My 2011 DL650 12764 miles tends to lose battery voltage, I even have it on a trickle charger, but if I forget that It loses volts, I do have a 12v cigar outlet for plugging in a camera and two small led spot lights with a on off switch. I also have a USB outlet for the GPS to plug into. All of those are wired straight to the battery. My question is, have anyone installed a 12v switchable fuse box to their bikes. I want one to be able to only turn o accessories when the bike is turned on. How do I install one. Thanks.
Auxiliary fuse box (block)
strompet42
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Just placed an order for some 10 ga. wire, 10 ga. ring terminals (all tinned copper type, likely overkill but eh), heavy-duty 12V relay, and a 6-circuit fuse panel (ATC/ATO type) that is only marginally larger than a PC-8/PC-8R.
It's not quite as high-capacity or elegant as a PC-8 and won't have the flexibility (namely the always-on circuits), but it was less money, ships faster, and most importantly I like to tinker so it will be fun to put together.
It's not quite as high-capacity or elegant as a PC-8 and won't have the flexibility (namely the always-on circuits), but it was less money, ships faster, and most importantly I like to tinker so it will be fun to put together.
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2,214 Posts
40A at 12V is 480W. Depending on the exact model/year, your bike only has an excess electrical capacity of between 100W and 200W. So both the PC-8 at 50A and the PC-8R at 40A are way over what the bike can handle.
Yeah that's why I'm not bothering with anything fancy this time. It's massive overkill.
Some can use the flexibility (the two always on circuits).
Some can use the flexibility (the two always on circuits).
I disagree with your analysis. It's not accurate to imagine someone using 40 or 50A or even 20A worth of accessories, all drawing max current at once. That's clearly not happening on most bikes, Vstrom included. Not a good basis for comparison.
The 4 circuit, inexpensive box from Amazon would draw around 284 W topped out (14.2V x 20A). No one will be doing that on a Vstrom either.
Max power draw isn't the point. No one will be running these fuse panels/boxes at max capacity.
Having more circuits and more options on how to connect stuff is the important thing about the fancier fuse blocks.
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2,214 Posts
I think you misread my post and we actually agree. The power difference between the 50A PC-8 and the 40A PC-8R is totally irrelevant because your bike is not able to supply that much power. Not continuously anyway. And even for intermittent use: at 40A your battery will be drained in a little over 15 minutes.
The integrated relay of the -R is a nice selling point (easier wiring), the "always on" circuits could be useful as well, to connect a battery tender or something. But the main difference between all these fuse boxes, like you said, is the number of circuits. (Which of course has some bearing on the dimensions of the box as well.)
Most of the materials for my fuse panel setup came in - minus the 10 ga. ring terminals, they should be here later this week.
The 12V, 4-pole, weatherproofed relay I bought to feed the fuse panel can handle up to 40A. Clearly, it will never be working that hard, since as discussed the bike has no more than 200W to spare (14.1A @ 14.2V) and probably not even that much.
Might fuse the relay's line to the battery at 30A, could fuse it at 20A, shouldn't matter much. All the accessories I'll be connecting won't draw more than about 10A (142W @ 14.2V). They can't, as that's right about the max watts available.
If I start drawing too much juice through the accessory circuits, I'll see it on the dash voltmeter.
If something has a short, it'll blow its fuse (in the panel) first, as they'll be much smaller (5A or under).
The relay fuse is strictly a safety measure, in case I do something dumb, like put a wrench across the fuse panel terminals.
The relay itself is a chunky boi (pics later). I shopped around, but could not find a more compact one that was rated for "enough" amps, at the price level I was looking for ($10-ish). Yes, that's the cue for someone to post a link to a miniature weatherproofed 40A relay that's $4.99 shipped, from eBay or something.
Mr. Relay is sufficiently fat that I might mount him inside the tail side cover. Plenty of room there. Could stick it to the frame using 3M VHB.
I should draw out how this is going to work before I put it together. May have a drawing to post later, if anyone's curious.
The 12V, 4-pole, weatherproofed relay I bought to feed the fuse panel can handle up to 40A. Clearly, it will never be working that hard, since as discussed the bike has no more than 200W to spare (14.1A @ 14.2V) and probably not even that much.
Might fuse the relay's line to the battery at 30A, could fuse it at 20A, shouldn't matter much. All the accessories I'll be connecting won't draw more than about 10A (142W @ 14.2V). They can't, as that's right about the max watts available.
If I start drawing too much juice through the accessory circuits, I'll see it on the dash voltmeter.
If something has a short, it'll blow its fuse (in the panel) first, as they'll be much smaller (5A or under).
The relay fuse is strictly a safety measure, in case I do something dumb, like put a wrench across the fuse panel terminals.
