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PC-8 in battery compartment with LiFePO4 battery

5K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  greywolf 
#1 ·
I'm going to be putting a PC-8 fuse panel into my Wee and most of the installs put the PC-8 in the storage area near the battery. This is great, but eats up valuable under-seat storage space.

I'm just toying with the idea of buying a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery, which is smaller, and putting the PC-8 in the compartment with the battery. My measurements say this is possible. Can anybody see any downsides (aside from cost)? Are there any electrical noise issues I might encounter?
 
#4 ·
The box with the wires coming out of it, is the one I am planning to mount beside my battery. It has a constant hot circuit, and three that can be switched once I add a relay before them. Two 10ga. input wires= good.

It came from an older conversion van. One circuit's wire is marked TV/VCR, so that dates it.
 
#5 ·
I'm just toying with the idea of buying a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery, which is smaller, and putting the PC-8 in the compartment with the battery.
Remember you'll need access to the PC-8 for wiring and possible fuse replacement. Make sure to account for that in your plans. I haven't needed to get to mine on the road but I have taken the left cowling off to make wiring changes at home.

 
#6 ·
It sounds like a lot of work and expense to save a wallet sized piece of real-estate.

The Strom has the most under seat storage that I've ever seen on a bike. I have a blue Sea fuse block (which is much larger than the PC-8) and it's in the front part of the tool tray.

Along with the blue sea block and all the wires connected to it,the tool tray also houses my autocom with extra cables, usb power outlet, tool kit with extra sockets/fuses, tire plug kit, roll of electric tape, LED flashlight, gerber multitool, and two 15'x1" ratchet straps are at the back near the tail light. :mrgreen:
 
#7 · (Edited)
I moved my PC-8 from the tool tray to the fairing because it caused a bunch of long wires to run to the electrical accessories in the fairing. Installing HID headlights was the final straw. I needed to get the fairing off and it would require cutting or disconnecting and re-running a lot of wires. Moving the PC-8 let me get at the fairing whenever I wanted, shortened up the accessory wiring and cut down the volume of wires running under the fuel tank. I also freed up enough room in the under seat area to handle an extra ratchet tool kit and spare levers along with the flat tire repair stuf I already had in there.
 
#9 ·
12ga will do the trick. The run is less than three feet. I used 10ga myself.
 
#10 ·
who says under storage area is not important - you lose 1/3 to 1/2 of total underseat storage if you instal PC8 / bluesea fusebox there. The whole idea i bought a vstrom and not a GSX-R is so that i can have a decent storage area:

My bike has ABS and the ABS fuse and fuel pump relay needed to be re-located to the underseat area- no cutting required - Without ABS with PC8, its even easier.

This setup means i can carry a slime air compressor, original tool kit, Pro-oiler 175ml bottle and controller box, spare tyre puncture fix kit, cable lock, disc lock and still have a little bit room left.

this is the original setup (oct08) with bluesea fusebox's lookalike. however putting the ABS valve fuse into the fuse box wasnt the best idea - ABS really like to see clean ground, after about 1.5 year, it started giving me problems with ABS being intermittenly switched off. So i put the ABS valve back on the its own dedicated connection to battery.


 
#11 ·
Thx guys for the ideas. I'm leaning toward not doing the LiFePO4/PC-8 together in the compartment because if I'm ever on a long adventure, and my battery dies, I'll need to replace it with a standard battery and then what'll I do with my PC-8? That and the high cost of the battery. I do prefer having the PC-8 under the seat for better weather protection.

Right now it looks like the PC-8 (and it's wires) will take about the same space as the first-aid kit that I have under the seat. If I ever miss the space and want to spend the $$$ then I'll get the small battery and put the first-aid kit in with the battery.
 
#12 ·
I do prefer having the PC-8 under the seat for better weather protection.
You're working on a fallacy. See the holes in the corners of the under seat tray. They are there to drain water. I rode home from Maine last September in two consecutive days of heavy rain with the PC-8 in the cowling cheek. That was the worst period in the 20,000 or so miles its been there. If you are worried about water and electrics, you'd better get some Hippo Hands. The handlebar switches are not waterproof.

The best thing to ward off water problems is dielectric grease on connections.
 
#14 ·
I've had zero problems. The mount is a grounding rod clamp holding a 1/8" thick x 1 inch wide aluminum angle. One side of the angle is trimmed to 1/2". A simple 1/8 x 1" bar would work fine. Both came from Home Depot.





I have a Stebel horn on the other side. Each side also carries an HID headlight ballast.

 
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