LED Project... Wiring Question

[Durkis007]

Hey All... I come to you guys with some electrical questions...

I have ordered 3 Shadow Casters, 1 10" for the center, and 2 4" for the outside of the pumps.

Question is really related to fusing, and relays.

I purchased this from west marine. http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Syst...404223083&sr=8-1&keywords=blue+sea+fuse+block

First Question is... I will be running an 8 awg wire to this distribution block. If the block is within say a foot or so of the batteries, do I need to add an additional fuse between this block and battery? Or will the 5 and 10 amp blade fuses on the block be sufficient?

Second Question.. Where do I install the relay(s)? On the 8 awg wire or the individual wires going to the shadow casters ?

Thanks Guys !!

 

[Andy S]

First Question is... I will be running an 8 awg wire to this distribution block. If the block is within say a foot or so of the batteries, do I need to add an additional fuse between this block and battery? Or will the 5 and 10 amp blade fuses on the block be sufficient?

I don't see a need to put a fuse between the battery and the fuse block. Each circuit off the fuse block will have it own fuse and if sized properly will be sufficient.

Second Question.. Where do I install the relay(s)? On the 8 awg wire or the individual wires going to the shadow casters ?

I used a relay to power my underwater led's. I don't have a schematic here at work but will try to find it tonight on my home computer and post it. For your setup the relay could go between the battery and the fuse block but then everything power from the fuse block would on come on when you energize the relay. The other option would be to put the relay between the fuse block and the leds. This method would cause you to single fuse all 3 leds and/or add 3 fuses downstream of the relay on each power feed to the leds.

 

[Durkis007]

I don't see a need to put a fuse between the battery and the fuse block. Each circuit off the fuse block will have it own fuse and if sized properly will be sufficient.


I used a relay to power my underwater led's. I don't have a schematic here at work but will try to find it tonight on my home computer and post it. For your setup the relay could go between the battery and the fuse block but then everything power from the fuse block would on come on when you energize the relay. The other option would be to put the relay between the fuse block and the leds. This method would cause you to single fuse all 3 leds and/or add 3 fuses downstream of the relay on each power feed to the leds.

Thanks for the reply... My thought process was to down the road add in boat LEDs, and power them from a separate switch. I guess maybe the block I chose was not the best option? Or could I keep the block and use 1 relay for each light with only one switch?

 

[Andy S]

I did find a copy of my wiring diagram, see attached word document.

I used this Blue Sea 2722 Dual Bus as my two sided block. One side is powered directly from the battery and the other is powered from the On/Off switch.

This is the fuse block I used.

This is the ground block.

This is the power block I used.

 

[Andy S]

Thanks for the reply... My thought process was to down the road add in boat LEDs, and power them from a separate switch. I guess maybe the block I chose was not the best option? Or could I keep the block and use 1 relay for each light with only one switch?

You could use one relay per led, all 3 relays would be powered from one switch, that way you can stil use the fuse block you purchased. The power from the dash switch was tapped off the courtesy light circuit, the relay(s) don't draw much power.

 

[Durkis007]

Do you think this would simplify everything?

http://fuzeblocks.com/index.php?pid=10

 

[Andy S]

That would make things easier and more flexible but that fuse block is expensive. The one I got off eBay was about $18 delivered, http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...Heavy+Duty,+Side+Terminal+Fuse+Block&_sacat=0

 

[Durkis007]

Well after much back and forth.... I decided to order the Fuze Block FZ-1 Available at http://fuzeblocks.com/index.php

I know it was $84 bucks, but its a fuse bus and relay already wired for quick install. With that blue seas fused bus bar I had purchased already this wasnt only but a few more bucks, and I think its cleaner.

I have a question though, for those of you that may have looked through the Fuze Blocks wesite. For the switched trigger input. I had ordered a custom rocker switch panel (which I wont have for maybe 2 weeks) Temporarily, can I just hook up a cheep toggle switch right to the battery and then into the trigger input on this device ?? I mean it looks that way, as long as I have a 3amp inline fuse between the 12v source and FuzeBlock.

Here is a diagram from the company.... http://fuzeblocks.com/docs/fzw-1-installation.pdf
I am pretty confident that I could temporarily connect that yellow wire in the diagram right to the battery but install a toggle between the two first ???

Once I get it all in and installed I will write up a review

 

[Andy S]

Well after much back and forth.... I decided to order the Fuze Block FZ-1 Available at http://fuzeblocks.com/index.php

I know it was $84 bucks, but its a fuse bus and relay already wired for quick install. With that blue seas fused bus bar I had purchased already this wasnt only but a few more bucks, and I think its cleaner.

I have a question though, for those of you that may have looked through the Fuze Blocks wesite. For the switched trigger input. I had ordered a custom rocker switch panel (which I wont have for maybe 2 weeks) Temporarily, can I just hook up a cheep toggle switch right to the battery and then into the trigger input on this device ?? I mean it looks that way, as long as I have a 3amp inline fuse between the 12v source and FuzeBlock.

Here is a diagram from the company.... http://fuzeblocks.com/docs/fzw-1-installation.pdf
I am pretty confident that I could temporarily connect that yellow wire in the diagram right to the battery but install a toggle between the two first ???

Once I get it all in and installed I will write up a review

Yes you can use a toggle switch from the battery to the fuze block to get things working until your rocker panel arrives. The Fuze block will definitely be a clean install. Looking forward to see your install.