The relay itself is a chunky boi (pics later). I shopped around, but could not find a more compact one that was rated for "enough" amps, at the price level I was looking for ($10-ish). Yes, that's the cue for someone to post a link to a miniature weatherproofed 40A relay that's $4.99 shipped, from eBay or something.
Mr. Relay is sufficiently fat that I might mount him inside the tail side cover. Plenty of room there. Could stick it to the frame using 3M VHB.
I should draw out how this is going to work before I put it together. May have a drawing to post later, if anyone's curious.
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2,831 Posts
Not sure if the 650 is the same as the 1st gen 1000, but I had room for relays across the front of the tool tray and the fusebox in the tool tray. Still room for the owners manual and doc on top of it.
Nice, very clean installation.
2004 650 is similar-ish layout under the seat.
I might have plenty of room in the same area for the fuse panel's relay, once I get things cleaned up. Since I've been getting by without a fuse panel/block, it's a bit of a mess at present.
2004 650 is similar-ish layout under the seat.
I might have plenty of room in the same area for the fuse panel's relay, once I get things cleaned up. Since I've been getting by without a fuse panel/block, it's a bit of a mess at present.
10 ga. ring terminals should be here today.
FWIW, 10 ga. is definite overkill. The power wires on the 40A relay are "only" 12 ga. But, I figured I might want some 10 ga. wire & ring terminals for something else at some point. And, the same weatherproof butt splice crimps can connect 10 to 12 gage.
FWIW, 10 ga. is definite overkill. The power wires on the 40A relay are "only" 12 ga. But, I figured I might want some 10 ga. wire & ring terminals for something else at some point. And, the same weatherproof butt splice crimps can connect 10 to 12 gage.
Joined
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117 Posts
Show us your set up.
Schematic.
Where to get switched power to trigger the relay is personal preference. I already have an Eastern Beaver plug-in taillight adapter, originally installed to serve an Admore lighting kit for my top case. So, it's easy to tap that, using another Posi-Tap.
All the materials are here now, including the tinned 10 ga. ring terminals. I'm going to lay out all the components, taped to a piece of cardboard or something, to double-check what connects to what, before I cut, strip, crimp, or heatshrink anything.
Warning: religious content ahead!
I am going to do crimps on all the connections. I have those butt splice connectors with glue inside, that, once you've crimped them, you hit with a heat gun and they shrink and melt the glue, producing a watertight and durable connection. Have used them several times before on the Yama FJR and on the DL1000 before that.
Speaking of which, I think it's time I bought a better crimping tool. I've been struggling with the cheapo crimper/splicer for too long. It works - mostly - but is a PITA and often requires re-dos.
I do have a pretty sweet Molex terminal crimper, but it's only for open-barrel terminals, which the butt splicers (and ring terminals) I have are not.
Before
Further progress will be delayed a week or so.
I got all the components laid out on a table, figured out what would connect to what, how many of what crimpy things I needed and where, places I would need to strip wire ends, crimp terminals on, and the like.
Tested the relay by hooking up its "signal" terminals (where you apply +12V to turn on the power) to a 12V power supply (wall wart). Click. Did it again a few times for fun. Click click click. Neat!
(Safety mention: I do NOT recommend doing this by touching the relay's wire ends to your battery terminals directly.
I considered that, but realized I would be creating a short circuit. With likely spectaular results.
The 12V wall wart only supplies up to a few amps, no matter what you plug it into. Much safer for testing things 12V.)
Then I tried to do a butt splice crimp, using my shiny new Klein Tools 3005CR:
homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Ratcheting-Crimper-3005CR/306884697
and some heat shrink butt splice connectors. They're the kind with the rubbery shell, and glue inside. Do the crimp, hit 'em with a heat gun, the covering shrinks, glue oozes, and seals up the whole thing. I love these for all kinds of projects. Here's the type I mean:
Gardner Bender 22-10 AWG Butt Splice Heat Shrink, Assortment (24-Pack) GBX-TK - The Home Depot
Guess what, that crimper is totally useless with these connectors. It doesn't squeeze far enough, so the crimp is very loose, and the wires easily slip out.
I got better results using my old, pain in the butt stripper/crimper tool, which is similar to this:
IDEAL Crimper, 10-22 Awg Solid, 10-22 Awg Stranded in the Wire Strippers, Crimpers & Cutters department at Lowes.com
Reading some reviews, I learned that the Klein 3005CR only works with terminals and butt splicers having a hard plastic shell. That is, the ones that are insulated, but not weatherproof or heat-shrink.
Would have been nice if it said that on the package.
A ratcheting crimper that does work with heat shrink connectors is on order, along with some new 10-12 ga butt splicers. I only had a handful of 10-12 ga butt splicers, and ruined a few trying to get the Klein tool to work.
I got all the components laid out on a table, figured out what would connect to what, how many of what crimpy things I needed and where, places I would need to strip wire ends, crimp terminals on, and the like.
