Has anyone ever used or tried to use some sort of power distribution blocks for their constant and ignition hot circuits?

I'm looking to start wiring in my 5 gauges and leave a couple extra terminals for other add on accessories. I'm in no way electrically gifted and was just trying to avoid the splicing/piggybacking terminals like I did in my DSM.

Here was what I was looking for...A block of some sort that will be fused and allow me to run a direct power from a 12V switched source into it. Then it will have enough spades for 6-8 accessories to attach. I would also like to find something similar for a ground circuit as well. That way all my wires are sourced to one location that can be mounted somewhere in the car.

Now is there something out there now that allows power and ground on the same length of fuse block?

Does this switchable power need a relay setup or is it fine to just run the power to it, and then distribute it amongst the gauges etc?

Drawing off 1 12V switched power source to power 5 gauges and other equipment put too much strain on that one circuit?

I have found a few things online but they don't seem to satisfy me in terms of number of outlets and funcionality.

John

 

You might want to use an add-a-fuse (I'm not sure if that's the proper name for it):

Look at the upper-left of this photo:
http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/members/g...o=show&id=5508

The add-a-fuse goes into the original fuse slot, and adds two fuses. The first fuse is for the original circuit (try the Dashboard / Tach), and the second fuse is for whatever you want to add (boost gauge). You might be able to use this in the fusebox inside the cabin. From there, you could split off into 5 wires using butt splices if you want: one larger (14-16 gauge) wire from the new fuse into the butt splice, and 5 smaller (18-22 gauge) wires carrying power out to the devices.

The nice thing about the add-a-fuse is the circuit powered by the new fuse doesn't put any strain on the old fuse, which is nice and safe. For instance, if you short some wires because you made a mistake wiring up the boost gauge, you won't blow the fuse for your dashboard and turn signals, because the boost gauge fuse is not powered by the dashboard fuse.


Good luck,
-s-