I'm just about finished with relocating my battery to the trunk and a friend of mine suggested install a fuse at the battery in case the battery cable wears through I don't ignite the interior of my car on fire. Does anybody have any opinions/suggestions on whether to do this and how to do it?
Whenever I relocate my battery to the trunk, I wire it up like in the schematic below.
I do not run the super hot battery cable thru the switch and to the starter.
I only run the small 12v (8 gauge or larger) that operates the accesories and ignition thru that safety switch.
I never liked the idea of running a hot welding cable the length of the car, so I put the starter relay in the rear and now the only time the big cable is hot is when the starter is engaged.
Much safer than the way NHRA shows in their rule book.
When I turn off the switch in the rear, it kills the engine which kills everything. This meets the rule requirement of killing everything in case of an accident.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/BatteryRelocation3-1.jpg)
Wh
I didn't wire mine this way initially, but I may change over. It makes a heck of a lot of sense the more I think about it. I would then run a fuse/circuit breaker in the trunk on the powered 12v for rollover protection.
Good tech IMHO.
Just
This would make it like the stock circuit protection.
Basi
I certainly didn't mean to start anything on here but I do appreciate the differing points of view. I'm learning something and isn't that what this is all about. If you're using heater hose to protect the cable, is there a reason why the cable would have to be run inside of the car? I have enough room to run 2 GA (1/2" OD) cable bare the length of the car from inside but I don't think I have the room to do so inside a heater hose. Would I be okay running it from under the car, say mounting it to the body above the drive shaft or some other route under the car? Where do you find heater hose longer than 6'? How much larger ID heater hose do you get than the OD cable? For example my 2 GA I believe is 1/2 OD. Should I get 1/2 ID heater hose or will that be too difficult to fit? I really appreciate the help!
Ok m
I like the idea of running it through heater hose... I was always wondering of a good way to protect it and that is certainly interesting.
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As a bracket racer that runs round-robin' style races, I have to have a very good starting system.
After I had a failed master cut-off switch in the rear trying to handle all that cranking amps thru it, I decided to eliminate another potential item that could malfunction.
Thus, the idea of putting my starting solenoid in the rear next to the battery.
Yes, there is the expense of an additional few feet of alt. wire, but I also put a healthy alternator on the engine, and I have not noticed hardly any voltage drop from it.
The fact that I do not have over 12 feet of "hot-all-time" welding cable running up the side of my car gives me a little more peace of mind in the event of side collision and the cable shorts out and sparks could potentially start a fire.
Yes, the way I do it is not for everyone, but I am more comfortable with my cars that way.
So
I like the starter solenoid in the trunk, this is the way we build all of our cars but we also usually run the wiring against the frame to the engine compartment. Actually we have one of are race cars that is completely wired with continuous power solenoids they run the fuel pump, water pump, fan, and ignition. We have all these (except for one in the trunk for the fuel pump) solenoids in the glove department very neat and clean only a few wires in the engine compartment. But we run carbureted application stuff so if your efi you still have all that lol.
Tom:
I was doing the "heater hose" trick back in 1999 when I built my 460 Fairmont. It had no interior left in it after I finished building it. Yes, it works.
Yeah, I have those continuous power relays on my 84 Crew Cab.
The previous owner wired it up.
I like the idea of that solonoid controlling all that amperage rather than the steering column ignition switch.
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Tom Renzo, I talked to a couple of people in the area and they never heard of running cable through heater hose but all thought it made sense for some added protection. I picked up 25' of 2/0 welding wire from a local welding shop and 24' of 5/8" heater hose. I'm trying to feed the cable through the hose which is a tight fit and I'm wondering what's the best way to do this. It's taken me about 45 minutes to get about 14" in and the beginning should be the easiest section to feed through. How do you do it? I was thinking about coating the cable with Vaseline so it would slide through easier. Once I get this run I'll connect it to a 300 amp fuse in the trunk at the battery for additional safety.
I can't imagine that feeding cable down a heater hose will be easy. Let us know how it works.
I can't figure out how to push the cable through the heater hose so I'm thinking of a couple of different options:
1.) I can cut a slit down the length of the heater hose, lay the cable inside and close the heater hose up with some flame-retardant tape.
2.) Cut the heater hose in more manageable pieces, say 18" sections that are easier to push the cable through, push the individual sections together and connect them with flame-retardant tape. I would also try my best to install the clamps that connect the hose to the car at the different section connection points (where the tape would be).
I'm leaning toward option 2 and think option 1 would would negate the benefit of the heater hose too much. My thought is if most people don't use a heater hose for additional protection, would I really be holding the cable out to a great deal of liability or risk if I cut the hose in 18" sections. Ideally I'd like to push the cable through the hose but I don't see how that will be possible. Any thoughts out there?
What I did on mine was add extra rub protection where the cable passed an edge or something. I used plastic split sheath, but you could use your hose in the same way. Just use it where you think it will be needed and it will be fine.
The issue with adding a fuse at the battery is the draw from the starter is huge for a short while. I don't know how big of a fuse is adequate for sure.
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I talked to my girlfriends Dad who echoed what Tom had to say and did add that once a fuse breaks, it will then break at a lower amperage than before. So if I get a 600 amp fuse and my cold cranking amps on the battery is rated for say 750 and in the dead of winter my fuse breaks at say 600 amps, it may then break later at say 580 amps and the pattern continues, 570, 560 and so on. Of course this is just an example but if I'm going to use a fuse which I think would be a good safety addition, I want to make sure I have fuse that at least matches or is very close to matching the cold cranking amps on my battery. I've googled 600 amp fuses and the styles vary as much as the prices. Has anybody put a fuse this size before? Anybody have any ideas on what style fuse I should go with? As always, any help would be greatly appreciated even if it's "skip the fuse".
I run a 175 or a 200 amp wafer fuse on mine, I cant remember witch and have had no problem yet, I use a mini torque style starter with the solenoid on the fender with a constant hot to the starter. But i wont be starting it in the dead of winter though.