RXX Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 OK I am going to redo my auxiliary wiring harness this winter and I want to do it right. I have procured a fuse block that I will run all my auxiliary stuff from (ipod, radar detector, GPS, Stebel Nautilus, satellite radio, grip warmers, amplifier, joanie's butterfly, widder stuff) that will be tucked into front cowl. I want to run 1 (one) good sized cable from a relay under the tail that I can route away from any HT pieces on the bike. Historically I have had the fuse block in back so there was a lot of spaghetti traveling around. Any suggestions on a particular type, gauge, shielded or non. Do I need to run a ground with it attached to negative post or can I ground it to the frame? I want to minimize interference and get rid of any buzz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 OK I am going to redo my auxiliary wiring harness this winter and I want to do it right. I have procured a fuse block that I will run all my auxiliary stuff from (ipod, radar detector, GPS, Stebel Nautilus, satellite radio, grip warmers, amplifier, joanie's butterfly, widder stuff) that will be tucked into front cowl. I want to run 1 (one) good sized cable from a relay under the tail that I can route away from any HT pieces on the bike. Historically I have had the fuse block in back so there was a lot of spaghetti traveling around. Any suggestions on a particular type, gauge, shielded or non. Do I need to run a ground with it attached to negative post or can I ground it to the frame? I want to minimize interference and get rid of any buzz. you can use a rf filter to get rid of any buzz in the line. As for the wire, I'll let someone else recommend whats best, as I just use regular primary wire. Most important thing is the solder and shrink all your connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furbird Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 With that much load, I would seriously look into 8 gauge or possibly even 4 gauge. 8 gauge should probably cover it, even if you had nearly everything running. The biggest problem would be if you laid on the Nautilus while the heaters were running, IMO. I would upgrade the negative cable at the battery to a 4 gauge regardless as to which route you go to eliminate any ground problems. I have a single 10 gauge running to the front of my bike solely for the Nautilus. I have twin positive and negative battery cables on my bike as well. I plan on adding heated gear this year, but the real reason for all that was for the strobes that I run during my Patriot Guard missions. No sense in having questionable electrical connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skull Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 joanie's butterfly Eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman_40 Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 The make of wire isn't hugely important. Just use stranded copper wire as it is easier to work with. The biggest thing is the connectors, 90% of the time if you have a wiring issue it is the connector, or really close to it. Solider all the connections and make sure you use heat shrink, I like the type with glue inside. When it heat it up the shirk gets tight and the glue seals everything. A 12 Gauge wire is good for up to about 100W on 12V. Since the bird only has about 100-150W of extra power it should be fine to run most everything on 12Gauge wire. The main wire from battery to Aux fuse block you might want to use 8 or 10G if you have allot of electrical accessories. The following site lists rating for wire size. http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrated Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 That guy needs to stick that wire ampacity chart up his ass.....and quickly....before someone actually follows his suggestions. Phillip....the only true way to know what size wire you are going to need is to figure out how much current that you are going to be using at any given time. ALWAYS....assume the maximum for any item. For example.....electric gloves at full current draw........let's say....2 amps.. Volts times amps = Wattage......so let's just round it off a little and say.... 12VDC times 2 amps = 24 watts. Now you may never turn the gloves up to full or high, but assume the worst cast scenario. Same way with you electric grips, Ipod, whatever. Then total the wattage......let's say......115 watts. Divide the 115 watts by the 12V (more likely 12.5 or 12.6Volts) and you get your current in amps. In my example, using the 12.5 volts........you come up with a current draw of 9.2 amps. The wire size that you could safely use would be anything that can handle 9.2 amps.....but I like to oversize anything like that for a good margin of safety. #12 AWG wire is good for around 20 amps, so that would be plenty....in this example. What I would do in this example is to have a "Main" 20A fuse in the positive side of the circuit and have it feeding a terminal strip......daisy chained to as many terminals as you need. Then the feed coming off of the terminal strip would have an inline fuse of the correct size for whatever that you'r trying to feed with it. Obviously an Ipod doesn't need a 10 amp fuse, but your electric heating stuff might. Give me a holler if you have some questions and I would be glad to explain or show you what I'm talking about. I'll be out of town all day tomorrow (Sunday), but any evening this week would be OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furbird Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 12 gauge would be more than enough for 100W of continuous usage, but I'm talking about spikes. 100W is only 8 amps at 12 volts, but a 12 volt car system actually runs from 13.5-14.5, so now you're talking more like 7 amps and the Nautilus pulls more than that by itself. Besides, you're not running GPS, heated grips, heated gear, and all that other stuff he's talking about off of 7-8 amps. You need to have a wire capable of a 30-40 amp spike, and with everything but the horn running would probably be closer to 10 amps continuous, which is going to put you at max electrical load, which will not charge the battery properly. In the winter, you are going to have charging issues with all that stuff on, because the heated gear is going to rob a lot of power (depending on how much gear we are talking about). I would suggest switching to an HID if you already haven't, and convert to LED turn signals and brake light bulbs. This will free up some power. But you are going to have to decide what of all that stuff is most important to you. If you run all that stuff at one time, you may end up with a situation where your battery never properly recharges and the bike might strand you. I'd cut down on some electrical accessories, or run them off of their own batteries. You might also consider an upgraded stator to provide you with the current you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 I would suggest switching to an HID if you already haven't, and convert to LED turn signals and brake light bulbs. This will free up some power. But you are going to have to decide what of all that stuff is most important to you. If you run all that stuff at one time, you may end up with a situation where your battery never properly recharges and the bike might strand you. I'd cut down on some electrical accessories, or run them off of their own batteries. You might also consider an upgraded stator to provide you with the current you need. Amen ... I have an electrosport stator, and even with heated jacket and gloves, highbeam on, in the cold my charging system stays in the high 13's ... was not the case with the OEM stator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redxxrdr Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 I put a couple of battery leads in my tank bag. Remind me to give them to you this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 All of that or just get a BMW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02XXCA Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Red with a copper core! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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