Tested the relay by hooking up its "signal" terminals (where you apply +12V to turn on the power) to a 12V power supply (wall wart). Click. Did it again a few times for fun. Click click click. Neat!
(Safety mention: I do NOT recommend doing this by touching the relay's wire ends to your battery terminals directly.
I considered that, but realized I would be creating a short circuit. With likely spectaular results.
The 12V wall wart only supplies up to a few amps, no matter what you plug it into. Much safer for testing things 12V.)
Then I tried to do a butt splice crimp, using my shiny new Klein Tools 3005CR:
homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Ratcheting-Crimper-3005CR/306884697
and some heat shrink butt splice connectors. They're the kind with the rubbery shell, and glue inside. Do the crimp, hit 'em with a heat gun, the covering shrinks, glue oozes, and seals up the whole thing. I love these for all kinds of projects. Here's the type I mean:
Gardner Bender 22-10 AWG Butt Splice Heat Shrink, Assortment (24-Pack) GBX-TK - The Home Depot
Guess what, that crimper is totally useless with these connectors. It doesn't squeeze far enough, so the crimp is very loose, and the wires easily slip out.
I got better results using my old, pain in the butt stripper/crimper tool, which is similar to this:
IDEAL Crimper, 10-22 Awg Solid, 10-22 Awg Stranded in the Wire Strippers, Crimpers & Cutters department at Lowes.com
Reading some reviews, I learned that the Klein 3005CR only works with terminals and butt splicers having a hard plastic shell. That is, the ones that are insulated, but not weatherproof or heat-shrink.
Would have been nice if it said that on the package.
A ratcheting crimper that does work with heat shrink connectors is on order, along with some new 10-12 ga butt splicers. I only had a handful of 10-12 ga butt splicers, and ruined a few trying to get the Klein tool to work.
It's mostly done. No, I didn't stop to take pictures.
It turns out these:
Are surprisingly decent for adding side connections on motorcycle battery terminals.
More on that later.
I got all connections crimped and the relay and fuse panel hooked up. Worked on the first try.
More on that later as well.
It turns out these:
Everbilt 3/4 in. Satin Brass Corner Brace (4-Pack) 20374 - The Home Depot
Visit The Home Depot to buy 3/4 in. Satin Brass Corner Braces (4-Pack) 20374
www.homedepot.com
Are surprisingly decent for adding side connections on motorcycle battery terminals.
More on that later.
I got all connections crimped and the relay and fuse panel hooked up. Worked on the first try.
More on that later as well.
A thought on ratcheting crimpers: They are good, but not the be-all and end-all.
With the new ratcheting crimper, which is designed to work with heatshrink-insulated crimpers, I find it does produce a good crimp, when crimping a 10-12 ga. butt splicer to a 10 ga. wire.
Specifically, this is the new crimper:
Wirefy Crimping Tool For Heat Shrink Connectors - Ratcheting Wire Crimpers - Crimping Pliers - Ratchet Terminal Crimper - Electrical Crimping Tool - 22-10 AWG - Amazon.com
It is naturally quite similar to the Klein Tools crimper I returned, which was intended only for terminals and butt splicers using the hard plastic shell (non-heatshrink, insulated but not weatherproof) type crimp connectors.
The crimping die is different. It has a single crimping "zone" or set of "teeth", vs. the Klein Tools dies which had 2 rows.
That is actually an improvement. It means you can crimp 1 side of a butt splice at a time, and can more precisely control where crimping happens, when doing terminals.
Caveat: it does not crimp sufficiently on to 12 ga. wire. I found that I had to supplement the 12 ga. side of a 10-12 ga. butt splice, using a non-ratcheting hand crimper. Otherwise the wire could pull out.
A note on wire: While it does appear to be legit tinned copper wire, the 10 ga. wire I bought off Amazon has one drawback: The strands are very fine.
That causes some problems. When you are trying to feed a stripped wire end into a butt splicer or terminal, a few strands tend to catch and end up outside the terminal or splicer barrel.
If I need to do further wiring, I'll make the trip to the boat store for some Ancor tinned wire. I have some of their 16 ga. wire and it does not use these tiny hair-like strands.
With the new ratcheting crimper, which is designed to work with heatshrink-insulated crimpers, I find it does produce a good crimp, when crimping a 10-12 ga. butt splicer to a 10 ga. wire.
Specifically, this is the new crimper:
Wirefy Crimping Tool For Heat Shrink Connectors - Ratcheting Wire Crimpers - Crimping Pliers - Ratchet Terminal Crimper - Electrical Crimping Tool - 22-10 AWG - Amazon.com
It is naturally quite similar to the Klein Tools crimper I returned, which was intended only for terminals and butt splicers using the hard plastic shell (non-heatshrink, insulated but not weatherproof) type crimp connectors.
