hattymender Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I'm doing a rebuild with military bulkhead + harness. There's very few spare live and ignition live connectors, I've already used them all with LPG and work lamp wires, that's before radio, CB, etc., etc, etc. What I need is a couple of bus bars, well three; Permanent live, ignition live and earth. (The ignition one could be relay controlled, suppose a simple stud could be earth). 'daisy chaining' lucar connectors not preferred, bodging lots of wires into one bullet definitely out, looping to scotch block or fuse block better, but does anybody do (or made) a bus bar? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glue Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I've always used "Earth Block" from B&Q or similar for the occasions I've needed to do any major commoning like that. Cheap, cheerful and available in a couple of sizes. Glue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roguevogue Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 It's a touch overkill but a box like this will allow multiple reliable connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 A few quid from the chandlers can get you any number of interesting bus bars: Marine bus bars (There are other variations too) You don't necessarily need three buses, if you need a device to only function when the ignition is on you use ignition live to switch its relay (low current) and then feed that relay's power source with B+. That way you avoid putting large loads on one main "ignition live" relay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hattymender Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 Many thanks. Now I've seen one they look easy enough to make. I'm off to my shed. Smoke, burning and explosions to follow............................................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Many thanks. Now I've seen one they look easy enough to make. I'm off to my shed. Smoke, burning and explosions to follow............................................. Just be VERY sure that there's no way the thing can easily fail in an unsafe manner, the nature of a bus bar is such that they're not usually fused, so if it goes wrong you could very quickly find yourself with a small fire, followed by a large fire We have similar things at work where the terminals are M12 and M16 (you *really* don't want a short on that) made from two slices of phenloic with a ~12mm thick copper bar. You could scale it down using two slices of nylon chopping board. You screw the bar to the first bit, then screw the first bit to the second bit so the screws are isolated, then you screw the second bit to the car. Countersunk M6's are what's used at work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henk Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 An example of kind of bus bar can be found on D44 site. It's a marine style fuse box with 12 + and 12 - connections See: http://www.devon4x4.com/component/option,c...howcaticons,yes Also available on Ebay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I daisychained some spade connectors for eight fuses in the battery box, and fed +12v into both ends of the daisychain to reduce any overloading potential. In fact, I think I've got two fuse boxes left over from that - must chuck them onto the classifieds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Proper bus-bar works for me, they do the job properly and safely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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