Adding electrical devices to tractor

[WranglerX]

Let me see if I understand you correctly. I have a leftover BlueSea 6 slot fuse panel from my last boat. I can surely tie that directly to the battery. Are you stating, any wire I run thereafter, be tied into an ignition power source? Sorry for my ignorance, but where does the relay come in?

The relay is between the battery and the fuse block, it controls power to fuse block by following the off/on of the ignition switch..... How you choose to switch the out puts of auxiliary fuse block will depend on what control the added device requires....

Trigger source will be voltage from 'ON" ignition switch..

Device will be fuse panel and associated circuits (lamps or radio or backup camera or what ever)...


Dale

 

[senecak19]

This is GREAT insight. Learning a ton over here! Thanks guys. What’s the best place to source a relay? Right now I have three devices requiring a fuse of 10, 10, 30. I’m perfectly okay limiting it to say 50amps and calling it good. A 60 would just be a nice to have. I’m merely trying to power two LED lights (front 125w/back 36w) and my third function valve, which I believe requires a 10amp fuse (seeing they attach them to the work light connection).

 

[LittleBill21]

This is GREAT insight. Learning a ton over here! Thanks guys. What’s the best place to source a relay? Right now I have three devices requiring a fuse of 10, 10, 30. I’m perfectly okay limiting it to say 50amps and calling it good. A 60 would just be a nice to have. I’m merely trying to power two LED lights (front 125w/back 36w) and my third function valve, which I believe requires a 10amp fuse (seeing they attach them to the work light connection).

generally you can use relays up to about 40 amps, after that you need to go to a continuous duty solenoid.

examples.

Amazon.com: Gebildet JD1912 Car Relay Harness 12V 4A 4 Pin SPST Harness Sockets with Color-Labeled Wires for Automotive Truck Van Motorcycle Boat (Pack of 2): Industrial & Scientific

Amazon.com: MICTUNING 12V 5 Pin Waterproof Relay Harness Set - SPDT Bosch Style Automotive 4Amp 3 Amp Relay with Heavy Duty 16AWG 14AWG Pre-wired Harness 5 pack: Automotive


Amazon.com: Max 3A Continuous Duty Solenoid Relay Nickel-Plating For Golf Carts,Winch, Marine In Rush 12VDC: Automotive

 

[ctgoldwing]

Pretty much exactly what I did here

 

[senecak19]

Yes! Exactly what I’m looking to do. Our chassis’s are the same. What did you tap into to power the relay on?

Pretty much exactly what I did here

 

[senecak19]

That first one looks exactly like what I need. I see in the wiring diagram, they recommend a fuse in between the battery and the relay. How do I determine that fuse? Is it a collective of what I intend to power? I also noticed their photos state “if you get the wrong one...”. First time I’ve seen that on Amazon.

generally you can use relays up to about 40 amps, after that you need to go to a continuous duty solenoid.

examples.

Amazon.com: Gebildet JD1912 Car Relay Harness 12V 4A 4 Pin SPST Harness Sockets with Color-Labeled Wires for Automotive Truck Van Motorcycle Boat (Pack of 2): Industrial & Scientific

Amazon.com: MICTUNING 12V 5 Pin Waterproof Relay Harness Set - SPDT Bosch Style Automotive 4Amp 3 Amp Relay with Heavy Duty 16AWG 14AWG Pre-wired Harness 5 pack: Automotive


Amazon.com: Max 3A Continuous Duty Solenoid Relay Nickel-Plating For Golf Carts,Winch, Marine In Rush 12VDC: Automotive

 

[i7win7]

generally you can use relays up to about 40 amps, after that you need to go to a continuous duty solenoid.

Try auto part stores or mail order
Amazon.com : 12v 6a relay

Hope 30A load is intermittent duty, most small tractors have 15-20 amp magnetrons for chargers (well kabota anyway)

 

[senecak19]

For some reason the older light bar I had is 126w and has a 30amp fuse in it. Of course I’m not running it regularly and so far it’s fine. But it has a relay attached to it too.

 

[ctgoldwing]

I used the work light plug located under the fender - only powered when key is on

and yes I fused that heavy line from the battery to the relay AT THE BATTERY. I used a 40 amp fuse - I'll never draw that much off the back relay. Your fuse should protect the wiring going back to the relay. If you run 18ga I would use a 3amp fuse, I used 10ga.

 

[WranglerX]

That first one looks exactly like what I need. I see in the wiring diagram, they recommend a fuse in between the battery and the relay. How do I determine that fuse? Is it a collective of what I intend to power? I also noticed their photos state “if you get the wrong one...”. First time I’ve seen that on Amazon.

Fuse in supply should equal total of all fuses in panel.... For example if you are running a 6 fuse panel and all fuses are 10 amp, the master fuse should probably be 60 amp.... Of course the calculation of master fuse will be total of what all fuses are because values can vary dependent on "load" (fuses may be 2.5 or 5 or 7.5 or 10 or 12 or 15 amp and so on)....

Dale

 

[WranglerX]

I used the work light plug located under the fender - only powered when key is on

and yes I fused that heavy line from the battery to the relay AT THE BATTERY. I used a 40 amp fuse - I'll never draw that much off the back relay. Your fuse should protect the wiring going back to the relay. If you run 18ga I would use a 3amp fuse, I used 10ga.

