defender fusebox and wiring modification

Looking for a few tips here really.

first off, checking out the fusebox, I seem to have 2 "spare" fuses, ie would be air con, but mine doesnt have any. presumably these do nothing else (diagram and owners manual seem to agree here) so was going to nick them for auxillarys, one being my CB and a couple of other bits, the other to go for the extra lighting when I get that far.

Secondly, tapping into wires, or extending them? whats the best way? butt crimps? I do have a proper pair of rachet crimpers. or twist, solder and heatshrink (or self amalg tape)
Tapping, im presuming pare back some insulation, solder the wires together and self amalg tape around it.

Also, to avoid the wrath of other people, where would I find a guide for proper wire colouring?
so far black seems to be earth, green perm live, and green with a stripe (colour varies) switched live, correct??

Cheers.

Firstly, what year fender have you got?

I'm pretty sure the wiring diagram would tell me (1994 300TDi) that I've got a couple of spare fuses that would normally be aircon, but I'd want to trace them out to make sure they don't go anywhere before answering authoritively on that question.

Crimps are good, as long as you use the right sizes so they end up tight. If you can pull them off with your fingers, they are not the right size. Twist, solder and heat shrink is also good I'd say, but againt as long as the twist is good. Both methods become difficult if you your joining two very different diameter wires together.

For tapping into a wire, I probably wouldn't go for the peel back insulation on a continuous wire and try to twist and solder that. That would probably be only if I was in an emergency and didn't have any crimps etc. I might even consider connector blocks before doing that.

With any of these though, it really depends on what it is you are doing. If you're talking about a high current feed or earth, I'd really try to avoid any breaks in the wire if possible. I'd much more plan around running continuous wires to wherever its going and make good use of earth points and piggy backed crimps etc. You really have to take into account whether all parts of your wiring can handle the current you're drawing.

For example, if you have a lighting circuit thats drawing 5amp through standard wiring. Tapping into it to wire up extra lights means that through part of that standard wiring, up to the tapping point, you're probably drawing more current that the wire is rated for.

If you tell us what you're tapping and why, we might have some suggestions as to what would be best to do.

There are many links out there for wire colour codes. e.g.
Vehicle Wiring Colour Code

Black - Earth yes
Solid dark green - should be fused ignition live. Perminent live should be brown, Purple is fused perminent live.
Green with a trace, check the wiring diagram.

cheers, mines a '96 300tdi.
Ive pulled the fuses on the "aircon" that should tell me if they actually do anything or not (so far seems they do nowt.)
Tapping was for a couple of low power bits, such as the CB (possibly my LED worklights, but probably going to do that properly tbh, just incase non-leds get used in the future.
For the extra lights, I was intending on coming right back to the fusebox, disconnecting the wiring for the "aircon" and using the spare way for that.

Im also intending on installing an inverter at some point, but was going to take that straight from the battery (fused, of course) to avoid any voltage drop.

Never use the chocolate block type connectors + only use the snap on type splices for speakers.
these have done me well for splicing into feeds / extending wires;

BMW part number; 61 13 8 353 748

these are what they use for airbag connections too so they're top quality!

the cheaper alternative is butt crimp connectors, cut the insulation off + open them out with needle nose pliars. re crimp with this type of tool;

PROFESSIONAL Crimping tool for UNINSULATED terminals | eBay

+ a bit of adhesive backed heat shrink makes a strong + waterproof finish - use the clear heatshrink as then you can see if any joins have seperated themselves later on.

would never use scotch locks for power, have a hatered of the things.
My crimper is better than that tbh, its a rachet one, so you get the same pressure on the crimp every time.
I shall have a look at the BM parts.

Cheers.

Which fuses did you pull btw? If I can get an hour of daylight to spare sometime this week ill have a look on mine to see where they go.

timtheenchanteruk said:

would never use scotch locks for power, have a hatered of the things.
My crimper is better than that tbh, its a rachet one, so you get the same pressure on the crimp every time.
I shall have a look at the BM parts.

