Aux Switch/Accessory Power Distribution Panel Idea

[Jason]

so here is what ive thought of so far for basically flipping what i had. this gets away from the battery tub wall on the inboard side of the battery. i broke the terminal block into 2 6 circuit blocks. if you dont need any larger relays than what is in the factory circuit, then you simply use one terminal block, upfitter wire into one side. positive line to accessory out the other. if you do need some larger relays, then the other block is there to help space things out a bit for wire routing to the relays and the fuse and ground buses.

This also frees up the center across the top for use of the strap to hold the plate down.

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I'm all for working towards finding alternative ways to mount things. I do 12V systems for a living and wouldn't place anything over the battery. This can cause issues with heat and damage the battery or worse, catch fire. You can always look at something like this and go from there. May even cost less in the long run by the time you purchase and wire everything.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BCJGTWCD/?tag=f150tremor-20

 

[Jason]

I have been working on something very similar. Not to market or resell just to make for a clean install. I am just using HDPE board. The Stinger relay panel is the shizel compared to individual relays. I have posted about it before but just haven’t gotten around to wiring anything yet. I will use two of them for 2-40 amp circuits and 6-20 amp circuits.

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I really like this set up. I looked it up and can't find were the relay's are fused. Is it all internal (fuses replaceable or resettable) or does it recommend fusing the outputs separately? It says it has thermal overload and short circuit protection but doesn't identify whether the system resets it or if you have to manually reset or change out a fuse/ckt.

 

[Fozzy]

I really like this set up. I looked it up and can't find were the relay's are fused. Is it all internal (fuses replaceable or resettable) or does it recommend fusing the outputs separately? It says it has thermal overload and short circuit protection but doesn't identify whether the system resets it or if you have to manually reset or change out a fuse/ckt.

It resets itself, all solid state.

 

[Jason]

It resets itself, all solid state.

I figured as much. Equipment will still need to be fused to protect the equipment to prevent damage to equipment since the relays are rated at (1)40amp and (3)20amp. Solid state only protects the relays.

 

[b-real]

I just barely wired up some rock lights to my aux 1 switch just so that I could use those switches for something. I cant think of anything else I will use the other 5 for.

That said, in running those lights it was apparent that while Ford was great in providing the wiring (and I love the idea of the pass thru wires as well) they didnt actually take into account how someone would have the room to actually wire up all 6 switches. The Jeep boards have lots of ideas on power distribution panels since Wranglers come with a similar set up with 4 prewired aux switches and the leads tucked behind the battery.

 

[Fozzy]

I figured as much. Equipment will still need to be fused to protect the equipment to prevent damage to equipment since the relays are rated at (1)40amp and (3)20amp. Solid state only protects the relays.

Yes, just one more reason the Switch-Pro is the way to go. You can program the fuse rating.

 

[Cblaxx19]

I'm all for working towards finding alternative ways to mount things. I do 12V systems for a living and wouldn't place anything over the battery. This can cause issues with heat and damage the battery or worse, catch fire. You can always look at something like this and go from there. May even cost less in the long run by the time you purchase and wire everything.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BCJGTWCD/?tag=f150tremor-20

thank you for the input and i appreciate the concerns. Ford wraps the battery in a blanket. this makes me think that over heating isn't necessarily an issue for these batteries?

The design I have so far leaves a gap between the battery and the tray that air can flow through. i could also add a number of vents to reduce any restriction of airflow around the battery. these vent slots would also provide a way to cable manage the wiring along the plate.

 

[Cblaxx19]

so i posted about this already in the "what have you done this week" thread but wanted to update this post for anyone interested.

I went ahead with my power distribution panel design, taking the feedback from everyone and incorporating what i could.

I added a hole pattern to allow for airflow around the battery that also doubles as holes for zipties to mange all the cables.

so here is the 3d model of the design:

I used a company called sendcutsend to fabricate the part. they are an online sheet metal fab company. Very impressed with the speed they made and shipped it. quality is really nice too. showed up vacuum sealed to a cardboard backer and even came with some sour patch kids.

here is the before of under the hood: As you can see, the couple of wire harnesses i had were way longer than necessary and were kind of shoved wherever i could fit them.

I started out wiring the factory upfitter wires into a self made Deutch DT connector. this gave them more length and sealed them up.

i also made a corresponding male side to the DT Harness that would wire to the terminal block on the power panel. this allows for easy disconnect of the upfitters if you need to remove the panel to replace the battery or for any other reason.

after that, it was just a matter of wiring up each of my accessories. I ended up using seperate fuses for almost everything and the upfitters are just triggers, with the exception of my backlighting in all of my pods, those are run directly off of the upfitter fuse since the current draw is so small.

anyways, here's the final product:

i have some additional trimming of harness that i can do but am waiting on a few things before i do that to make sure i have the length i need. I also want to make some covers for the terminal blocks to deter water getting on them. I'm actually really surprised that Blue sea systems doesn't sell a cover for them when they offer covers for their other components.

If you have to remove the panel, its not too difficult. Just disconnect the DT connector for the upfitter wiring and then the power and ground lines from the battery. then just undo the battery strap like normal and the panel can swing up out of the way(you do need to leave some slack in the wiring coming off of the relays going to the accy).

i initially started install just to check fitment but got carried away and did it all. ill likely take it out at some point to paint it or something but its aluminum and should start to corrode too quickly.

Overall, really happy with how clean it turned out and i have room to expand in the future if i find something else i want to wire up.