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14Platoon

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I’m looking to fit a couple of accessories to my Defender. 

I already have a cigarette lighter fitted direct to the battery with an in-line fuse. I’m looking to fit an aftermarket cooling fan thermostatically controller, and a rear spot light. Will these be okay wired in the same way as the cigarette lighter, or do I need to wire differently? 

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For the fan, I'd strongly recommend the X-Eng X_Fan kit.  The instructions say the switch will handle the fan's current, but for longevity I think using a relay would be better.  A fuse on the relay main feed would be required.

As Ralph says, make sure you have a switch and warning light on the dash for the rear lamp; not only does it mean you can leave the switch on the lamp itself on so that you can control it from the dash for reversing in poor illumination, but it prevents accidental battery drain or kids fiddling with it.

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12 hours ago, Snagger said:

For the fan, I'd strongly recommend the X-Eng X_Fan kit.  The instructions say the switch will handle the fan's current, but for longevity I think using a relay would be better.  A fuse on the relay main feed would be required.

As Ralph says, make sure you have a switch and warning light on the dash for the rear lamp; not only does it mean you can leave the switch on the lamp itself on so that you can control it from the dash for reversing in poor illumination, but it prevents accidental battery drain or kids fiddling with it.

I’ll have a search for that fan. 

Cheers

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It's not a fan, just the thermostatic switch and a housing for it to be fitted to the radiator bottom hose.  Great, simple piece of kit.  The switch has two different temperature triggers with separate output terminals, so you can run a main fan and a second booster,  warning system, or any other higher tripped circuit you wish.  I also installed manual override switches in the dash as I'm paranoid.

 

For the fan itself, there are plenty of 14" units available mail order, but a big one from a scrapped car would be cheaper and one from a big engined car may have more heft.

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If you're fitting several things you might look at the various bussed fuseboxes out there, like this:

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/358/led-fuse-box

or this:

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/353/6-way-fuse-box/d29c5e7ea3c1e81728f69c17ab172646

As long as you feed them with a cable that can safely take the entire total load they make adding multiple accessories much neater.

If you've got a long run for the fat cable (rather than being very near the battery), a properly rated midi-fuse near the battery end will protect it:

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/355/strip-midi-fuse-holder

 

Tool for calculating cable sizes / fuse ratings etc.:

http://fuddymuckers.co.uk/tools/cablecalc.html

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6 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

If you're fitting several things you might look at the various bussed fuseboxes out there, like this:

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/358/led-fuse-box

or this:

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/353/6-way-fuse-box/d29c5e7ea3c1e81728f69c17ab172646

As long as you feed them with a cable that can safely take the entire total load they make adding multiple accessories much neater.

If you've got a long run for the fat cable (rather than being very near the battery), a properly rated midi-fuse near the battery end will protect it:

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/355/strip-midi-fuse-holder

 

Tool for calculating cable sizes / fuse ratings etc.:

http://fuddymuckers.co.uk/tools/cablecalc.html

Very informative. This looks more professional than a bunch of wires separated. 

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