Aux fuse box

[jarhead]

After a lot of thought I decided to try to connect an aux fuse box and have seen several of the threads here that describe how and where they are installed. I also went to Gadget's page and noticed he recommended a fuse box by easternbeaver.com . These appear to be good quality and with the available wiring harness they seem to be simple enough even for me to install. They are a little pricey though. The nicer version has 8 slots, 3 are hot and 5 are switched and it is only 3X2.5 inches. Has anyone had any experience with this fuse box?

audiogooroo and cactusjack have both installed auxilary fuse boxs. If they don't chime in you can click on their names to contact them, they're both pretty nice fellas! Semper Fi!

[audiogooroo]

Originally Posted by wolfman

audiogooroo and cactusjack have both installed auxilary fuse boxs. If they don't chime in you can click on their names to contact them, they're both pretty nice fellas! Semper Fi!

Hey! You take that back! ;)

I just picked one up at Pepboys. A little higher profile, but it worked for me.

[jarhead]

Audiogooroo,

Thanks. Did the fuse box from PepBoys come with the necessary wiring, fuses, connectors, etc. Or did you buy all the pieces and assemble yourself? Any connections on the fuse box hot or all switched?

[audiogooroo]

Originally Posted by jarhead

Audiogooroo,

Thanks. Did the fuse box from PepBoys come with the necessary wiring, fuses, connectors, etc. Or did you buy all the pieces and assemble yourself? Any connections on the fuse box hot or all switched?

Jarhead,
No the fuse box was all I bought. I have quite a stash of cabling and connectors and fuses. I also had a 12 volt relay on the shelf, so I put it in between the battery and the fuse box and tapped the tail light circuit so that the fuse box is only hot when the key is on.

[coacha]

You electical geniuses. Man, I am terrified of doing this kind of stuff. Audio, maybe when you are in FL later this summer, I'll ride down with all the stuff and you can do mine for me, lol.

[audiogooroo]

Originally Posted by CoachA

You electical geniuses. Man, I am terrified of doing this kind of stuff. Audio, maybe when you are in FL later this summer, I'll ride down with all the stuff and you can do mine for me, lol.

Sounds like a plan coacha!
I actually had a crew in Clearwater last week, but I sent my cub to run things because I'm pretty slammed on a job in Vegas right now. I'll let you know when I'm coming back down and we'll at least hook up for dinner or something.

[coacha]

Sounds like a plan my friend.

[cactusjack]

I've never seen or actually heard of the fuse block kit you're referring to. Actually, this wasn't really a tough thing to do. I ran a bundle of 5 14ga wires (different colors) from the headlight bucket, behind the left side neck cover, under the tank, to the left hand side cover. I taped the wires up, just like a factory wiring harness. I then ran a red and black 12ga pair of wires from the battery to the left side cover. Since I have a CA emissions bike, I have a vapor canister above my tool kit, so I didn't have the room that Audiogooroo did and I had to get creative. Of the 5 wires, 1 was used as the switched 12v to energize the relay when the ignition is turned on. The other 4 were intended to carry 12v from the auxiliary fuse block back to the headlight bucket, to allow me to make future connections to accessories, etc.

So when the starter button is pressed, the switched 12v lead turns on the relay, and the 12v from the battery energizes the fuse block. When the kill switch is activated, the switched 12v circuit shuts off, and the 12v from the battery is cutoff to the fuse block.

Here's a picture of the fuse block. Only the leads with fuses are currently being used. The leads with no fuse are for future use and the fuses installed where there are no leads are just simple spare fuses. In the picture, only 1 fuse/lead combo was in use at the time. You'll see my creative use of heavy-duty velcro to attach the fuse block to the end of the vapor canister.



I hope this helps. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

[jarhead]

Thanks for the help. I like the velcro idea, does it hold pretty well? If I decide to screw it to the plastic what is a good way to do that? I do not have the California stuff so the void above the tool box is where I will probably attach the fuse panel. I don't think sheet metal screws will hold it to the plastic very well though unless you put something on the other side of the plastic to screw into.

I have been e-mailing Jim at Easternbeaver.com about his panel and I think I am going to spring for his panel. A little bit of money but you have more wiring options with his AP-2 panel. The pics of the panel and wiring harness show it to be very well made.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by jarhead

Thanks for the help. I like the velcro idea, does it hold pretty well? If I decide to screw it to the plastic what is a good way to do that? I do not have the California stuff so the void above the tool box is where I will probably attach the fuse panel. I don't think sheet metal screws will hold it to the plastic very well though unless you put something on the other side of the plastic to screw into.

I have been e-mailing Jim at Easternbeaver.com about his panel and I think I am going to spring for his panel. A little bit of money but you have more wiring options with his AP-2 panel. The pics of the panel and wiring harness show it to be very well made.

The velcro holds amazingly well. Just make sure you clean both surfaces really well with rubbing alcohol so the adhesive bonds well.
I obtained the heavy duty velcro from my local Radio Shack.

[spirello]

What are you guys using this fuse box for? i have alot of stuff on my bike but mayby 2 or 3 inline fuses.

[audiogooroo]

Originally Posted by spirello

What are you guys using this fuse box for? i have alot of stuff on my bike but mayby 2 or 3 inline fuses.

Convenience mostly. Just to have all my fuses in one location rather than inline fuses spread out all over the bike. Plus I like having power available for future accessories.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by audiogooroo

Convenience mostly. Just to have all my fuses in one location rather than inline fuses spread out all over the bike. Plus I like having power available for future accessories.

+1 now I can conveniently wire up accessories, like the 2 sets of driving lights I have. I did not connect my 12v outlet up through the fuse block because I want it to be always hot, not just when the ignition is on. When I connect up my Stebel horn, I'll use one of the fused leads.

[jarhead]

spirello,

The AP-2 panel from eastern beaver has 3 hot slots and 5 switched slots so you can use it for a lot of different purposes. Hook up an alarm to the hot side and a GPS, or a cig lighter so they remain hot when the ignition is off. Hook up an airhorn or extra lights to the switched side so they only come on when the bike is running. Or hook up your battery tender and charge thru the fuse panel so you don't have to take off the seats to get to the battery. (At least for those who put the fuse panel in the side cover) What I like about the panel is once you get the hook up for the panel done you no longer have to tap relays into the system for the switched items or run a line to the battery for a hot lead. Also the AP-2 panel has a neg/grounded side so you do not have to search for places to ground your devices to the frame. Just run the pos and neg wires back to the panel, strip the ends off both wires and screw them down to the panel. The AP-2 panel does not have male prongs sticking up to accept female connectors just a line of 8 pos slots and a line of 8 neg slots to stick wires into and screw them down. The whole thing is only 3" by 2.5" so about the same size as other 6 fuse panels I have seen.