what amp for earth wire?

[JaneHibbert]

when wiring things up ive been reading about what amp wires and fuses to use for different things and how to tell different wires apart but havent yet read anything about what ampage wire to use for the EARTH conection. does anybody know? for example i have read headlight wires should be something like 17.5 amp wire. should the earth for them (ive fibreglass wings) be the same?

[bmcecosse]

It should be the same - or greater. Headlamps only need 5 amp wire (to each filament) - but more is better! Where do you read 17.5 ??

[JaneHibbert]

on this site = http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/p ... ategory/11

[JaneHibbert]

oh and bmceccose, on another post you said you could simply fit another fuse box with ten amp fuses in for other stuff. the wire to that from the original fisebox unfused side should be what ampage? im presuming it should be strong wire, like say 27 amps?

[beero]

This site has a good guide as to what size wire for each application
http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/V ... dcable.php

[JaneHibbert]

yes, and that says 17.5 amp wire for headlights too?

[JaneHibbert]

though i have seen on another post here that sidelights and headlights together only use about 11-12 amps anyway, so clearly Roy is right and the site is wrong, at leadt for morris minors anyway.

[JaneHibbert]

oh, another question. if you ran one wire from the unfused side of the original fusebox to a new fusebox to run other bits and bobs from, how would you safely split the one thicker wire so it could be conected to four fuse holders? ive looked online but cant find a suitable type of fusebox? would you just splice four thinner wires onto the thicker one and tape it up? then use those four wires in the fuse box? seems a bit unsafe that?

[bmcecosse]

Errrrr - NO!!! You would loop the wire along from one fuse to the next - although by far the best will be to get a fusebox with an input bus-bar. But don't load up the feed to the existing fuse box - take your new feed directly from the brown (main battery) feed. If you then want it to be IGN controlled - run it through a relay.

[JaneHibbert]

oh okay, when you say take it from the main feed, would that be before it goes into the regulator thingy, in other words can i take a feed from here -[frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

Better from the starter solenoid.......

[JaneHibbert]

From the arrowed it, where those two big wires attach to the solonoid?[frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

That's the place....

[charlie_morris_minor]

i purchased a fuse box with 2 bus bar.. one for permanent live the other is linked to the ignition.

[JaneHibbert]

So take a live feed from the solonoid brown wire to a relay from there to a bus barred fusebox, and from there to any new devices. Meanwhile, attach the relay to a ground and also attach it to a live feed from the ignition controlled side of the fuse box so that the live feed from the battery is only live when the ignition is on. all correct so far?

finally, though i have found a correct bus barred fuse box, 27 amp wire to go from the solonoid to the new fuse box, and everything else, i cant work out what sort of relay? can so,mebody send me a link to the right sort?

thank you everyone, im going to do all this soon but at the moment it is nice to learn how to di ti. x

[bmcecosse]

Good understanding of the relay! So far so good. Traditional Lucas 6RA would look fine in a Minor. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAGUAR-DAIMLE ... 2321c0dfc9

[JaneHibbert]

brilliant, so i suppose you would simply screw that onto the bulkhead, looks like there are already two fitting holes for screws. all the wires would then simply attach to it i suppose with blade fittings? but they would be expsoed all the time - is that okay or should you try and cover the exposed conections in some way. it certainly looks nice

[JaneHibbert]

as for wiring it seems this relay has a w1 terminal (attach to earth) a w2 terminal (attach to the ignition controlled fusebox) a c2 terminal (attach to new fusebox) BUT it has two c1 terminals - presumably one of these attaches to the thick wire from the solonoid? but what do you attach to the SECOND c1 terminal, im confused...

[bmcecosse]

Just duplicated terminals - and use sleeved Lucar connectors to avoid 'bare connection' risks.

[JaneHibbert]

lucar? are they just the large spade?