Fuse Panel Swap - ATC Done under $35 total

[mdripley]

I installed one your Fuse Panels Jonny H , It was pretty easy to install and works great Thanks for a great product I purchased from our Host.

Regards Mike R

[Lapkritis]

Originally Posted by Jonny H

Perhaps the ferrules were introduced in the mid seventies then? Pretty sure they were on a 1975 we supplied a panel for recently.

The ferrules on the larger wire feeds may have to be removed if you're going to use the Chief blocks.

I think you're right on the cutoff year being '74/'75 for the ferrules... I believe I saw a note on that recently. As I haven't seen them before - are they crimped on or drops of solder or both? If someone was picky, they could cut off the ferrule/heat off the solder without damaging the wire inside. If eventually they wanted to restore to OEM look/fuse panel then ferrules are available off the shelf:

Morris Products 12868 Non-insulated Ferrules - Din Standard - 10 Awg .787" Length | Mini Terminals | Wire Management | Electrical | Toolfetch

[Jonny H]

The ferrules are crimped tightly onto the copper strands only. They vary in size and style dependent on wire gauge. They are mostly copper, some larger ones are aluminium. When installed in the original fuse blocks terminals, they are squashed by the screw.

Although they are not soldered, IMO it would be a very time consuming and fiddly job to remove them and there are around 50 of them.

Basically this is a time/money trade-off. If you have a day to spare and your time is free, you have patience, electrical skills and the right tools you can spend less than $100 on parts converting to blade fuses.

Our fuse panel is aimed at those whose time is precious and only needs a screwdriver to install. More importantly, it de-risks the install.

I just read your signature. To many who don't posses the electrical skills you do, the $35 headline of this thread may indeed be a 'value trap'.

[SilberUrS6]

Originally Posted by Jonny H

Basically this is a time/money trade-off. If you have a day to spare and your time is free, you have patience, electrical skills and the right tools you can spend less than $100 on parts converting to blade fuses.

Our fuse panel is aimed at those whose time is precious and only needs a screwdriver to install. More importantly, it de-risks the install.

I just read your signature. To many who don't posses the electrical skills you do, the $35 headline of this thread may indeed be a 'value trap'.

I don't know what kind of electrical skills you need here. Careful labeling and slow, methodical workmanship are what's required.

[Tremelune]

Very nice. I've always wanted to upgrade my fuse box.

I'm confused, why didn't you just unscrew the existing wires, install the new fuse blocks, then screw them is as they were before?

Which fuses are wired directly to the battery? Seems like $10 worth of terminal jumpers would make quick, tidy work of this:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Systems-Terminal-Jumper/dp/B000K2IL1I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1439039615&sr=8-2&keywords=jumper+terminal

[Lapkritis]

Originally Posted by Tremelune

Very nice. I've always wanted to upgrade my fuse box.

I'm confused, why didn't you just unscrew the existing wires, install the new fuse blocks, then screw them is as they were before?

Which fuses are wired directly to the battery? Seems like $10 worth of terminal jumpers would make quick, tidy work of this...

Hey there - I'm curious about the jumpers from blue sea as well now that you mention them. I just ordered some to see if they'll fit these blocks. Two different manufacturers so not holding my breath. Should know by this weekend.

Positions 17/18 are constant to the battery. Notice the mess of wires cramming into position 17 from the factory. I ganged some of these together into a single heavier 10 gauge wires to clean things up on the panel.

Position	Top	Bottom	Circuit Description
1	White/Green	White/Yellow X 2	Fog Lights
2	Grey	Grey	License Plate Lights
3	Grey/Red	Grey/Red and Black/Red	Right Side Parking Lights
4	Grey/Black	Grey/Black and Black/Gray	Left Side Parking Lights
5	Grey	Blue/Grey	Right Side Low Beam Headlight
6	Yellow	Blue	Left Side Low Beam Headlight
7	OPEN	Yellow	Right Side High Beam Headlight
8	White	White/Blue and Black/Yellow	Left Side High Beam Headlight
9	Black/Green X 2	Black/Green X 1	Right Front Turn Signal
10	Black/Grey X 2	Back/Grey X 1	Left Front Turn Signal
11	Red	Green/Yellow and Green/Red and Green/Blue	Brake lights, Back-up lights, Hazard lamp relay
12	Red/Black and Red/Green	Black	Rear Defrost Relay, Blower (NOTE - Red/Green wire present here is hotwire (unfused) to the fuel pump. This red/green wire is recommended for safety to be configured with 20A fuse.)
13	Blue	Red/White and Red/Grey	Windshield Wiper/Wash
14	Red/Yellow (10ga)	Red	Sunroof / Rear Wiper
15	OPEN	Blue	Auxiliary Heater, Cigarette Lighter, Blower Switch Lamp
16	OPEN	Red X 2	Power Windows
17	Red x 4 - 12ga, 14ga x 3	Red/Black	Emergency Flasher
18	Red (10ga)	Black	Interior Lamp, clock, glove box light, trunk light

[Jonny H]

Originally Posted by fred cook

A quick question for Jonny H, what did you do to eliminate/mitigate corrosion on the existing wire ends when doing your fuse panel swap? All of the original panels that I have looked at had a significant amount of corrosion at the ends of the wires. I had to cut each wire back about 10mm to get clean copper for the new connection.