Cheers.

Click to expand...

its the crimping face you need m8.
ratcheting or not, normal crimping tools give a blunt crush, the ones in the link give a strong 'u' shaped crimp that bites into the wire. the link was just the cheapest i could find, i know AMP + durite do a ratcheting version for superseal connectors @ £65.

the BMW bits are gr8 but when you open up the butt crimps as described in me earlier post + use a tool like in the link to form the 'u' shape, it makes a bombers join which is just as good + a much cheaper option -std blunt crush crimping tool wont work with the BMW bits.

I always try to crimp and solder all joints.. If I can't get a crimp on them Solder only. I use the tube crimps when adding a 2nd wire to an exsisting circuit.

I have HD ratchet crimping pliers and also HD ratchet crimpers for Ring (earth) terminals that'll crimp upto 10mm diameter ring terminals.

Hi Guys this is my question too.
On the original fuse behind cover in my 2006 defender there are some slots with no fuse in ....
Can I connect directly into these and wire some daylight running lights etc threw them ?
Obviously I'll need to stick a fuse in to compleat the circuit .
Am I correct in thinking this ?
Cheers

timtheenchanteruk said:

cheers, mines a '96 300tdi.
Ive pulled the fuses on the "aircon" that should tell me if they actually do anything or not (so far seems they do nowt.)
Tapping was for a couple of low power bits, such as the CB (possibly my LED worklights, but probably going to do that properly tbh, just incase non-leds get used in the future.
For the extra lights, I was intending on coming right back to the fusebox, disconnecting the wiring for the "aircon" and using the spare way for that.

Im also intending on installing an inverter at some point, but was going to take that straight from the battery (fused, of course) to avoid any voltage drop.

Click to expand...

s is my

A good soldered T joint will always be better than a crimp on its own. They are the devils buttermilk and to be avoided. You might start with a good crimped connection, but as the conductor deforms with age and oxidation happens (because it's not airtight) the connection can suffer. With high power connections, you then get heat which worsens the joint and then a nice fire. Strip back, solder and heatshrink is the professional way. For end connectors crimping AND soldering is also good.

Just to throw a spanner in the works, would you not be much better off fitting an aux fuse box? Say in the battery box or the bulkhead?

There's not a great deal of room to work in and around the bulkhead fuse box on a 2006 model defender. There are an awful lot of wires already and it's very congested. In some models (like mine) there's an air conditioning unit that reduces access still further. I've put an extra fuse box behind the driver's seat on the bulkhead and it's so much easier. Loads of space to work and plenty of spare fuseways to play with should I wish to add any further accessories.

There's a lot of vibration in a Land Rover, so crimp on connections are apt to come loose no matter what shape you manage to bend the little tabs into. Where possible I tend to put a dab of solder on them to make sure the spade, bullet etc is firmly attached to the wire. It takes a little longer, but I think of all the time I will save in the future trying to find intermittent electrical faults.

+1 Brown that was the bulkhead I was on about lol. It was originally in the battery box but bucket seats made it a pita to change fuses! So moved to behind the seat, really easy to run cable up there too.

On the 110 I'm going to fit the MUD cubby locker and fit the aux box in there, much neater and accessible option. Plus another reason to use an aux box is to keep everything separate from the LR wiring so if anything does go wrong it's easier to trace.

bankz5152 said:

+1 Brown that was the bulkhead I was on about lol. It was originally in the battery box but bucket seats made it a pita to change fuses! So moved to behind the seat, really easy to run cable up there too.

On the 110 I'm going to fit the MUD cubby locker and fit the aux box in there, much neater and accessible option. Plus another reason to use an aux box is to keep everything separate from the LR wiring so if anything does go wrong it's easier to trace.

Click to expand...

Plus it's easier to return things to standard if you need to.