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Need Help: Dune Buggy Wiring For Idiots

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  • #31
    Upon further investigation I discovered the marine fuse block will not work, here's why...



    The stock VW fuse block and the glass fuse block the buggy came with are pass through style with lugs on the in/out of the fuses. The marine box has a main power feed lug that feeds all circuits all the time. I need a way to isolate key ON power from always hot power. If anyone has any bright ideas let me know. Until then I'm gonna look for a pass through style fuse block, or figure out how to use a fuse block with a separate distribution block.
    Last edited by tardis454; June 14, 2015, 09:40 PM.

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    • #32
      Such simplicity! I absolutely LOVE simple shit!
      Just spent the weekend stripping an 08 P71.... There was a grocery bag and a half of wiring from this car!
      And another bag of connectors... For the majority of the wiring.. Some that snaked throughout the dash got left in..
      P71's have some beefy wiring going thru the cabin!
      If I ever need to chase an electrical gremlin I'll not bother!
      There were a couple splices that were questionable.. But the majority of the equipment stuff was top notch! Over 350,000 miles on that car!
      Ok. Hijack over..
      Count your blessings on one hand how simple your buggy is!

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      • #33
        I think I solved the always hot, key ON power issue with this 12 way fuse box from UK..





        It's a dual feed fusebox, 6 fuses can be always hot, the other 6 can be key ON power.
        Plus is has a built in grounding bus bar which makes grounding pretty easy.
        $58 shipped from UK, not a bad price, think I'm gonna Buy It Now.

        Funny thing is no one in USA sells it. It appears to be an Australia/UK only product.
        I don't get it... It's probably the simplest most straight forward fusebox there is to use...

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        • #34
          It seems wrong to buy anything electrical from the UK. That said, they don't manufacture anything any more, so your part will simply have circumnavigated the world.
          Doing it all wrong since 1966

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          • #35
            Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Post
            It seems wrong to buy anything electrical from the UK. That said, they don't manufacture anything any more, so your part will simply have circumnavigated the world.
            I've found 2 companies that distribute these dual feed fuse boxes.
            One is Ripca BV in The Netherlands, the other is Narva in Australia.
            The boxes they sell are identical, and are likely manufactured in China.

            Ripca BV: http://www.ripca.com/nl_en/fuses-hol...ekeringen.html

            Narva: http://www.narva.com.au/products/browse/fuse-boxes

            I need a way to "simply" isolate key on power from always on power, and these boxes do just that.
            I'm still snooping around for alternatives, but I will likely buy one of these boxes for the sake of simplicity.
            If a USA seller sold this box I'd buy it from them, but no one in USA sells it, so I'm stuck with UK or Australia..

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            • #36
              shipping is a bitch but you'll forget about the cost long before you would stop regretting not buying the one you really wanted...
              Flying south, with a flock of bird dogs.

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              • #37
                I finally got all the light wiring run through the firewall. The fuse box will be on the way shortly.
                Onto the next order of business, figuring out a simple way to add hazard lights to the buggy.
                I'm using a Tridon EL13 flasher relay like the one pictured below.



                The buggy has an original VW 3 wire turn signal lever. I cleaned and tested it, it works fine.
                I've read numerous write ups on how to add flashers, but I'm still a bit foggy on the details.
                The write ups state that you can use the existing flasher relay and wire it to a DPDT relay or switch.
                I'm wondering if any Bangshifters have dealt with this issue and what they did or would do to resolve it...

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by Beagle View Post
                  shipping is a bitch but you'll forget about the cost long before you would stop regretting not buying the one you really wanted...

                  very wise words... actually used it when I was debating about spending an extra $20 to get the just right part rather then the "pretty close" part
                  Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                  • #39
                    we wired up one of those cheapo relays from amazon, everything works fine.pretty simple, black and white are your trigger, red and blue is normally closed, red and yellow is normally open.

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                    • #40
                      Ok, so I got everything wired up and tested, everything is good to go except for the hazards. The turn signals are back feeding into the hazard wires. When you turn the Left or Right signals on both sides flash. The problems stems from me wiring the Left & Right signal wires into a single connector for the SPST switch I'm using. I want to keep the SPST switch. I found a post on another forum that says adding 3amp diodes (1N5404) to the Left & Right signal wires will stop the turn signals from back feeding into the hazards. Below is a schematic I modified to show what I have now and what I want to do to fix the back feed problem...

                      This is how the hazards and turn signals are wired now. This set-up causes back feed.




                      This is how I want to wire the hazards/turn signals. Same set-up with the addition of 3 amp diodes on the Left & Right signal wires..



                      My question is, does this really work???

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                      • #41
                        The answer is YES!

                        A diode will only let current flow in one direction, the way they are installed there the current can only flow from the hazards.
                        In simple terms the current can only flow the direction of the arrow in the symbol of the diode.

                        A diagram to show which way around the diode should be installed, the bar on the diode shows the bar on the symbol.

                        Last edited by 65RHDEER; July 19, 2015, 04:48 PM.
                        Tim
                        Melbourne Australia

                        65 Hardtop Impala, 70 GTS Monaro, 93 "80" Landcruiser

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                        • #42
                          Great! Now the next question..

                          I think the poster in the other forum was dealing with lower amps on their light circuit which is why they recommended 3 amp diodes per side.
                          I did some research and found 1157 bulbs draw 2.10 amps. The buggy uses (6) 1157 flasher bulbs which equals a 12.6 amp draw.
                          Does this mean I have to use a 6+ amp diode per side? Also, I've read that standard diodes can cause voltage drops (dim lights).
                          On one of the forums I researched a poster suggested using Schottky diodes to keep the voltage loss in mV's.

                          Am I on the right track here?

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                          • #43
                            yes..you could also consider LED lamps as they draw much less amperage...
                            Patrick & Tammy
                            - Long Haulin' 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014...Addicting isn't it...??

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                            • #44
                              You could use a 6 amp diode or 2 X 3 amp diode in parallel or even 6 X 1 amp diodes in parallel. I might be easier to get the 1 amp diodes than a 6 amp one but you will need twelve of them in total.

                              The voltage drop across the diode will be less than a volt, normally .6 of a volt. if the alternator is doing it's thing it still have 13+ volts at the globes.

                              Tim
                              Melbourne Australia

                              65 Hardtop Impala, 70 GTS Monaro, 93 "80" Landcruiser

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                              • #45
                                Originally posted by 65RHDEER View Post
                                You could use a 6 amp diode or 2 X 3 amp diode in parallel or even 6 X 1 amp diodes in parallel. I might be easier to get the 1 amp diodes than a 6 amp one but you will need twelve of them in total.

                                The voltage drop across the diode will be less than a volt, normally .6 of a volt. if the alternator is doing it's thing it still have 13+ volts at the globes.
                                So I have to match the diodes to the amperage draw of the 1157 bulbs then correct?

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