powering 12v accessories

[Mainsail]

If you follow the hood release cable on the driver's side kick panel to the firewall there ~should~ be a black plastic cap about the size of a half-dollar just below it. Pull that out and a rubber plug should remain.

Now find the other side of that rubber plug in the engine compartment. It will look like a skinny black nipple; snip that flush with the firewall and you'll end up with a nicely grommet'd hole in the firewall that a 6 or 8 gauge wire will pass through.

If you want your radio to work with the ignition on or in ACC, and be off when the key is off, wire a relay to the wiper circuit, and catch that 8 gauge wire as it goes by the fuse-box.

 

[parklandtrans]

Just a reminder on powering accessories...not ALL BUT SOME of your acc's are of the OMNI VOLT STYLE..meaning they will run off voltages from 12v up to 28v. This means that there is absolutely no modifying required..just plug and play..!!
Now with that being said, PLEASE CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK YOUR DEVICE PRIOR TO POWERING UP..!!
Remember, once the smoke is let out..you can't put it back in..!! Happy wiring guys.
bob

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

It will look like a skinny black nipple; snip that flush with the firewall and you'll end up with a nicely grommet'd hole in the firewall that a 6 or 8 gauge wire will pass through

I prefer to snip off as little as possible, and feed through the nipple from the wide side, stretching out the nipple around the wire. Makes a good seal that way. If you snip too much, you have to find a way to plug the gap.

Remember, once the smoke is let out..you can't put it back in..!!

Yep!

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

So, now that I've gotten my head around your very good description...it sounds like I either have to find a way to COMPLETELY isolate the radio mounting AND antenna mounting in this scenario (possible, but too cumbersome at best.)

Yes, that's correct.

It almost sounds to me like upgrading the existing lead wiring to the 12v bus on the firewall and connecting to that (does it have a special ground nut also on the bus? Is there the same problem with grounding issues as above?!?), may be more effective.

That's not a bad idea, and not difficult to do. No grounding problems. I did mine just a few weeks back. You can read about it here.

My original plan was to install a new Blue Sea ST Fuse Block with direct 12v power to it and run radios off of that, plus some future accessory lighting front and rear for use at the ranch. It seems to me that my idea may NOT be so good

Actually, I think it's very good. The concept is perfectly sound and Blue Sea is good stuff.

...and I'm getting out of my league here....

Nah, you're good. If you need coaching, you know where to get it.

I was attempting to have some kind of direct feed to the accessory panel (each circuit fused, etc) and leaving all stock wiring in place, both for assumed simplicity and everything works great and I didn't want it to become a Frankenstein,

Sounds great! Go for it!