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Finding a switched LIve in engine bay puma 63 plate 90


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Another wiring related question..... I've managed to get hold of a wiring diagram for a 2012 truck so should be the same as mine I would have thought but I'm struggling to take the flat wiring diagram and relate it to the actual wiring on the truck.

I was told that a switched live can be found at both the top right and top left of the engine bay in the two harnesses with grey connectors but I can't work out how I link these connectors to the wireing diagram.  

I was lucky enough to work out that a set of Halo lights had been wired up to the switch live on the right hand side but this is just a black wire... lucky I went looking as the fixing started to come apart so I've soldered that back together but don't really want to take another switch live off of that wire.

So I wanted to identify which wire on the left hand side is the switched live... I had thought it might be a mirrored connector so I could just use the same wire layout from the right hand side.... but nothing is ever that easy... the left hand side has about half the amount of wires.

am I missing something another manual that explains what these connectors do or which wires do what.

ill upload the pictures of the connectors to give people a fighting chance of understanding what I'm on about :-)

thanks in advance 

Shorty

 

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Edited by western
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TBH shorty, I wouldn't be looking at running anything from the standard wiring except a relay, which will only take milliamps. 

If you want additional power supplies for accessories then do it properly and put a small fuse box and an ignition switched relay in your battery box and run the stuff you want from that.

It's really simple and easy to do and a whole lot safer than piggy backing off other circuits. 

HTH

Mo

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I'm 99% sure that I got a switched live from a "spare" hole in the passenger side connector when I had my 2.4 puma. Just get a multimeter, pull out the rubber bungs and check which are live with the ignition. The pins for the connector are available online.

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14 hours ago, Mo Murphy said:

TBH shorty, I wouldn't be looking at running anything from the standard wiring except a relay, which will only take milliamps. 

If you want additional power supplies for accessories then do it properly and put a small fuse box and an ignition switched relay in your battery box and run the stuff you want from that.

It's really simple and easy to do and a whole lot safer than piggy backing off other circuits. 

HTH

Mo

Thanks Mo, I was going to run a permanent live from the fuse box and as you said I want to do this for a couple of other aux feeds so was going to use a separate fuse box in the battery compartment.  but my electronic knowledge is limited although getting better, any recommendations on a good fuse unit to get?

How would the ignition switch relay work? Wouldn't I need to feed that from an existing ignition switch live?  

Just for completeness I'll explain what I'm trying to do.  I want to run 2x set of LED DLR lights and the LED HALO head lights.  I need 2x ignition lives for both Halo these are currently run from the existing wiring on the right hand side as per the picture, they basically daisy Chain from the drivers side and over to the passenger side.  

The DLR's also have 2x ignition switch live as well as the need for 2 permant live which I've already run back to the battery box.

But as you said it's going to be easier to use an extra fuse box in the battery compartment as it's going to get messy in their I suspect as I continue to want to add stuff.

thanks Shorty

PS - I've found this simple guide about fitting an auxiliary fuse box so got that covered now so just need to understand how I make the switched live circuit work as I imagine I can run the relay from this new auxiliary box.

http://www.retroanaconda.com/landrover/2009/10/auxillary-fusebox-install/

 

Edited by ShortTimers
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14 hours ago, Mudmonkey said:

I'm 99% sure that I got a switched live from a "spare" hole in the passenger side connector when I had my 2.4 puma. Just get a multimeter, pull out the rubber bungs and check which are live with the ignition. The pins for the connector are available online.

That's what I originally thought but can't find the code for the connector or the pins.  I'd really like to rewire the drivers side switch live as when they installed the Halo lights they cut it really short but I couldn't work out how to get the pin out of the housing.  It was a flat spade like pin and I didn't want to push it to hard in case it bent.

do you know the part code for the connector or the pins as that's another option.  Did the blank plug just pop out?

thanks Shorty

 

sorry just noticed the subject should say switched live not switched Earth...... 

