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airpusher



Member Since: 04 Sep 2011
Location: South Wales
Posts: 363

Wales 2006 Defender 110 Td5 XS DCPU Zambezi Silver
Mikeh501,

That's brilliant thank you 2006 Defender Double Cab- Zambezi Silver
Post #348804 1st Aug 2014 3:46pm
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Riyo



Member Since: 26 Jun 2014
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 89

Scotland 2012 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 SW Santorini Black
Airpusher, I will show you some photos and a detailed explanation of my journey getting this thing into the car when im finished.

Im sure its not difficult for a seasoned DIY'er but i would be lying if i said its been easy so far Smile, i needed to buy a few extra bits and im finding just routing everything in an efficient way a little tricky but i should be done soon and il give you a run down of what extra bits i needed and what difficulties i have had.

Mike, any reason why you haven't fused both positive terminals?. Looking at the standard LR wiring the main car power/loom 12v comes off the 500A mega fuse and the Starter motor positive is the only unfused section (can anyone confirm?), i was told for dual batteries you need a seperate fuse for each battery as close as possible to the positive terminal for safety. (ive got a 300A fuse on each on mine atm - came with the mobilecentre kit)

On a seperate note, Does anyone know what the easiest way is to get a twin core cable for my fridge from my new fusebox in the battery box into the boot of the car? i have looked at possible routes and im not sure whats the easiest..can you go under the carpet or you need to feed the cable under the car?.

Thanks
Riy
Post #349027 2nd Aug 2014 5:00pm
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munch90



Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: guildford
Posts: 3558

England 
just to throw a big spanner in the works
why fit the extra fuse box in with the batteries why not put it under drivers seat with the other fuse boxes , cant really see the point in raming everything in one box , if you need to remove a battery you got to disconnect everything

the drivers side box also has more gommets with spaces for extra wires in the top and sides and room to mount relays etc

I would fit the extra battery then run feed over to drivers side box , all the gommets you need are already fitted there is even holes along the bit under the seat box to cable tie the wire run through conduit to fix to

take one desent earth out to side of gearbox and connect others to it

when I done mine (not on current defender but one I sold ) , I completely separated the two circuits on it , so one battery only done the starter nothing else , aux battery done everything else including all standard wiring and aux items fridge etc , so even if parked with lights left on it would not effect the starting battery at all and when ign on both batteries were linked for charging , I could leave the fridge running and park lights on etc without fear of flat batteries , also had a battery protector that cut power before battery went dead flat and damage it

most I see done on still run standard lights etc off the cranking battery , so in effect you could run cranking battery down by leaving lights on and run aux down on leaving fridge on

I know with some battery switch you can link both for starting , but not much good if both flat , on mine cranking battery could never be run down

ive seen 2 fires start in battery boxes in land rovers , one I was sitting in going along the road !!! ( not mine I might add! )
Post #349032 2nd Aug 2014 5:27pm
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mikeh501



Member Since: 07 Jan 2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1142

United Kingdom 
Riyo wrote:

Mike, any reason why you haven't fused both positive terminals?. Looking at the standard LR wiring the main car power/loom 12v comes off the 500A mega fuse and the Starter motor positive is the only unfused section (can anyone confirm?), i was told for dual batteries you need a seperate fuse for each battery as close as possible to the positive terminal for safety. (ive got a 300A fuse on each on mine atm - came with the mobilecentre kit)


The reason is that there is different advice for winches given the very variable load they can draw. You end up with a huge fuse which defeats the object. Instead I have an isolator not far from the battery.
Post #349075 2nd Aug 2014 8:49pm
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munch90



Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: guildford
Posts: 3558

England 
think the 500a mega fuse protects the starter cable and the other wiring is protected by pal type fuses in fuse box under the drivers seat
Post #349078 2nd Aug 2014 9:10pm
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Riyo



Member Since: 26 Jun 2014
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 89

Scotland 2012 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 SW Santorini Black
i think the starter cable was on the battery side of the fuse. ie unprotected but have read this is normal.
Post #349119 3rd Aug 2014 2:15am
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munch90



Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: guildford
Posts: 3558

England 
I will have a look as not 100% ,but cant see them putting a 500a fuse to protect a 200a wire

from l/r work shop manual

The battery positive terminal is fitted with a mega fuse, which is a 500 Amp device housed in a black fuse carrier, integral to the battery clamp. Power feed to the BJB is taken from a tap on the battery clamp before the mega fuse.

In the event of a crash the mega fuse is designed to blow, this isolates the power from the generator and starter motor, but allows power to be delivered, via the central junction box (CJB), to the rest of the vehicle.
Post #349144 3rd Aug 2014 8:31am
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airpusher



Member Since: 04 Sep 2011
Location: South Wales
Posts: 363

Wales 2006 Defender 110 Td5 XS DCPU Zambezi Silver
Riyo, that would be appreciated. I'm trying to amass all the bits I need at work.

Hopefully all I'll need to get will be the ACR, distribution box and fuses etc.

I'm trying to keep the cost down as much as I can but make a safe install so any hints on the install will be greatly received.

Does anybody know the dimensions of the battery try? I'm going to try to fab one at work! Well try is probably hopeful!!! Lol

Cheers 2006 Defender Double Cab- Zambezi Silver
Post #349277 3rd Aug 2014 7:46pm
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Riyo



Member Since: 26 Jun 2014
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 89

Scotland 2012 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 SW Santorini Black
sounds like a good plan, the battery tray is such a basic piece of metal im sure you could make something up yourself, i would if i were to do it again. Smile, im waiting on a few bits so it will probably be the weekend before im finished.

