jgapril

Simple question here my friends. I use my 2008 Wrangler ONLY for parades in the New Orleans area. See drawing;;; I need to know what type of kill switch I have to use to kill all power where the battery power comes into the fuse block. I would like to use the same switch that I am using on the other items, but not sure if I need a more heavy duty one instead.

John

ronjenx

That switch will work with a relay to control the power to the fuse block. Relays draw very little power for the coil.

jgapril

Can you give me some guidance, never worked with relays before

jgapril

I sure could use some guidance with this

Mr.T

Here's a link to a typical relay from an auto parts store https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/d.../jeep/wrangler

Looking at the pic in the link, terms 85 and 86 are the coil. The contacts on this one are in what's called form C; Term 30 is the common contact, 87a is normally closed contact and 87 is normally open contact. Apply 12V across the coil and the contacts change state, like a light switch.

Sounds like you don't know much about electrical, so you may have to read up on the basics. Sometimes people make a mess of things. Maybe a better approach is to simply put a small smart charger like a CTek on the battery when not in use. I do this on multiple batteries, they last a lot longer and are never dead from small current draws. If battery drain while stored is the issue, a smart charger will solve the problem and the battery will last longer too.

ronjenx

Relay must be rated for more than the total load.
Wires from battery to relay, and relay to your fuse block must be rated for more than the total load.
Wire from battery to relay must be fused near the battery; more than total load, but less than wire rating.
Wire from 12v source to kill switch must be fused lower than wire rating.

jgapril

Actually the problem is that sometimes I fail to turn off the radio and siren, causing the battery to run down. I figured if I can add this "kill switch" to my panel where all my switches are, it would solve the problem.

Please tell me exactly what a relay does.

John

Mr.T

In this case, a relay uses a small current to switch a larger current. Ron did a nice job modifying your diagram.

jgapril

Ron, is there an easy way to determine what the total load is?
John

jedg

Add up the wattage of all of your lights, divide that number by 12... that will be the total amperage draw. I typically add 10% to that number for safety.