Sorry Fred, I missed this. Interesting, we have 80+ installations and haven't had any reports of corroded ferrule ends, even though the UK weather should make it more likely. The original Porsche ferrules protect the wire very well and even if the end is dull the underlying contact is good. When the ferrule is squashed by the screw terminal, the surface is scraped to shiny copper again.

If you take a piece of old electrical wire, you'll notice that the copper strands are dull at the ends and you need to cut it back to get to shiny copper. In some cases, you have to cut quite a long way back, maybe an inch or so. This is one of the reasons that we avoided using crimped spades in our solution. I wouldn't be comfortable crimping to dull copper and the Porsche loom wires are very short in some cases leaving little room for cutting back. Catch 22.

[Lapkritis]

That's a potentially very bad idea. Don't straight away cut your harness until you get shiny copper. Some may end up cutting so far in search of shiny copper that they throw a whole car away 1" at a time. If you have a wire end that is suspect/corroded then unroll the existing, exposed strands with your fingertips or gently with a tool. Then use electronic contact cleaner to remove the corrosion before re-twisting/rolling with fingertips or gently with a tool. An electronic grease may then be used on the exposed strands to stop and prevent more corrosion.

If this method doesn't work and the wire crumbles then you need to replace wire as a matter of maintenance which is only slightly beyond the scope of this original project. Remember, those crappy wires once discovered are there regardless of the fuse panel deployed.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Crc-Industries-5101-Electronic-Cleaner-4.-5-Oz./39951358

Finally, address the source of moisture. Check gaskets in the frunk for damage and replace as necessary.

[uwanna]

FYI, there is an incredible corrosion remover/protectant product that I have used for years called DeoxIT D5. It is mainly used by professionals and little known by the public. It's a little pricey versus CRC or the like, but there is no contest as it blows the rest away! Once used, it protects for years!

Amazon.com: CAIG DeOxit Cleaning Solution Spray, 5% spray 5oz: Everything Else

Read the reviews on Amazon. Here's just one:

I'm an electrical engineer and for over 30 years I have relied on Deoxit for cleaning, rejuvenating, lubricating and protecting electrical connections. It is very close to being magical - cleaning noisy switches, intermittent relays, and potentiometers (volume controls). Once applied, you will get many more years of additional service.

Craig (aka Hosa/the name of their distributor) Deoxit is the very best electrical contact cleaner available and it also improves electrical performance and protects contacts for years to come. However Craig makes a dizzing array of cleaners/contact shields so their products are rarely used by non-professionals. Yet, for decades, these products have been and remain the platinum standard for cleaning/improving/lubricating and protecting any type of electrical connection. Often these products seem almost magical in their ability to rejuvenate switches, relays, potentiometers (volume controls), etc

Despite a confusing array of products their most universal product is what Craig or Hosa (Craig's distributor) calls its D5 series. If you see D5 in the product number you've likely got the most appropriate product! In fact, a D5 series cleaner is required for any connection that is NOT new or already perfectly clean.

The most universal product is a DeOxit D5 series SPRAY. It cleans contacts, flushes away the garbage, lubricates and leaves behind a protective coating that improves the electrical connection and also protects it for years to come.

[Lapkritis]

Very interesting product in the CAIG spray. I haven't heard of it but does sound very promising. It is rated 4.7/5 stars versus the CRC QD spray which rates 4.6/5 starts. When my current stock of CRC runs out I'll try to remember to try CAIG DeOxit next. Thanks for the suggestion.

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by Lapkritis

Very interesting product in the CAIG spray. I haven't heard of it but does sound very promising. It is rated 4.7/5 stars versus the CRC QD spray which rates 4.6/5 starts. When my current stock of CRC runs out I'll try to remember to try CAIG DeOxit next. Thanks for the suggestion.

I have an old digital clock radio (vintage 1970s) that I really like. It has a numeric push button contact panel that that I would have to take apart on an almost yearly basis and burnish/clean with a generic contact cleaner. The last time (years ago) that I did the clean/burnish routine, I used DeoxIT5. Has not failed since! This is the stuff most all vintage stereo/electronics pros use. A well kept secret! I use it on ANY electrical connection I deal with.

[OsoMoore]

Looks nice - better than mine. I used the same fuse blocks but didn't pull the main bracket out of the car. I bolted my fuse blocks onto an aluminum strip after drilling them of their original small strips. It is good peace of mind knowing I'm not at the mercy of ancient corroding fuse contacts.

Keep the old fuse blocks in case someone wants to return it to stock some day!

[heimtun]

+1 CAIG DeoxIT

I've used this stuff for years - great results. I also used it on my fuse panel cleanup/refresh.

[Lapkritis]

The Blue Sea jumpers arrived today. They're not compatible with the Chief Blocks used here. They might be modified to fit but at that point you might as well fabricate your own from raw copper if you don't want to bother with the jumper wires.

Here's a quick view of why they don't work:







The Chief block screw is rolled on the end so you can't back the screw out entirely... hence you can't get the jumper under the screw where it needs to be. The base of the jumpers are too large in size to fit into the Chief blocks. Even if you squeeze the Blue Sea jumper down to align the holes with the screws, the footprint of the contact on the blue sea is too large.

[Tremelune]

Interesting. I wonder if I can find some C-shaped jumpers...I swear I've seen them...

[Lapkritis]

Quick update - it has been about a month and a half. I don't think about the fuse panel anymore... it just works. Very satisfied.

[Lapkritis]

Bump for folks looking for a winter project... plenty of idle time when there's snow and salt out on the ground.

[Lapkritis]

Another bump.