I hate wiring.
Maybe that isn’t exactly what I mean. Allow me to explain. If I could be 100% sure that electricity would behave as intended, I’d love wiring. Unfortunately, cold solders don’t give any indication that they’re causing a problem until you put power through them. Incorrectly grounded circuits mysteriously fail, only giving feedback when you dig the multimeter out of the bottom of your toolbox, find a new battery (because the old one died since I last used it), and start poking around for the problem.
A better way to rephrase my initial statement is:
I hate trying to diagnose electrical issues that I didn’t cause even more than those that I caused by my own hand.
The main circuit powers my switch panel, and nothing more. Each power switch controls the power to a circuit. Each control switch operates the controls for that circuit. After every switch is an LED indicator light (so I don’t have to go around with a test light after something fails, and because lights are pretty). From there, a fused relay will be triggered and the circuit component will receive power.
The most difficult part of rewiring was figuring out what actually needed to be re-engineered and what could stay as-is.
My power circuits are:
- Master (switch panel)
- Fuel pump
- Ignition coil
- Starter
- Radiator fan
- Accessories (alternator trigger, running lights, gauges, etc)
My control circuits are:
- night-time lights (high/low)
- directionals (l/r)
- horn
- wipers (high/low)
The relays will be constant-hot, but the switches are shut off when the master switch is flipped. The relays I purchased were a kit of 10 for $25 and are standard Bosch-style, and I’m using the 87/86/85/30 setup for these. In my configuration, they will be wired as:
- 87 — component to receive power
- 86 — ground
- 85 — signal
- 30 — power input
Bosch relays are amazing in the number of ways they can be wired up. Here’s a great writeup on how they work, and how you can make them work for you: http://www.bcae1.com/relays.htm
