Hiding The Wiring in VN

[Nevyn]

there does seem to be 2 schools of thought on this issue, but I always believe debate is healthy & can only enlighten us all.....I'm going slow on this as I only want to do this once...you can never have too much infomation, just a pity it seems like no one has ever thought of locating the relays & fuses in the boot

[cracker]

even though ur only dealing with 12volts and their is a potential to get a volt drop, its going to bugger all, iv moved mine about 1m more with no problems what so ever, if it makes sleep better at night then chase all the wires out and replace them with 2mm or something and then extend it...and bigred308 needs to get a hair cut

[bigred304]

Originally Posted by cracker

even though ur only dealing with 12volts and their is a potential to get a volt drop, its going to bugger all, iv moved mine about 1m more with no problems what so ever, if it makes sleep better at night then chase all the wires out and replace them with 2mm or something and then extend it...and bigred308 needs to get a hair cut

haha thanks crack ... you dont scrub up half bad once uv had a trim too

[Nevyn]

Originally Posted by cracker

even though ur only dealing with 12volts and their is a potential to get a volt drop, its going to bugger all, iv moved mine about 1m more with no problems what so ever, if it makes sleep better at night then chase all the wires out and replace them with 2mm or something and then extend it...and bigred308 needs to get a hair cut

Where did you move yours to cracker? The measurement I'm working on is 4 meters from where the relays & fuses sit in front of the strut in the VN to just behind the wheel arch in the boot.
An old sparky in the next town over said if I work on 20 amps over the 4 meters using 6 gauge / 4mm wire I should be fine. Does that sound about right to you Sparkys?

[TOX1K]

Totaly agree with bigred304
You wont be able to tell the Difference the whole car runs on 12 volts.
over that distance there will be no Drop.

i have spoken to 1 or 2 ppl that have done it with no issues with voltage.

[PRH]

Well as an auto electrician i have seen the results of replacing wiring with to small cable sizes,beleive me there would be a substancial voltage drop issue with headlights and airconditioning and the like,i would be trying to locate the high current relays up the front and the rest of the incidentals in the boot,the other place you might be able to hide them is behind the grill ?
I have done a few in my time mostly HQ-Z holdens,they where fairly simple coz the fuses panels are inside the car.
Phillip

[bigred304]

Originally Posted by PRH

Well as an auto electrician i have seen the results of replacing wiring with to small cable sizes,beleive me there would be a substancial voltage drop issue with headlights and airconditioning and the like,i would be trying to locate the high current relays up the front and the rest of the incidentals in the boot,the other place you might be able to hide them is behind the grill ?
I have done a few in my time mostly HQ-Z holdens,they where fairly simple coz the fuses panels are inside the car.
Phillip

yes, but we never said to reduce the CSA of the cable. Keepin on the safe side you would increase it slightly ... thus preventing these kinda problems.

[cracker]

mine went where the battry normal goes and the battry went to the boot.

[Pub24/7]

Originally Posted by cracker

mine went where the battry normal goes and the battry went to the boot.

Did you have to extend any of the wiring? or just pull some more through the firewall I was thinking of moving it to the same spot. Got any pics of it?

[Nevyn]

Originally Posted by cracker

mine went where the battry normal goes and the battry went to the boot.

I have started leaning that way meself now, would be a great help if u could post some pictures up craker...am going to sleep on it over the next week while I'm doing some other things on the car.....would still prefer the boot option thou to keep the engine bay as clear as possible

[Nevyn]

ok...I've decided to move the battery to the boot and relay & fuse bracket to where the battery was...anyone else done this who can put a few photos up?........what size cable will I need for the battery?

[Pub24/7]

Lol i dont think cracker will post pics would be nice if he could. I dont think the wiring will be long enough to reach there so it may need extending. I think i might just move it into the driver's side footwell behind the kick panel

[kopper69]

Have a search on here if you are wanting to move the battery to the boot as we have discussed it extensively before. You need to consider other things like ventilation of fresh air to the battery too, not just wiring. Some of the sparkies here will tell you that voltage drop isnt a big deal - and for them it isnt. They work with 240V. The mains power in Australia will sit anywhere from 230V to 250V, and any decent appliance will happily run of that. If you loose 5V over a couple of metres of wiring, who cares. But, 12V is different. You only start with 12V, 14.4V max, so loosing 5V is a big deal. The current is greater when you are working with a lower voltage to provide the same amount of power, and the more current you are pushing down the wire the greater the loss will be.

I have measured the voltage drop in my VR's headlight circuit with the stock wiring in and found it to be almost 1V. Doesnt sound like much but that is wasted power (about 20W per headlight is wasted just on heating the wiring and connections) and that 1V will make a difference when it comes to how bright the lights are. Its not a big deal as your lights are bright enough anyway and you wouldnt really notice the difference unless you compare a light with a 1V drop and a light without side by side. If you start to loose 3 or 4V though you will really start to notice.

The point is not to go too thin. If you go too thin, you will have problems and need to rewire it. There is no harm in going to thick, will just cost you a little more in the short term. You dont have to go massive like some people do with audio wiring for no good reason other than the look, just ensure you have a sufficient gauge to allow all of the current through the wires without too much loss. There are plenty of websites around that will tell you what gauge of wire you need for a certain distance at a certain voltage.

[Nevyn]

I bookmarked that site u