Question about mounting battery in trunk

[DankDSM]

Hey i am in the process of mounting my battery in the trunk and i have a question about what/ how people are doing it. first some basics: I have a 150a fuse and 2 gauge wire, i have already mounted the battery and have run the wire from the battery to the fuse to under the hood. I have figured out that at this point i need a power distribution box of some sort to plug the wires into so i can have seperate fuses for the alternator, starter and everything else.
So my questions are, what power distribution box is everyone using? Where did you guys get them from? and what size breakers did you use in the distribution box?

Thanks in advance for all the help
Josh k.

 

[blackGSX2g]

For mine I used an inline fuse (from a stereo shop) about 8 inches from the positive battery terminal in the back. For the underhood distribution block, any stereo equipment shop should have them in stock. I used 2 80amp fuses (since the highest fuse in the fuse block was 80amps).

 

[PFXGSX]

Yeah, any stereo shop would have them. Best Buy or Circuit City should have them also.

 

[DSMDirkah]

It might seem somewhat redundant but I would highly recomend running a large negative wire back up to the front also.. Make sure to hit a few grounding points on the way all the way back up to the terminal under the hood.. first gens are notorious for grounding issues and this should take care of that..

 

[fourreGsixty3]

Some good info in this thread on batteries in the hatch/trunk area.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234924

Dustin

 

[perley03]

It might seem somewhat redundant but I would highly recomend running a large negative wire back up to the front also.. Make sure to hit a few grounding points on the way all the way back up to the terminal under the hood.. first gens are notorious for grounding issues and this should take care of that..

I would highly disregard this statement. I am an Electrical Engineering student, i do this shit everyday while in class studying this stuff. The negative cable should be as short as possible, due to the fact that current runs through your ground, not your + wire. Thats why we have - (negative) grounded chassis, instead of positive grounded, like back in the 40's. All you have to do is add a few ground wires under the hood to prevent any voltage drops. (Like from the ECU, starter, fuse box, just add bigger wires and find a better grounding point. Keep them as short as possible also. Use non-oxygenated wire, and solder the terminals with copper terminals at each end.) This will keep constant power throughout your vehicle with NO voltage drops. Hope this helps.

PS: I would add a fuse as close as possible to the battery in the hatch, incase your + wire arcs out, and it would stop the flow of electricity, preventing a fire.

 

[DSMDirkah]

I would highly disregard this statement. I am an Electrical Engineering student, i do this shit everyday while in class studying this stuff. The negative cable should be as short as possible, due to the fact that current runs through your ground, not your + wire. Thats why we have - (negative) grounded chassis, instead of positive grounded, like back in the 40's. All you have to do is add a few ground wires under the hood to prevent any voltage drops. (Like from the ECU, starter, fuse box, just add bigger wires and find a better grounding point. Keep them as short as possible also. Use non-oxygenated wire, and solder the terminals with copper terminals at each end.) This will keep constant power throughout your vehicle with NO voltage drops. Hope this helps.

PS: I would add a fuse as close as possible to the battery in the hatch, incase your + wire arcs out, and it would stop the flow of electricity, preventing a fire.

I See what you are saying but with the car being unibody, its hard for it to reach all the way back to the front due to all the rubber bushings and so on.. Had a 1g come through the shop with all kinds of electrical problems that was fixed just by running the negative all the way back to the front.. I too know that electricity flows from negative to posotive (Had that class also) This is also the same way my 1g is ran and it works flawlessly.

 

[DankDSM]

thanks for the advice guys. i am going to stop by Circuit City tommorow. Is it possilbe to get some underhood pictures?
and is there anyone else who use circuit breakers? Plug and play stuff.
Thanks again

 

[fourreGsixty3]

There are a few guys in the thread I provided in a previous post who use circut breakers.

Dustin

 

[DankDSM]

i was hoping to get some actual under the hood shots of how people are mounting there power distibution blocks. I looked through that thread you posted about before i even posted this thread and i didnt see any under hood shots of peoples electrical setup. So, does anyone have any under the hood shots of where they mounted there power distribution block?

 

[perley03]

I put my distribution block back by the battery for the fuel pump relay. The only thing that is hooked up under the hood is the starter relay and the fuse box, both with 4guage wire running to them. I rewired my fuel pump and just moved the relay(MPI) back and mounted that in the hatch, next to the distribution block and my fuse.

 

[fourreGsixty3]

In regards to the OP, if you PM one of the guys that have a similar set-up to what you want, and give them this threads link, Im sure they would post up some pics. I believe Luda is one of them with that battery set-up, with a breaker.

Dustin