Power to cargo area - what guage wire?

[radman]

I don't think you need the heavy duty 187 series but it's your money.

I just liked the way the 187 switches on/off. How does it work on the 185/285... you press the button to trip off and then slide the reset back into place to turn on?

why put a 50amp Breaker on a 25amp max? It’s never going to trip and you’re pretty much left with an expensive switch (less expensive than a 187)

 

[grinchy]

you don’t know what other stuff you might want on that line later, right? Why not put on a big breaker for line capacity, and a fuse or smaller breaker for each accessory? I guess it’s easy enough to up a the amps later too.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

A smaller breaker will trip sooner (at lower draw), which means there will be less chance of problems in all components.

If a 25amp device draws 30amps, I’d want it to trip at that point, and not wait until it reaches 50amps. Circuit breakers are cheap enough to upgrade down the line if additional accessories contribute to higher draw.

 

[sdnative]

I just liked the way the 187 switches on/off. How does it work on the 185/285... you press the button to trip off and then slide the reset back into place to turn on?

why put a 50amp Breaker on a 25amp max? It’s never going to trip and you’re pretty much left with an expensive switch (less expensive than a 187)

I believe the manual push to trip mechanism is the same, the 187 is just heavy duty. The 187 has the terminals on the same side so that may work better for some installations.

I can get the 50A for a pretty good price from a local private supplier, so I am going that route. It is fine for the 2awg and gives me the flexibility to add additional loads down the road. I was using a 50A MRBF fuse but I wanted to ability to easily open the circuit.

 

[radman]

Manual for the win. I still don't fully understand why it specs a 60amp fuse/breaker for an 18amp device that has a max output of 25amps (not sure what short circuit output @ 40amp means). I don't plan on having anything else on this circuit as all my outputs will be on the LiFePo4 side with the inverter.

 

[CharlieS]

you don’t know what other stuff you might want on that line later, right? Why not put on a big breaker for line capacity, and a fuse or smaller breaker for each accessory? I guess it’s easy enough to up a the amps later too.

This is the approach I took on my last rig, and probably will with this one. Size the circuit breaker to protect the supply wire and have a fuse box in the cargo area with a separate fuse rated appropriately for each load.

 

[radman]

Is this the rear chassis ground you guys are using?

the panel is painted under the lug (same as the one under the hood), so the bolt threads are the only thing touching bare metal.

 

[sdnative]

Is this the rear chassis ground you guys are using?

the panel is painted under the lug (same as the one under the hood), so the bolt threads are the only thing touching bare metal.

View attachment 2602092

See post #21

 

[radman]

See post #21

Ha, thanks!

 

[CharlieS]

Is this the rear chassis ground you guys are using?

the panel is painted under the lug (same as the one under the hood), so the bolt threads are the only thing touching bare metal.

View attachment 2602092

That is the one I used, although I scuffed the paint down to bare metal under it with a wire wheel in a drill per someone here's suggestion.

 

[BigMF]

All, I'm currently working through this challenge myself. My goal is to have multiple accessories powered in the cargo area that are only powered on when the "key" is in the ACC or On position, so to speak. I came up with a picture since I'm a visual learner and "explainer" and I'm hoping the wiring schematic below accurately describes what I think is a viable solution. The only real question I have is whether a switched power source can activate a relay. I have located a switched power source and was going to run that to the relay but not sure if I can do that or if that is a bad idea.

BTW, I've calculated my power needs and am nowhere near the 100 AMP max of the fuse block. However, I'd rather run the 4AWG wire now and have everything prepped in case I need to add more, higher demand accessories in the future.

 

[CharlieS]

All, I'm currently working through this challenge myself. My goal is to have multiple accessories powered in the cargo area that are only powered on when the "key" is in the ACC or On position, so to speak. I came up with a picture since I'm a visual learner and "explainer" and I'm hoping the wiring schematic below accurately describes what I think is a viable solution. The only real question I have is whether a switched power source can activate a relay. I have located a switched power source and was going to run that to the relay but not sure if I can do that or if that is a bad idea.

View attachment 3073873

BTW, I've calculated my power needs and am nowhere near the 100 AMP max of the fuse block. However, I'd rather run the 4AWG wire now and have everything prepped in case I need to add more, higher demand accessories in the future.

You can absolutely have the relay triggered by an ignition switched source. The relay doesn't care what is triggering is as long as it has the right voltage.

Some food for thought though: you might consider both a switched and non-switched circuit, so you can run things when the vehicle is off. Some examples: fridge, charging cables for devices, cargo area lighting...

 

[tbisaacs]

This thread just saved me from a mistake

About to wire up the same DC charger as @radman and was thinking 10awg would work

I also saw in another thread from @tincan45 that he used a third row seat lug as ground.

 

[CharlieS]

If you take either of the rear cargo panels out when you do your wiring, there is a common body ground on each side near the hatch opening. It makes a great ground point.

 

[tincan45]

This thread just saved me from a mistake

About to wire up the same DC charger as @radman and was thinking 10awg would work

I also saw in another thread from @tincan45 that he used a third row seat lug as ground.

Over 2 years now with all of my AUX loads on the third row as ground and no issues. I did file off some paint before bolting.

 

[BigMF]

By the way, where are the mythical grommets in the rear? Behind/under the panels in the cargo area? I haven’t gone searching too hard because I’ll need to remove my cargo platform before I can remove the panels.

Not sure yet if I’ll run the positive under or through the cabin.

 

[CharlieS]

Yes, near the jack storage area and mirrored on the other side.

 

[tbisaacs]

By the way, where are the mythical grommets in the rear? Behind/under the panels in the cargo area? I haven’t gone searching too hard because I’ll need to remove my cargo platform before I can remove the panels.

Not sure yet if I’ll run the positive under or through the cabin.

One note - on an LX the passenger grommet is basically inaccessible from the bottom as it comes out right above the AHC pump.

 

[BigMF]

One note - on an LX the passenger grommet is basically inaccessible from the bottom as it comes out right above the AHC pump.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[tbisaacs]

Thanks for the heads up!

Found a photo. The pink area is the grommet