Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

I am mocking up items in the engine bay of my stocker build. i will be running a electric fan and water pump. The instructions say yo have the relays as close to the power source as possible. I would rather have all of my electronics in a single location (most likely in the passenger area.) Can I get some opinions on this matter.


Thanks


Dave.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Where's your battery? Mine's in the trunk but the main power feed still runs under the car to the firewall so the driver's compartment is close to the power source. Main thing is to use the proper size wire for the distance and amps you have to run. I built a circuit board with all relays to run stuff on my Mustang that had been giving me electrical issues. It still had street wiring left over from last year. It's under the glove box on the passenger firewall and drives everything. Dual fan motors, fuel pump, water pump, vacuum pump for power brakes, lights, you name it. Not pro looking but does the job. I have a map to remember where everything is wired in.

I used prewired relays from Pico wiring that come in sockets with color coded 14 gauge wire. Easy to work with and very high quality.

I had worked piece by piece in wiring this car up to this point, but I took time and designed the wire board on paper and built it on a workbench. I recommend the latter approach.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Since this a stock elim car, in the engine compartment

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Put the relays close to your power suckers and in an accessible spot.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

There ya go. Now you can run radio speaker wire to your toggle switches to trigger the relays.
To each his own, but I put my w/p and fan switches to the driver's left so he can access them in the staging lanes.
Of course,I don't buy switch panels to hang off the roll cage.
Of course I usually don't have a roll cage anyway.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

David…I have a relay bank in the glove box. A lot of the prewired relays can be clipped together and mounted neatly with a small sheet metal bracket. MB

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Thanks. I was going to make a bracket to hold as far as I know now to be three.

The fuel pump, fan and water pump.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

I have everything mounted behind the glove box door...switches are on the driver's side.

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...psqbljzsyn.jpg

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps3czdrdf9.jpg

For some bullet proof/compact components check out Leash Electronics... http://www.leashelectronics.com/

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Thanks that is exactly what I was thinking.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Yes, all nice and neat looking, but DC power diminishes with wire length.
Also, as stated , the w/p and fan both use a bunch of amps.
Best to keep the the wire large and the run short on those items, in my opinion.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Mark, I value your opinion. I was also thinking of making a small board and mounting it to the upper flat section of the driver's firewall

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Here's a link to some good info and a wire sizing chart http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=431340&highlight=wiring+skills Do yourself a big favor and buy a lot of different color wire and also make a wiring diagram. At home it's no big deal to trace circuits, at the track it's frustrating.
http://www.hotrodhotline.com/sites/d...art%281%29.jpg

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Putting all those relays together in the glove box or on a piece of aluminium in the driver's compartment sure looks nice and tidy. Guess what happens if your fuel pump self destructs and dead shorts. I'll tell you, your heavy feed wire to the pump will fry all the way back to your fancy relay panel melting every other wire it's close to. How would I know that?

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

All my circuits are fused no matter what amperage they run. I have a breaker in the main power distribution block, too. It shut my car off when I floored it once. Something big shorted out. Nothing burned. Same for the fuel pump. Shorts pop fuses.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Same here...everything fused and fused correctly. Funny, why would anyone take advice from someone who admitted to burning his junk down? :p

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

That's why everything gets fuses or a circuit breaker for protection. I've seen the burned wire to the fuel pump on cars before, no fuses and some had no relay. I don't class race and my battery is in the back. My fuel pump and it's relay are in the back also and both circuits to the relay are protected. Also my fuel pump ground goes directly to the battery, not a sheet metal screw into the floor pan.Nothing increases current draw like a bad ground.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

My stuff was all fused through an ARC panel. Maybe the pump did not dead short, but the feed wire melted back to the relay and the pump was toast. Never burned it down. Funny, how my junk managed to set the NHRA SS record 3 times.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

I had an ARC relay set before I rebuilt my panel. One of the relays went bad right away and all of the wires seemed too small a gauge for the amps required by race electronics. A relay is just a low voltage switch in a high current draw line. The wire in from power and out to the device still needs to match the needs of the load. I can see a bad fuel pump burning out 18-22 gauge wire on an ARC relay. My Pico relays came with 14G pigtails.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

The ARC panel fuses the trigger for the relay. The main feed to the relay that powers the pump should have a circuit breaker or fuse properly sized for the wire and the load it's feeding. If the fuse is rated higher than the wire the wire burns. That's the reason I posted the wire gauge chart, size and length of the wire is important.
I have a friend with an ARC panel and it was the same deal but he didn't have a relay and still burned the wire, basically his wire became the fusible link.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

But...he obviously knows what to do. After all, he set a SS record three times.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Don't see the need for sarcasm, especially from someone that has trouble running under the index.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

The sarcasm was started by you touting your SS records which has nothing to do with the subject matter. You are obviously a brilliant fellow...feel better now?

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Back it up a little buddy. You started this by calling my stuff junk. That is not a friendly gesture.

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Oh, so that is the problem lol. By "junk" I meant your equipment...a generic term which I'm sure everyone here can relate to...except you I suppose. A little thin skinned eh, "little buddy" ? :p

Re: Location for relays for fan fuel pump etc...
 

Nope. My skin is just fine. Guess we have different standards, that's all.