View attachment 682257

Most definitely...

And wire gauge should be calculated for "maximum" load....

Dale

 

[ctgoldwing]

Fuse in supply should equal total of all fuses in panel.... For example if you are running a 6 fuse panel and all fuses are 10 amp, the master fuse should probably be 60 amp.... Of course the calculation of master fuse will be total of what all fuses are because values can vary dependent on "load" (fuses may be 2.5 or 5 or 7.5 or 10 or 12 or 15 amp and so on)....

Dale

I believe that is incorrect. Would mean your house 'master circuit breaker' would = the sum of all your circuit breakers? I think not. One has 'almost' nothing to do with the other. Load and fuse size are different things.

 

[WranglerX]

I believe that is incorrect. Would mean your house 'master circuit breaker' would = the sum of all your circuits? I think not. One has 'almost' nothing to do with the other.

We are talking dc power system not 120/240 volt AC power system, yes it's easy to assume the not all the devices will be on in house at one time and the "main" breaker can be less than sum total of all breakers...... But in this sort of system, if you have a work light and a back up camera and radio its really easy to have all devices on at same time and possibly exceed maximum draw of "master" fuse...

Besides fuses are there to protect the wiring not necessarily the device..... But if device fails (shorts) and current load (amperage) exceeds wire capacity (amperage rating), the fuse should operate to protect circuit....

Dale

 

[i7win7]

Thought this thread could use a wire ampacity chart for those who are DIYers

Marine Wire Size and Ampacity | West Marine

 

[ning]

You may want to measure directly how many amps your LED lights are pulling.

 

[ctgoldwing]

You may want to measure directly how many amps your LED lights are pulling.

lol, good exercise - mine were a tiny fraction of what they were advertised for.

 

[PILOON]

Fuses and circuit breakers are not there to protect the equipment. (some equipment has its own internal protection)
They are to prevent the wire from melting and causing a fire!
They should be as close to the power source as physically possible.

If relays are used then 2 fuses are needed.
One on the control line* and the other on the circuit that the relay controls.

*control line is often already protected at source BUT be sure the control wire is equal or better than source wire size.

Note: there also exists automatic self re setting circuit breakers.

It is simple, circuit protection is 'weak link' that is inline where it won't create a fire hazard.

When it comes to fuses you also have 'slow blow' which simply means that they can handle a slight momentary surge. (like a motor start up.)

 

[senecak19]

Lot's of great feedback here. I'm going to try my best to describe the configuration I'm intending to install. If you guys could let me know if I'm WAY OFF BASIS, I'd appreciate it.

- New Relay and Fuse Panel to be installed near the battery compartment.
- Looking at the amp chart someone posted, I believe I'll need something like 6 or 8ga wire running from the battery to a 40 amp fuse of some sort (never seen an inline one with wire that size... usually 12ga or less) to my relay. Then use the same 6 or 8ga wire from my relay to my fuse block.
- I'm going to reverse what the other gentleman did here and run a 12ga wire from the work light connector back to the battery compartment to turn the relay on. I hope 12ga is sufficient here. The work light connector itself is even less and I'm assuming the relay doesn't need a huge power wire to allow it to turn on and off.
- Once complete, I should be able to run all my lines to the battery compartment fuse panel for plug and play application. Simply install the appropriate fuse and connect to the block.

 

[LittleBill21]

Lot's of great feedback here. I'm going to try my best to describe the configuration I'm intending to install. If you guys could let me know if I'm WAY OFF BASIS, I'd appreciate it.

- New Relay and Fuse Panel to be installed near the battery compartment.
- Looking at the amp chart someone posted, I believe I'll need something like 6 or 8ga wire running from the battery to a 40 amp fuse of some sort (never seen an inline one with wire that size... usually 12ga or less) to my relay. Then use the same 6 or 8ga wire from my relay to my fuse block.
- I'm going to reverse what the other gentleman did here and run a 12ga wire from the work light connector back to the battery compartment to turn the relay on. I hope 12ga is sufficient here. The work light connector itself is even less and I'm assuming the relay doesn't need a huge power wire to allow it to turn on and off.
- Once complete, I should be able to run all my lines to the battery compartment fuse panel for plug and play application. Simply install the appropriate fuse and connect to the block.

something like this for the fuse

Amazon.com: 5?AMP 5?A DC 12V-24V Car Stereo Audio Circuit Breaker with Manual Reset Inline Fuse Holder and Battery Cable Ends, Closed End Crimp Connectors (4 AWG to 3/8 AWG): Automotive

relays use very little power, 14-16 would be fine, i saw some confusing comments in here. you fuse the main wire at what the main WIRE is capable of carrying, not what the total load is, you size the panel and the wire and the fuse to what you need + some buffer, if you need 20 amps you design for 25 amps, so a 25 amp fuse a 25 amp rated wire, and a 25 amp rated fuse panel. if you need 40 you do the same thing etc.. you do need to calculate how much your going to use to design this.

 

[oosik]

I can't speak to newer tractors. The Owner Manual for my new Taco Wagon( Ram 2500 Power Wagon) has a complete section speaking to adding electrical devices.

There are two basic cautions - improper electrical connection causing problems and extraneous RF causing problems.

The extraneous RF( radio frequency) situation has given me pause when considering adding a mobile Ham radio to the Taco Wagon.