Edited by ShortTimers
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Shorty, basically your relay switches a connection from battery to your new auxiliary fuse box. The relay is in turn switched by one ignition switched live.

Apologies if I'm teaching my grandmother to stuck eggs.

You turn the ignition on, that closes the relay, power flows to the fuse box. Turn the ignition off, the relay opens, and power to the auxiliary fuse box stops, hence ignition switched.

The beauty of it is that you only use one ignition switched live wire to run EVERYTHING that you want and you'll only draw enough current from that ignition sourced supply to keep the relay closed (milliamps). The power for your accessories goes via another terminal on the relay straight from battery to auxiliary fuse box.

No strain then on the existing harness and fuses.

Normally you would source the ignition switched live from a spare slot on your vehicles fuse box or from an unused slot in a connector.

I'm not familiar with new Defenders fuse board layouts but I'm sure someone with more knowledge can point you in the right direction. 

All much safer than piggybacking off existing circuits.

 

Fuse boxes come in all shapes and sizes.

I used this one as it has one supply for each bank of fuses. I use one side for an ignition switched supply to power an extra fan, the cb (I kept leaving it on and flattening the battery 😉) etc. And the other side as a permanent live for things like power sockets and usb sockets.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192217279549

I also run all my supplies with twin core wire of the appropriate size and take the earth back to the earth busbar on the fuse box. As this is connected directly to the negative terminal of the battery I get the best earth.

HTH

Mo

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12 hours ago, ShortTimers said:

That's what I originally thought but can't find the code for the connector or the pins.  I'd really like to rewire the drivers side switch live as when they installed the Halo lights they cut it really short but I couldn't work out how to get the pin out of the housing.  It was a flat spade like pin and I didn't want to push it to hard in case it bent.

do you know the part code for the connector or the pins as that's another option.  Did the blank plug just pop out?

thanks Shorty

 

sorry just noticed the subject should say switched live not switched Earth...... 

Link to connector info here

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On 20/08/2017 at 10:33 AM, Mo Murphy said:

Shorty, basically your relay switches a connection from battery to your new auxiliary fuse box. The relay is in turn switched by one ignition switched live.

Apologies if I'm teaching my grandmother to stuck eggs.

You turn the ignition on, that closes the relay, power flows to the fuse box. Turn the ignition off, the relay opens, and power to the auxiliary fuse box stops, hence ignition switched.

The beauty of it is that you only use one ignition switched live wire to run EVERYTHING that you want and you'll only draw enough current from that ignition sourced supply to keep the relay closed (milliamps). The power for your accessories goes via another terminal on the relay straight from battery to auxiliary fuse box.

No strain then on the existing harness and fuses.

Normally you would source the ignition switched live from a spare slot on your vehicles fuse box or from an unused slot in a connector.

I'm not familiar with new Defenders fuse board layouts but I'm sure someone with more knowledge can point you in the right direction. 

All much safer than piggybacking off existing circuits.

 

Fuse boxes come in all shapes and sizes.

I used this one as it has one supply for each bank of fuses. I use one side for an ignition switched supply to power an extra fan, the cb (I kept leaving it on and flattening the battery 😉) etc. And the other side as a permanent live for things like power sockets and usb sockets.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192217279549

I also run all my supplies with twin core wire of the appropriate size and take the earth back to the earth busbar on the fuse box. As this is connected directly to the negative terminal of the battery I get the best earth.

HTH

Mo

Thanks Mo thats great all advice welcomed... and don't worry i'm really glad you are going through it at that level... the last thing I want to do is cock it up.... already had to fix the Switched live soldering that was put on the truck when someone else fitted the LED head lights...

Once I can find the Switched live in the main fuse box I'm going to do as you suggested and run everything back to a separate fuse box like the ones you posted.  I had intended to use multi core 16mm2 cable ratted for 100 amps to supply the earth and permanent live from the battery with a 100amp fuse in the battery compartment.  In reality I'm only going to be running DLR's/Halo head lamps and extra USB socket in the cab so nothing to heavy duty but want to get it right.  

