Auxilary fuse box

[john h]

Hello  All,
I am thinking about adding an auxiliary fuse panel this winter when I tackle my other wiring projects  (Batt charge wire, and headlight relays),  I was planning on adding 6-8 circuits.  4 accessory and 4 always hot.  My question is, can I use the bottom lug on the fuse block that is mounted in the passenger compartment to get the accessory switch power power? it looks to be a 12 ga black wire and it looks like it just goes tot he steering column key switch.  basically add a female blade connector to this and run it to the acc lugs on the aux panel?  Should I be looking for this keyed power in another place?

Thanks
John

[Moparal]

I woulodn't recomend hooking up anything that goes to the ignition switch. But doesn't your box share a fuse that says spare. I can't remember off the top of my head right now.  But for 6 more breakers, I would run a dedicated wire for it. That will pull a lot of amps.

[1 Wild R/T]

 

[john h]

looks like the left side of the auxiliary box is all keyed power.  Where did you tap off to get the power for that?  I will get the power direct from the battery for the always on circuits

[1 Wild R/T]

Actually it's all battery power, the fuses feed relays that are triggered by keyed power....  The fuse block is a Bussman unit, the stud at the bottom is where power comes in & it's fed by a 4ga cable tied to the battery lead on the starter relay...  The power stud on the fuse block is 10/32 but the 4ga cable has a 5/16 lug so I took a 5/16 bolt, chuck it it my lathe cut it , center drilled it & tapped it 10/32.. Used that as adapter to bolt the lead on.. 

[john h]

Actually it's all battery power, the fuses feed relays that are triggered by keyed power....  The fuse block is a Bussman unit, the stud at the bottom is where power comes in & it's fed by a 4ga cable tied to the battery lead on the starter relay...  The power stud on the fuse block is 10/32 but the 4ga cable has a 5/16 lug so I took a 5/16 bolt, chuck it it my lathe cut it , center drilled it & tapped it 10/32.. Used that as adapter to bolt the lead on..

nice idea.  did you use 1 relay for the switched side?  how many amp relay? what are you using as the switch to activate the relay? 
what gage wire are you running from the "switch" to the relay? 

[1 Wild R/T]

nice idea.  did you use 1 relay for the switched side?  how many amp relay? what are you using as the switch to activate the relay? 
what gage wire are you running from the "switch" to the relay?

There are separate relays for high & low beam headlights, high & low set fans & the stereo amp...  The trigger wires are the original headlight feeds, the dual temp fan switch & the stereo head unit.... MSD has a built in relay & is triggered by the ignition feed.... Since the control side of a relay draws less than a .25 amps it can be controlled by a 24 ga wire... I use bigger but it's overkill...   I only buy Bosch/Tyco relays, no Chinese knock off failure prone crap for me...

[john h]

There are separate relays for high & low beam headlights, high & low set fans & the stereo amp...  The trigger wires are the original headlight feeds, the dual temp fan switch & the stereo head unit.... MSD has a built in relay & is triggered by the ignition feed.... Since the control side of a relay draws less than a .25 amps it can be controlled by a 24 ga wire... I use bigger but it's overkill...   I only buy Bosch/Tyco relays, no Chinese knock off failure prone crap for me...

sorry to keep bothering you on this. I like the idea and I want to make sure I get all the info to understand. my knowledge on the electrical side is not what it should be, especially when it comes to relays.  I'm wondering where you mounted the relays?  close to the item that uses them?  I don;t see them in the picture.  do you just select a relay for the amp fuse you intend to use? for example, a fan has a 30 amp fuse you need to run a 30 amp Min relay?  the primary wire goes form the batt to the fuse block and then smaller wires to the relay.  out of the relay with larger wires to your switched components?  Would I be able to use a single relay say 60Amp to run 4 or more new keyed terminals if everything hooked up to them had it's own on off switch?

Thanks,  I appreciate all the info.