I definitely recommend vehicle wiring products for cables/crimps etc too.
Post #349313 3rd Aug 2014 9:19pm
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Riyo



Member Since: 26 Jun 2014
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 89

Scotland 2012 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 SW Santorini Black
Munch you have got me thinking now about this, i did not pay particular attention to which side of the mega fuse the cables went when i took them off.

I assumed the larger cable was for the main car power (to the prim and sec fuseboxes under the drivers seat and dash) and the smaller cable goes to the starter motor.

Maybe it is the other way round and the larger cable is for the starter and the small one for the car fuseboxes. If so maybe the larger cable for the starter motor is protected by the 500A Mega and the smaller cable just goes straight to the car fuseboxes (although i wonder why they are on different sides of the fuse).

Any knowledgeable gentlemen can confirm what is actually correct?

*edit* just read your post more carefully munch, that clears it up thanks. Although how is the Mega 'designed' to blow in an accident?
Post #349328 3rd Aug 2014 9:48pm
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Riyo



Member Since: 26 Jun 2014
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 89

Scotland 2012 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 SW Santorini Black
Hi all,

just an update on how my battery installation has gone. Everything is in and working (i think)

i painted my dash while it was out also with some Pearlescent Peugeot Diablo Red and Lacquer, i think it looks nice. I also put the cheesy odyssey sticker on there but that might come off, and mounted the split charge system controller switch on there also Smile



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Ok so back to the battery situation, first a wiring diagram to show you what i was aiming for(excuse my MSpaint skills lack):


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and heres some photos of it installed/ during installation


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I changed my mind about using just the 300A fuses and used the original MEGA fuse for the starter motor cable as i figure if land rover put a 500A mega in there a 300A one may not be enough, the mobile centre kit came with 35mm2 and 16mm2 cable, the original land rover earth and positive is 50mm2 so i decided 35mm2 isnt enough and ordered some 60mm2 from vehicle wiring products and used that for the battery earths and positives to the 300A fuses. From the 300A fuses i have used 35mm2 to the relay and pos bus bar and 16mm2 for the fusebox pos/neg connections.

I still have an issue getting the battery hold down bar on as the three posts with wing nut tops are impossible to fit into the box with batteries in..im still working on this but any ideas would be appreciated. Im thinking of possibly cutting a bit out of the top lip that is getting in the way but would rather not...even with the third post in i am slightly concerned the batteries can slide sideways..


Last edited by Riyo on 7th Aug 2014 2:22pm. Edited 1 time in total
Post #350127 7th Aug 2014 2:07pm
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Riyo



Member Since: 26 Jun 2014
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 89

Scotland 2012 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 SW Santorini Black
another thing i am trying to figure out is what is the normal operation of the relay, when i put it in Auto with the engine on after 30s or so the relay kicks in and when i turn off the engine the relay is still engaged, i measure Voltage at the terminals after turning off the engine and it was around 13V

Does anyone know what voltage the relay cuts out at?.,..i assume after a little while the battery voltages will settle back to ~12.8 cutting out the relay but i was expecting it to be almost immediately after shutting off the engine?

Thanks
Riy
Post #350128 7th Aug 2014 2:19pm
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Go Beyond



Member Since: 30 Jan 2012
Location: Headcorn, Kent
Posts: 6676

United Kingdom 
You need covers for the positive bus bar and boots for the positive cables, there's a lot of lives exposed there !

Other than that, nice job Thumbs Up

Here is the same kit in our 130

http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic15815....;start=105
Post #350129 7th Aug 2014 2:26pm
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Riyo



Member Since: 26 Jun 2014
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 89

Scotland 2012 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 SW Santorini Black
Thanks Go Beyond,
I will either buy covers or find a way of covering them in as i am not too comfortable with them being exposed either. trouble is alot of positive connections have 2 wires coming from them, ie the fuses and a standard coiver wont fit over 2 cables..i have got tons of spare single covers but they wont fit.

Getting the batteries in was tricky and if i were to do it again i would definitely go on munch's recommendation and move the fusebox to under the drivers seat..

its really not a nice feeling trying to squeeze gear in when you know that a short will put out over 2500A.. eek

I tried to minimise the amount of unprotected cabling...its basically just the pos wire from the battery side of the Mega to one of the 300A fuses and the other pos wire from battery 2 to the other 300A fuse that is unprotected.

Also theres the issue of cable sizing and i know people do this differently but the idea is to always have a fuse as the weak point if a short were to occur..

some things i have been thinking about.. (leading to me going for larger wire)
LD put a 500A MEGA fuse in...therefore 35mm2(240A) seems too little..even the main earth and starter positive cable are 50mm2 rated at 345A - would the fuse blow before the cable overheats in a short?
Mobilecentres kit comes with 300A fuses...35mm2 cable rated at 240A...again which would burn first..
16mm2 cable to fusebox rated at 110A coming off 300A fuse - for sure i imagine the cables going to go before the fuse if they short - im thinking of swapping these 300A fuse for 200A or less.

i know theres always going to be some unprotected parts of the wiring but i really dont want to set my car on fire lol

also mobilecentres kit comes with standard duty busbars rated at 210A... hence my starter battery earth cable is connected to the same eyelet as the 50mm2 car earth...otherwise it would be a weak link..

again 300A fuses with 210A bus bars... what if


Last edited by Riyo on 7th Aug 2014 2:54pm. Edited 1 time in total
Post #350132 7th Aug 2014 2:50pm
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Go Beyond



Member Since: 30 Jan 2012
Location: Headcorn, Kent
Posts: 6676

United Kingdom 
Yes, we did the same and put the fuse boxes (we have two) on the drivers side running one 70mm2 cable through convoluted conduit from one side to the other


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Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated Mr. Green
Post #350133 7th Aug 2014 2:53pm
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