
 
#45 ·
In a winch installation, there really should be a solenoid as close to the battery as possible. That solenoid is only energized when you are winching. That way, if the cable frays, it doesn't fry the Jeep.
until you need to use the winch and when you push the button the solenoid welds together and you hope that the battery terminals melt off before the jeep burns to the ground. ALL the wires to the winch need to be carefully protected.
 
#47 ·
welding solenoid contacts

That can happen, but if it did it would be no different that if the solenoid wasn't in the circuit. In order for there to be any fire there would have to be some other short.

The only time that the solenoid would weld is while using the winch and then it would be under observation. During the other 99% of the time the circuit would be protected.

And yes, the leads do need to be checked.
 
#48 ·
Correct. if the wire from the solenoid gets shorted to the frame, and the solenoid does weld shut when you push the go button, then you have BIG trouble. The solenoid probably wont weld shut unless there is excessive current and it starts to arc. You might be there pushing the winch button, but it wont matter when it goes into meltdown mode. But yeah it wont matter until you engage the solenoid.

I've seen a number of batteries dead shorted. I watch a girl hook up 6 batteries (electric car) in series with 1/4" x 1" copper bars. She didn't stop until she completed the circuit. Most batteries will melt the terminals, shoot smoke, and loose connection before they crack and spew acid, but not all of them. I've also seen guys badly burned with a socket when removing terminals and dead shorting the battery. A socket will glow red hot in a second or less with a dead short. Always remove the ground first, and always keep an eye on the positive terminal and leads!
 
#49 ·
Okay, so let me see if I can reiterate everything thats been said, and see if thats okay.

So I can set up a terminal block with a large lead (#4 wire?) going to the battery with an inline fuse. Then I can hook up each individual accessory to the terminal block, and make sure each has its own inline fuse.

Also, it would be a good idea to have a solenoid between the winch and the battery so there is no current when I'm not actually using the winch, therefore limiting the risk of fire to when I'm actually standing there using the winch.

Also make sure all wires are in good condition and not resting on something that would get hot enough to melt the insulation, and thus possibly cause a short. Though if I have inline fuses, this would just blow a fuse. So therefore I should be especially sure about the piece of wire between the inline fuse and the battery, which is why that length should be as small as possible.

Did I cover everything? That sound good?

Thanks for all your input!
 
#50 ·
So I was just looking at this: Blue Sea Systems 12 Circuit ST Blade Fuse Blocks and I think it might be a better way to go. Especially since I think that my terminal block probably isn't enough for what I'd put on it.

Also, another question... I know I should put a fuse between the fuse block/terminal strip and the battery, but since they only make regular blade fuses up to 30 amps, what would I use? I see they have circuit breakers, but is that my only option?

thanks
 
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