Hi everyone,
I'm wanting to put a fusebox somewhere to power items in my MUD dash and any lights etc. which I may get in the future. I was think of getting this https://simplysplitcharge.co.uk/fuse-box-distribution-kit-with-ready-made-leads-10-way-fuse-box.html and putting a relay in it so that its only live when the ignition is.

Can someone tell me whether that's the right way of doing it, and can I use take the ignition live for the relay from the cig lighter? I'm not very knowledgable with electrics at all.

It depends on how much current you want to draw, but it doesn't look to me like the Land Rover lighter socket and its wiring are built to take big loads. I melted mine and the corresponding fuse by trying to use a 12v kettle. It takes ages to make you a cup of coffee too. Yes, it's probably OK if it's just flicking a relay. For an ignition switched live you might as well just go to a suitable terminal on the back of the ignition switch. It's usually got spade terminals, so I've used piggyback spade connectors on mine. For my auxiliary fusebox I took a lead from the battery box (with an inline fuse in it) and fastened the fusebox to the bulkhead behind the driver's seat. From here there are leads powering the tracker, the 240v inverter, the dashcam, another lighter socket that's actually adequate for higher currents, a USB charging socket and so on.

I find the trouble with buying pre-wired accessories is that the standard wire is either not long enough, or is too long and you get spare bits of wire drooping or coiled up somewhere. It's usually easier to get some crimp-on terminals, a few lengths of wire and heatshrink and make your own to length.

Thanks Brown, so your fusebox is permanently live? I hadn't thought of mounting it behind the seats - was going to mount it on the firewall behind the dash so it was closeby but access is easier behind a seat.

I'll take it off the ignition switch then - I've got some piggyback spades. Can you remember what size wire you used for yours?

I noticed you're in the East Midlands, I'm just outside Derby myself

mick the builder said:

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That's really smart. How would you get to the dash from there - along the chassis and up from the engine side or under the carpets inside? Just trying to think how to do it neatly and easily.

I see Mick's jumped in with a picture of some auxiliary wiring behind the seats before I managed to find my pictures. Mine's not quite as extensive as that, but it's the same sort of idea. I just worked out the likely current draw of what I was intending to use and fitted a thicker cable than what was needed. I tend to over engineer things. My fusebox is powered by a permanent live, but it does have a fuse in it before it leaves the battery box, in case it ever chafes on anything. I've put rubber grommets on wherever it goes through anything metal but you never know. I've run a piece of that flexible corrugated conduit following the path of the existing wiring loom from the fusebox to the dash, and that picks up an ignition switched wire to trip the relays on the things I want to come on with the ignition (the dashcam, the tracker etc.) and takes power back to the dash area for my extra instruments This also contains a wire from my ECU to the dash to provide a signal to my rev counter (I've got a TD5). I've just cable tied my bit of conduit to the existing wiring loom. I also made some earth tails for my new instruments. They're in a plastic console so won't be able to earth through their casings. These are just short pieces of wire attached to one of the existing screws in the bulkhead.

NewbieWithA90 said:

That's really smart. How would you get to the dash from there - along the chassis and up from the engine side or under the carpets inside? Just trying to think how to do it neatly and easily.

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I ran it in flexible conduit along the chassis rail, up by the heater box and in through the bulkhead using the existing grommet. Then just along under the plastic tray an up where the radio would be. I used the cig lighter feed to trip all the relays back at the auxiliary fuse board then the feeds out trough other conduits wherever they are needed.