electrical help needed

[davie]

Hi All

i am trying to sort out a small issue i have with my defender, currently my heated seats and roof lights are wired into switches mounted in my central cubby box but if i need to remove the cubby box its a lot of hassle disconnecting and re connecting the switches.

so i wanted to wire in the switches as normal and onto bulkhead area screw a terminal strip so if needs removing its just unplug 12 spade connectors, and lift box out with all switches etc still in it.

so i need a terminal strip, i found the one below sold by farnell but sadly i dont need to spend enough to qualify for minimum card order so need another supplier.

anyone got any pointers, need to have a minimum of 12 wires running to/from it.

like one in link

http://uk.farnell.com/elkay/2001-4-cg-4/terminal-block-tab-4way/dp/1178387?Ntt=1178387

need to find in next week or so.

cheers

david

[Bowie69]

Anything any good here?

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/connectors/connectors.php

Any reason why a couple of econoseal connectors wouldn't allow you to disconnect it with a couple of tugs? Look under weatherproof connectors on this page:

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/connectors/multiconnectors.php

[davie]

thanks bowie those may help,

wishing i could find a strip where i had 2 x rows of 12 connectors that i can just fit with spade connectors that can be screwed to bulkhead. mainly cause i am rubbish with electrics so the simpler the better without going as basic as the chocolate block 2 screw connectors.

[Bowie69]

I would go with some proper connectors if I were you, so easy to dis/reconnect, electrics aren't that tricksy to be honest, just need a level of common sense.

[Jaytee]

Very interesting thread as I am about to wire up all sorts into my cubby box. What do you mean by 'proper connectors' Bowie69?

[FridgeFreezer]

VWP sell 8-way spade-terminal shells, first item on their "multi connector" page:

Failing that, further down the page are powerpole connectors, which can be locked together in different orientations to create a keyed multi-way plug/socket. They can be bolted to a flat surface.

[Jaytee]

Brilliant, thanks for that, good info :-)

What current can a 2.5mm cable take?

[Bowie69]

What sort of 2.5mm cable? I hope you don't mean mains flex

There's info on this here: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/cable/standardcable.php

And for thinwall insulation, here: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/cable/thinwall.php

[FridgeFreezer]

A nicer solution to wiring your cubby box would be to control the high-current stuff with relays mounted somewhere permanent. Then you wire the switches in the cubby with smaller wire & compact multi-way connectors (computer D-type connectors will do, and run to 37-ways) which triggers the relays. Then you have much lighter wiring in your cubby box, less high current wires running around the place, and small & cheap connectors to use (they come with neat headshells too).

This is a 37-way D connector, wired with a mixture of 0.5 & 1mm automotive wire - for triggering relays you could get away with <0.5mm, which solders nicely to the contacts. 1mm is a bit tight, especially when there's a lot of it.

Decent D connectors are rated up to 5A per pin, they're common as muck, can be locked in place with the thumbscrews, and being of military origin will stand environmental stresses surprisingly well.

Picking one at random, this one gives you 25 pins and at the bottom of the page are an assortment of sturdy metal headshells for different cable entry angles.

To join the fuse/relay box to the cubby you could even buy a cheap straight-through all-pins-connected computer cable from eBay (being careful that it really is wired up that way), leaving only the wiring inside the box to do.