wiring a few things together, best way?
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Lights, Neon, LEDs, HIDs
Forum Discription: Under Car Lighting, Strobe Lights, Fog Lights, Headlights, HIDs, DRL, Tail Lights, Brake Lights, Dashboard Lights, WigWag, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=75149
Printed Date: July 03, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Topic: wiring a few things together, best way?
Posted By: siresmerph
Subject: wiring a few things together, best way?
Date Posted: March 26, 2006 at 8:39 PM
well my name is Isaac and i have a 2001 ford taurus, with the vulcan engine, not that that matters. anyway ive been into the wiring thing for a long time now and im still learning. my wife and i were going to trade in the car sometime ago so i ripped everything out of the car. since we decided to stay with the car...well i gotta install and rewire everything again. at the moment i have a set of OPTIX strobes in the tail lights, OPTIX underglow neon kit (white, cars white) and OPTIX white neon pedals. im going to be adding alot more stuff like leds and more lights later on but for now...when i had everything hooked up i had a power wire (bout 16awg) going to one switch, from that one switch, the positive wire would run to the next switch, and from that switch power would run to the next switch, for the ground i tied all ground wires to a nearby ground ( scrape the paint and add a ring connector and screw down). am i doing that right? if i add more stuff would i continue to wire up the same way? at RADIOSHACK we sell some radio control cars known as XMODS. well i took one from my lil collection and gutted it out, drilled some holes on the top and used that as my switch box. purddy kewl huh?! ha ha i tapped into a fuse from the fuse box under the dash for power. i know i half assed it and should of run it directly from the batt. same for the ground. if i add more stuff later would/should i use some type of relay? would i run it the same way? i've been reading post going back to june of last year so I know that there alot of SMARTIES on here so any and alot of info/help is very very appreciated!!!
Replies:
Posted By: xscash
Date Posted: March 26, 2006 at 9:32 PM
isaac, it sounds like you have handle on things....but one thing concerns me....you tapped a fuse. did you tap the power side of the fuse or the load side? and if its the power, i hope you fused this wire. that is(for what you are doing) the correct way. if you need to test this....pull the fuse and see which side of the opening has power...that is the power side. good luck, XS
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expandable sound
south of boston
Posted By: siresmerph
Date Posted: March 26, 2006 at 10:55 PM
OH SNAPS!! i didn't know that when tapping into a fuse that there was a load side and a power side. well to be honest ive tried it on both sides, ( strip a peice of the power wire and wrap it around the fuse leg, then put the fuse back in) and nothing has ever really blown up on me. but really my main concern was that if the way that i am distributing power to all the switches is right. fuse box here------tap in to fuse for power-----run wire from tapped fuse to power of first switch---from the same wire, run it to the next switch-----ect. ect. then from the other side of the switch to the accessory (speel chek ) and so on and so forth. now if im going to be running more crap could i continue doing the same thing? i read in a post from a lllloooonnnngggg time ago that to run like a 10awg wire from the batt for the power and the ground into the cabin area. then from the two 10awg wires coming in (+) (-) go into a distribution block. then from that dis box i can connect to all my switches and stuff. is that bout right?
Posted By: siresmerph
Date Posted: March 28, 2006 at 11:37 PM
BUMP!!  anyone else have somethin' to add or some advice
Posted By: siresmerph
Date Posted: April 06, 2006 at 12:22 AM
one week and a hundred posts later and still nothing......ahhh come on guys
Posted By: austincustoms
Date Posted: April 06, 2006 at 1:26 AM
you really don't need much power for for led's and neons. tapping the fuse, and grounding to the chasis is fine.
Posted By: xscash
Date Posted: April 06, 2006 at 5:49 PM
but remember.....if you dont have the wire fused and somthing happens to the wire.......FIRE!..... make sure you read my 1st post to check for this. xs ------------- expandable sound
south of boston
Posted By: siresmerph
Date Posted: April 09, 2006 at 11:36 PM
but as far as taking the power wire from the fuse box or the power of the batt. ( whatever ) and running it to the first switch, then the same power wire run it to the second switch, so on and so forth. that's really what im at right now. is that correct?
Posted By: papabear82
Date Posted: April 21, 2006 at 2:26 AM
i use relays i have over 20 neon tubes in my car along with a light up exaust tip and i am using 3 relays
Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: April 23, 2006 at 4:51 PM
Yes, you can run your string of switches off the same power wire. Use a wire gauge that will easily handle the amperage draw, and fuse the wire near the source of power. I don't like your description of wrapping the end of a wire around a fuse and re-inserting it. Find a place where you can properly solder the wire, and solder a fuse holder near that location.
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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.
Posted By: siresmerph
Date Posted: April 28, 2006 at 10:22 PM
sounds good then...thanks for the feedback and yea as soon as i get some free time i'll rewire everything the right way with fuses and all.
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