Fuse/Relay panel advice?

[QuaTTro]

As part of our full car rewiring, we're getting ride of the factory fuse/reay panel that you have to access under the dash.  So I'm looking for advice on any fuse/relay panel parts you guys like, and any advice on where to mount it.  I definitely want it to be accessible, but there are plenty of options for that.  Pics of your setups will help too!

[turbogrill]

Switches:

- I bought QuickCar switch panel. I would avoid that, low quality at least my part. 

- You can buy high quality switches from Digikey for decent  price

- If you have money to spare and I would look into MicroPDM

Fusebox:
- BlueSea provides a simple fusebox however I would look into a Bussman enclosed box. A little more complicated since you need to crimp the connectors

 

 

[QuaTTro]

3 minutes ago, turbogrill said:

Switches:

- I bought QuickCar switch panel. I would avoid that, low quality at least my part. 

- You can buy high quality switches from Digikey for decent  price

- If you have money to spare and I would look into MicroPDM

Fusebox:
- BlueSea provides a simple fusebox however I would look into a Bussman enclosed box. A little more complicated since you need to crimp the connectors

 

 

Thanks. Year we're good on the switches stuff, but need to sort out all the other fuses and relays.  I'll look into the bussman and bluesea options.

[turbogrill]

2 minutes ago, QuaTTro said:

Thanks. Year we're good on the switches stuff, but need to sort out all the other fuses and relays.  I'll look into the bussman and bluesea options.

 

If you need relays Bussman has nice onces where the relays are integrated.

 

This is my bluesea based fusebox for the NC. A bussman would be much nicer so I could have the relays togheter in one box.

[QuaTTro]

We only have like 3 relays, but are still trying to determine how many fuses we need so that we buy the right size

[TimS]

I used one of these “kits”. https://www.ebay.com/itm/353874081722?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28

I used Gebe(German OEM) relays, Carling switches, Tefzel wire and a ton of heat shrink. And zip ties

Edited April 27, 2022 by TimS

[Todd K]

Not sure where you are located but some marine second hand stores have overstocks and tear outs - lots of panels, fuses, relay holders, etc.  Many prewired - much with oxygen free copper.  Most is built to withstand the rigors of wet to damp locations and provide corrosion resistance.  Just some food for thought.  

[MMiskoe]

Just done doing a complete re-wire on my Miata.  Here are the parts used:

 

Main circuit breaker:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H9X78MC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

From there it went through these relay panels/fuse blocks:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KHVHLL5?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DYT2TVS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[MMiskoe]

More on the subject

 

I also have a quick car switch panel, I saw above it got a bad review, I have not had any issue with it and it was easy to mount and wire.

 

The 100A breaker goes between the hot leads from the battery/alternator and the fuse panel.  I've seen a couple of car fires that might have been saved with one of these.  They are cheap enough so why not.  Mazda had an equivalent fuse in the system, but I wanted something I could reset or buy replacement fuses easily.

 

The fuse block above has LED's that will light up if the circuit is grounded and it blows the fuse which is nice.  I went with this one because it has both hot and ground buses so there were fewer connections to be made.

 

The relay panel was attractive because of its size.  I could not find one with buses on either side, so each relay gets 4 wires.

 

Let me know if you are in need of detail on more components. 

 

I trust you have a good crimper and a label maker that will print on heat shrink tube?  If not, get them.  I have links to those too.

[tneker]

I have had good luck with these for the fuse / relay box https://www.delcity.net/store/ISO-280-Combo-Panel-!-Partially-Bussed/p_804298.h_804299

 

[QuaTTro]

9 hours ago, MMiskoe said:

More on the subject

 

I also have a quick car switch panel, I saw above it got a bad review, I have not had any issue with it and it was easy to mount and wire.

 

The 100A breaker goes between the hot leads from the battery/alternator and the fuse panel.  I've seen a couple of car fires that might have been saved with one of these.  They are cheap enough so why not.  Mazda had an equivalent fuse in the system, but I wanted something I could reset or buy replacement fuses easily.

 

The fuse block above has LED's that will light up if the circuit is grounded and it blows the fuse which is nice.  I went with this one because it has both hot and ground buses so there were fewer connections to be made.

 

The relay panel was attractive because of its size.  I could not find one with buses on either side, so each relay gets 4 wires.

 

Let me know if you are in need of detail on more components. 

 

I trust you have a good crimper and a label maker that will print on heat shrink tube?  If not, get them.  I have links to those too.

Thanks this is all great info. Where did you mount this stuff?

 

yes we have all the correct tools and knowledge for installing safely. Thankfully my teammate is an electrical engineer!

[MMiskoe]

Well, the Venn Diagram of requirements of where to locate it doesn't have any overlapping space.  Accessible, out of the way, not getting hot, not getting wet are the things I look at for electronics.  At least one of those isn't going to happen in the racecar.

 

I was doing a Miata w/ no dash.  I added a mounting plate about where the glove box used to be.  It is covered in electrical things but I ran out of room for the relay box, fuses and breaker I linked above.  These all got placed on the lower right corner of the passenger foot space, all of them up off the floor so it if floods they are above it.  The breaker and fuses are up about a foot off the floor.  They were all a pain to mount and wire, but can be reached to replace fuses/reset etc.

 

It was the first time I'd done a job like that so I'm not offering any pictures.

 

What kind of car are you doing?

 

[QuaTTro]

17 minutes ago, MMiskoe said:

Well, the Venn Diagram of requirements of where to locate it doesn't have any overlapping space.  Accessible, out of the way, not getting hot, not getting wet are the things I look at for electronics.  At least one of those isn't going to happen in the racecar.

 

I was doing a Miata w/ no dash.  I added a mounting plate about where the glove box used to be.  It is covered in electrical things but I ran out of room for the relay box, fuses and breaker I linked above.  These all got placed on the lower right corner of the passenger foot space, all of them up off the floor so it if floods they are above it.  The breaker and fuses are up about a foot off the floor.  They were all a pain to mount and wire, but can be reached to replace fuses/reset etc.

 

It was the first time I'd done a job like that so I'm not offering any pictures.

 

What kind of car are you doing?

 

1990 Audi 90 Sedan.  

 

We've finally removed the 21 lb factory dash (weight savings!) so everything is exposed for us now.  We've got plenty of room to mount it on the passenger side, up and away from "most" elements.  We're trying to be clean and careful about the install, and like you said find the right mix of the "traits" to suggested.

[Donovan]

I started with one of those Amazon fuse boxes mounted just under the switches, but ran out of room as we learned we needed extra switches.

2nd attempt was 3D printing a panel and just integrating the switches and these fuse holders: https://www.amazon.com/Uxcell-a14052300ux0215-Truck-Blade-Holder/dp/B00OK9H3EI

3rd attempt got a little fancier with black / yellow translucent filament for switch labels- thinking we can backlight the panel for night races.

 

The switch plate is connected to terminal blocks behind the dash, I have a handy diagram for tracing circuits back into the car.  The switches are 30a 

[TimS]

4 hours ago, QuaTTro said:

Where did you mount this stuff?

I mounted mine in engine bay up against fire wall. 

[MMiskoe]

An Audi.  So you're already well familiar with things that are difficult to get to, hard to reach etc.

 

One thing I've found is finding enough flat area to mount things together.  We did use a section of alumilite/alumicore type material to give us a mounting platform, made it much easier.