The crimping die is different. It has a single crimping "zone" or set of "teeth", vs. the Klein Tools dies which had 2 rows.
That is actually an improvement. It means you can crimp 1 side of a butt splice at a time, and can more precisely control where crimping happens, when doing terminals.
Caveat: it does not crimp sufficiently on to 12 ga. wire. I found that I had to supplement the 12 ga. side of a 10-12 ga. butt splice, using a non-ratcheting hand crimper. Otherwise the wire could pull out.
A note on wire: While it does appear to be legit tinned copper wire, the 10 ga. wire I bought off Amazon has one drawback: The strands are very fine.
That causes some problems. When you are trying to feed a stripped wire end into a butt splicer or terminal, a few strands tend to catch and end up outside the terminal or splicer barrel.
If I need to do further wiring, I'll make the trip to the boat store for some Ancor tinned wire. I have some of their 16 ga. wire and it does not use these tiny hair-like strands.
The new setup, though not 100% finished.
Remaining tasks include:
--find a better way to stow dashcam cables. I moved the DVR for this photo, so now it's in the rear part of the underseat compartment (not shown here). The bundled up GPS antenna and excess camera cables take up a lot of room.
--Secure the relay for the fuse box to the front of the underseat compartment somehow. Might as well use the metal tab provided, yes?
Also:
The floor of the compartment is somewhat irregular. There's that bulge (left), and then the sloped bit at the very front (right). Not very much real estate that's actually flat.
The dashcam DVR was small enough that it could sit on the flat part. That fuzzy stuff is one side of Velcro that was securing the DVR in place.
The fuse box is too big for that. Needs a 1/4" or so spacer to sit flat and be secure. Will probably use some scrap wood and more Velcro.
I am also planning to replace the rubber battery terminal cover on the positive (red) side. Original was so dried out that it tore apart when handled.
I don't think the negative (black) terminal ever had a rubber cover. I suppose Suzuki's reasoning was something like: the positive terminal is at +14 V or so when the bike is running, so you don't want something falling on to it and causing a short.
Meanwhile, the negative terminal is merely ground, which is connected to large parts of the bike (Frame engine etc.), so there's no point in putting a rubber shield over only that one little part.
Also: The connection points on that fuse block are made with a certain size of ring terminal in mind - M4 specifically.
So far, two of my accessories - the Oxford Heaterz and the power lead for the USB voltmeter/charger - have been equipped with ring terminals that were too big to fit. Photo later.
I ground metal off so they would fit, as a temporary fix. What I should do is replace them with terminals of the correct size.
I like those "claw" (C-shaped) or fork-shaped terminals, because they don't require removing the fuse panel screw all the way to make a connection.
So far, two of my accessories - the Oxford Heaterz and the power lead for the USB voltmeter/charger - have been equipped with ring terminals that were too big to fit. Photo later.
I ground metal off so they would fit, as a temporary fix. What I should do is replace them with terminals of the correct size.
I like those "claw" (C-shaped) or fork-shaped terminals, because they don't require removing the fuse panel screw all the way to make a connection.
Pretty much done. Looks like this:
![Image]()
Still to-do: stick the dashcam DVR (barely visible under the tangle of wires toward bottom of photo) to the compartment floor with Velcro. It's held in place by the surrounding cable bundles for now, which will do for a test ride.
Fuse panel is secured in place like so:
![Image]()
I cut a piece of 1/4" x 2" "hobby board" (poplar) from Home Depot to make a spacer, to work around the irregular compartment floor shape as previously mentioned. More Velcro on both sides of the board, as well as the fuse panel bottom, to leverage the existing Velcro patch on the compartment floor.
I think this arrangement will prove more convenient than having the fuse panel fixed in place.
Here's some more detail of how I rearranged my battery terminals:
![Image]()
Yes, that right-angle brass thingy is a 3/4" angle bracket from Home Depot. One modification: holes drilled out 1/4" to accept M6 battery terminal screws.
I got the idea from here:
Still to-do: stick the dashcam DVR (barely visible under the tangle of wires toward bottom of photo) to the compartment floor with Velcro. It's held in place by the surrounding cable bundles for now, which will do for a test ride.
Fuse panel is secured in place like so:
I cut a piece of 1/4" x 2" "hobby board" (poplar) from Home Depot to make a spacer, to work around the irregular compartment floor shape as previously mentioned. More Velcro on both sides of the board, as well as the fuse panel bottom, to leverage the existing Velcro patch on the compartment floor.
I think this arrangement will prove more convenient than having the fuse panel fixed in place.
Here's some more detail of how I rearranged my battery terminals:
Yes, that right-angle brass thingy is a 3/4" angle bracket from Home Depot. One modification: holes drilled out 1/4" to accept M6 battery terminal screws.
I got the idea from here:
L-Bracket Adapter Kit
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