I like the idea of running both switched live/permanent live and earth out of one box... so much neater and easier to fix if something goes wrong.  As you said it stops the piggy backing.  

The only other thing that I'm struggling with concept wise is the Relay bit.  I get the principles of the relay, thats fine with power it closes and without it opens and breaks the circuit.  So the questions I have is:

1) what relay should I use?

2) I understand that the switched live goes 'from the main fuse box(when I can find the right out put pins) into the relay and then onto the auxiliary fuse box.  But you mentioned 'The power for your accessories goes via another terminal on the relay straight from battery to auxiliary fuse box. so are we saying that I have to put the power from the battery directly into the relay and then onto the Auxiliary fuse box.  I thought I would wire the permanent live straight into the auxiliary fuse box... Or am I miss reading it.

Really appreciate the help.

Cheers

Shorty

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1. 40 amp relay should suffice.

2. If you wire straight from the battery to the fuse box shortimers, it won't be ignition switched. The relay is opening and closing according to whether the ignition is on or off.

I know it's hard to get you head round in the beginning 😊

HTH

Mo

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On 26/08/2017 at 7:13 PM, Mo Murphy said:

1. 40 amp relay should suffice.

2. If you wire straight from the battery to the fuse box shortimers, it won't be ignition switched. The relay is opening and closing according to whether the ignition is on or off.

I know it's hard to get you head round in the beginning 😊

HTH

Mo

Thanks Mo I'll get. 40amp relay so that's the easy part.

I think I see what your saying about creating the ignition switched through the relay, but I just want to check my thinking...  

i take an ignition switched live feed from the main fuse box and that flows into the relay, I then take a permanent live from the battery and that feeds into the relay as well.  The output from that relay will then give me an ignition switched live witch I can take to the new auxiliary fuse box... this should means I can then run all the devices that need ignition switch lives from the auxiliary fuse box... or am I still getting it wrong.

One last question... I think I know the answer but wanted to check my logic...

once I've found the ignition switch live in the main fuse box won't that already have been through a relay at some point creating an ignition switched live?  I had thought originally I could take that ignition switch live straits into the auxiliary fuse box... but from what I think everyone is saying its best to insert a new relay between the main fuse box and the auxiliary fuse box and have that relay powered by the battery creating a new ignition switched live circuit and that won't put any strain on the original wiring.....

thanks as always

shorty

 

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The thing is shorty, that the wire from the vehicle harness is not capable of supplying the power that you need now and in the future. You will only draw milliamps through it to close the relay. It's job is to tell the relay when to close and when to open thus only providing power to your new fuse box only when the ignition is on and in doing so only drawing a tiny amount through your vehicles original wiring.

Mo

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 28/08/2017 at 9:51 AM, Mo Murphy said:

The thing is shorty, that the wire from the vehicle harness is not capable of supplying the power that you need now and in the future. You will only draw milliamps through it to close the relay. It's job is to tell the relay when to close and when to open thus only providing power to your new fuse box only when the ignition is on and in doing so only drawing a tiny amount through your vehicles original wiring.

Mo

Thanks Mo, that really helps, I was forgetting about the fact that the switch live is just used to activate the relay and not actually carrying the power form the battery to the AUX fuse box.  

I'm still struggling to find the right pin in the main fuse box to use as the switched live feed so I'm going to use the one from the front wing.. chop all the feeds that its going to and run a single wire to the new Aux fuse box... then run all devices from that.  a lot neater.

Do you have any thoughts about the bets place to mount the Aux fuse box on a 110?  I've found a good place in the 90 as I can boult it just behind the passenger seat as I have a box in the back but the 110 doesn't give me that luxury. 

Cheers

Shorty

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Thanks to everyone for the help you gave.. I now know a lot more about the wiring in the truck but I'm sure I'll be asking for more help wine I mess it up :-) 

but just in case anyone wants to know which wire is the main switched live under the drivers seat it's the bottom thick white/red wire.. I'll add a picture at the weekend when I've spurred into it.

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