Opinions on battery terminal power taps?

Tob

Tob

Paint-Matched Bezels Club
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Lake Charles, Louisiana
I'm about to do a bit of wiring (CB radio and auxiliary lights) directly to the battery and came across this product:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IC6GNU4/?tag=wranglerorg-20

terminaltap.jpg


It looks like a clean, solid way to make connections, but I wanted to hear if anyone has used these or if there's a better way to do it.
 
Mr. Bills said:
I don't think it was ever swapped. It hasn't been while I've owned the jeep.
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If that is a picture of your PDC in Jerry's post, then someone has swapped it out. The input terminal to the positive battery post exits the PDC and points straight down at the end of the PDC. The terminal portion under the lid is double width with 2 holes that fit down onto studs with 2 10mm flange nuts holding it in place. It does not exit the side like the picture he used with the green fusible link.

The XJ has it going to the side like the one in his pic but that may also be later versus early TJ as well. I know the later ones are as I described as I was just working on 2 of them yesterday.
 
As noted by Blaine,

The input terminal to the positive battery post exits the PDC and points straight down at the end of the PDC. The terminal portion under the lid is double width with 2 holes that fit down onto studs with 2 10mm flange nuts holding it in place. It does not exit the side like the picture [Jerry] used with the green fusible link.
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My PDC is as @mrblaine described. I could have attached a power lead under one of the 10mm flange nuts in the PDC but I since I intended up to four circuits and didn't feel comfortable running that much power through the relatively small ring terminal that would fit under the 10mm flange nut (and the relatively thin wire that would fit into that ring terminal), I elected to tap at the battery terminals instead.

The Blue Sea option couldn't be easier and the fuses couldn't be more accessible. It could be a few dollars cheaper, but I'm not complaining.

YMMV
 
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mrblaine said:
If that is a picture of your PDC in Jerry's post, then someone has swapped it out. The input terminal to the positive battery post exits the PDC and points straight down at the end of the PDC. The terminal portion under the lid is double width with 2 holes that fit down onto studs with 2 10mm flange nuts holding it in place. It does not exit the side like the picture he used with the green fusible link.
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That's my PDC and the lead going to the positive battery post does indeed drop straight down, you just can't see what you're describing from the angle I took that photo.
 
mrblaine said:
Got it. It is very odd to see the fusible link there when it has to fold up and over to do that.
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I'll check that out the next time the hood's up. It has been years since I was in that area, maybe I moved something around while attaching those two wires.
 
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No need for two fuses for the - and + sides in the same circuit. The current flow in the negative side always equals what's flowing in the positive side.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
No need for two fuses for the - and + sides in the same circuit. The current flow in the negative side always equals what's flowing in the positive side.
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Some radio manufacturers want fuses in both positive and negative. This is presumably to prevent the radio ground return connection from carrying excessively high current in the event that a high current ground opens up somewhere else (think starter motor). Is this really needed? I don’t know but I complied with the Yaesu instructions and fused both sides.
 
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TurboTJ said:
Some radio manufacturers want fuses in both positive and negative. This is presumably to prevent the radio ground return connection from carrying excessively high current in the event that a high current ground opens up somewhere else (think starter motor). Is this really needed? I don’t know but I complied with the Yaesu instructions and fused both sides.
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Fuses are typically used to protect the wire from damage due to excess current more so than protect the appliance being operated. You described the situation where a fuse on the negative lead might save the appliance (aka radio). In that scenario I guess you could say that the fuse on the negative lead is "needed."

If I had top-of-the line, expensive radios in my jeep I might fuse the negative leads as insurance against damage to the radios. I don't, so I don't.

Its probably just a rationalization to mask laziness on my part because I really can't afford to be replacing radios even if they aren't the most expensive devices on the market.
 
I went ahead and used the PDC posts. Thanks for the suggestions, I might use one of those fuse blocks in the future if I need to do a lot more wiring to the battery.

IMG_0274.jpg
 
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One more question. This is how I routed the CB radio power wires. They go through the boot to the right of the gas pedal and straight up, along the wire loom, and to the battery. Being that close to the engine, should I be concerned about heat protection for the wires?

IMG_0276.jpg
 
SecondChanceTJ said:
One more question. This is how I routed the CB radio power wires. They go through the boot to the right of the gas pedal and straight up, along the wire loom, and to the battery. Being that close to the engine, should I be concerned about heat protection for the wires?
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No, so long as you're routing them away from the exhaust headers.
 
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