ghohouston
Active member
You also have to think, if you buy an amp wiring kit, you only have what, 20 feet or so of wire, that's not gonna reach across the engine bay, all the way to the back seat.
Solonoid vs Battery for power
- Thread starter m j
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ghohouston
Active member
But I see what youre saying about the solenoid. Idk, it just seems easier to wire straight to the battery.
m j
Active member
well there you go a perfect reason to make a mess of your wiring.
I bought my truck from a 20yo
so I have the hack wired, multiple amps and capacitor, wood screwed (2" long) to the floor pan under my seat, complete with some kind of amp wiring kit, fed through a sharp, drilled hole in the firewall, straight to the battery MOD.
it was really cool when my machine key ring fell down behind the seat and landed on the bare capacitor terminals and started a small welding show.
I think I had 4 different awesome circuits tagged on to the DS battery
I dont think they are 3000rms rated amps though, whatever they are they were plenty loud for a regular cab truck.
when I get around to redoing that I will be using a bulkhead connector at the firewall and drawing power from the solenoid post
I bought my truck from a 20yo
so I have the hack wired, multiple amps and capacitor, wood screwed (2" long) to the floor pan under my seat, complete with some kind of amp wiring kit, fed through a sharp, drilled hole in the firewall, straight to the battery MOD.
it was really cool when my machine key ring fell down behind the seat and landed on the bare capacitor terminals and started a small welding show.
I think I had 4 different awesome circuits tagged on to the DS battery
I dont think they are 3000rms rated amps though, whatever they are they were plenty loud for a regular cab truck.
when I get around to redoing that I will be using a bulkhead connector at the firewall and drawing power from the solenoid post
ghohouston
Active member
My wiring never looked messy. I had one run of 1/0 and one run of 8 gauge from the battery to the back seat. One for the speaker amp, one for the sub amp. Both mounted to the inner fender well at the protected fuse blocks, and run through the cab grommet, the grounds went under the back seat, under the floor, and through the floor grommet to the frame. It sounds like that kid installed everything himself, and did a half assed job at it. And don't get me started on capacitors. Fuggin joke, and no one with a real system that knows what theyre doing runs them.
ghohouston
Active member
And fwiw, I was 17 when I installed all that.
Tom S
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I am also one that really dislikes having random wires attached to battery terminals.
No one is going to learn anything from you in regards to the proper way to add accessories to a 12/24V system. You do it your way and the other 90% of the 12/24V installers will do it there way.
Why would you wire in added accessories that can feed back or affect your factory electrical system (computer, ignition, fuse box and etc...)? Would you at least fuse the wire coming off the "factory" solenoid or just run it directly to the item you are powering? The battery acts as a buffer for voltage spikes/ dips before it feeds back through your electrical system. Such as turning on an amplifier, added lights, inverter and so on. As I said earlier, if its to power a switch that is turning on a relay or some other low voltage demand item, maybe but not for anything that would pull significant amperage.
m j
Active member
obviously the factory doesnt understand these things as well as you do Qtr.
If ya want to do it right, run a cable from the positive post off of the starter to an isolated lug like this one. Then run what ever accessories off of a fused wire. Running wires off of the positive post isn't a good idea, mainly due to corrosion. just my 2 cents.
I'm not sure why you keep referring back to "factory" or "OEM" wiring? What does that have to do with adding additional accessories/ load to the factory/ OEM electrical system? When have you ever seen the factory add anything extra to the electrical system and connect it to the solenoid? Never because the factory won't add additional items that are not OEM. You can get it done at the dealer and in most cases they will send the vehicle to a car audio or off road shop.
Can you do it, sure but its not a good idea and its not the correct way to do it. Would you have an issue wiring up a set of aftermarket LED back up lights, most likely not. Would you wire a winch, high power amp, inverter, additional fuse distribution block, no. It's a lot like performance parts. Do you need a EGT gauge after installing a chip, no but its a good idea. Do you need new head studs when making 400-500HP, no but you are asking for trouble if you're not careful.
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Arisley
Moderator
Now, if you replace the small OEM battery cable with an aftermarket (much larger) battery cable. Went first to a distribution lug like Oldschool posted. Then went from there to the factory wiring (solenoid) and from the distribution lug to your winch, welder, inverter, on board air compressor.... everything would work just fine.
dsberman94
Well-known member
Fuse on the wire to the accessory itself.
Arisley
Moderator
Between the lug and each accessory.
Like this.
Like this.
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Arisley, not a bad way to do it after seeing your picture. I would not do it that way if I were hooking up a lot of high amperage items. Those little power posts range from 150-250A max ratings, depending on the post size. A winch can pull up to 400A. You should wire high amperage draw items directly to the battery. If you toss in a aftermarket high amperage amplifier, inverter, welder and or....., you start to put a huge demand on that power post stud or the "OEM" solenoid. They don't even recommend adding high amp items to the side posts that come extra on some batteries because they cannot handle the amps. Your top posts are large and can handle that kind of load.
Your little diagram would work fine for someone wanting to run a Rigid LED light bar and other misc. items that did not draw over 100A or so all together which is most likely 95% of the members on this forum.
Your little diagram would work fine for someone wanting to run a Rigid LED light bar and other misc. items that did not draw over 100A or so all together which is most likely 95% of the members on this forum.
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Arisley
Moderator
If the power distribution post was as large as a battery post, which if I was running that stuff it would be. It would work perfectly fine. If I was running just a winch, or just a welder, yes, I would go to the post. It could start getting pretty crowded if you were running multiple large amp items. Of course you half to have everything rated to handle all the amperage that will possibly be used.
What post would you go to if it were just one high amp draw item?
While you are out sourcing this 3/4-1in power point stud, pick me up a flux capacitor with some 1N4001 diodes wired in so it will protect whatever I have hooked up to it from the electro magnetic field when I shut it down.
While you are out sourcing this 3/4-1in power point stud, pick me up a flux capacitor with some 1N4001 diodes wired in so it will protect whatever I have hooked up to it from the electro magnetic field when I shut it down.
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Tom S
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One of the places I would get power from on my truck for something other then a very high amp device would be right here. The photo is not exact because I snagged that off the internet. I would do that long before a ring terminal on a battery cable bolt.
3/8 post is rated for 250 amps, 1/2" post is rated for 400 amps. What size is the bolt on the battery cable?
m j
Active member
what do the wires in your winch attach to? a solenoid post that might be the same size as the starter solenoid post.
battery cable bolt is maybe a 5/16" and is a common service/failure point
battery cable bolt is maybe a 5/16" and is a common service/failure point
