blue sea fuse box

J

john arbuckle

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Mar 30, 2010
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Hey everyone not sure if my last mail sent think I deleted it. Well
again I have purchased this blue sea fuse block and it has connections
for positive and negative wires from all devices. My stock fuse block
seems to only have one wire per device. Are the devices grounded to a
body ground somewhere else or do I need to connect anything to these
multiple negative connections. Any help would be great

Thank you
John Arbuckle
 
> Hey everyone not sure if my last mail sent think I deleted it. Well
> again I have purchased this blue sea fuse block and it has connections
> for positive and negative wires from all devices. My stock fuse block
> seems to only have one wire per device. Are the devices grounded to a
> body ground somewhere else or do I need to connect anything to these
> multiple negative connections. Any help would be great
>
> Thank you
> John Arbuckle


You only need the one hot wire to the fuse block, and from each fuse to the device served. On the GMC, the coach frame serves as the ground (negative, or return) path. Each 12 volt device has one hot wire to it, and a negative to a local connection to the frame of the coach.

--
Rob Allen
former owner of '76 x-PB
 
> Hey everyone not sure if my last mail sent think I deleted it. Well
> again I have purchased this blue sea fuse block and it has connections for positive and negative wires from all devices. My stock fuse block seems to only have one wire per device. Are the devices grounded to a body ground somewhere else or do I need to connect anything to these multiple negative connections. Any help would be great
>
> Thank you
> John Arbuckle

John,

If the device currently has only one wire to the existing fuse block, it only needs one wire to the fuse in the new fuse block.

The Blue Sea parts are made for boats. Most boats are fiberglass. Fiberglass is not a very good ground. If you install anything new, you can either
A - run a pair of wires to the new block and pick up both the power and ground there or
B - find a local ground an run a single wire for the power.

Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie
'73 Glacier 23 Chaumiere (say show-me-air)
SE Michigan - Twixt A2 and Detroit
 
John,

Here's a link to a photo showing how JimB wired the one in Double Trouble.

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=36568

Don't bother asking me any questions about it, I'm electrically challenged
and couldn't answer them! ;-)

Regards,
Rob M.
Sydney, Australia
AUS '75 Avion-The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion-Double Trouble TZE365V100426


-----Original Message-----
From: john arbuckle

Hey everyone not sure if my last mail sent think I deleted it. Well
again I have purchased this blue sea fuse block and it has connections
for positive and negative wires from all devices. My stock fuse block
seems to only have one wire per device. Are the devices grounded to a
body ground somewhere else or do I need to connect anything to these
multiple negative connections. Any help would be great

Thank you
John
 
Or actors?

Regards,
Rob M.
Sydney, Australia
AUS '75 Avion-The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion-Double Trouble TZE365V100426


-----Original Message-----
From: gmclist-bounces
[mailto:gmclist-bounces] On Behalf Of Johnny Bridges
Sent: Wednesday, 6 July 2011 4:48 AM
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] blue sea fuse box

Any cartoonists in the family?
 
--johnny

John Arbuckle
 
In explanation, ;you have a Blue Sea fuse block which is a marine device for a boat. Most boats are fiber glass these days so a ground wire would be common to bring back to the fuse block on the ground bar.

the GMC grounds on the body frame so you don't need to run a ground wire unless you want to.

The power wire would go to a fuse/cb location, the ground would go to the frame, unless your wiring diagram requires something else.


Just an explanation, as I see it
--
Gatsbys' CRUISER :d
74 GLACIER X, 260
455/APC/4 bagg'r(ver3)
Remflex Manifold gaskets
_______________________________________________
Purchased 08-18-04

_


 
I have the hot wire connected from the converter and battery connected
to the positive terminal on the new fuse block. In the instructions it
seems I need to run a negative from the negative bus to the negative
terminal on the battery. Is this true seeing we are not using the neg
part of the fuse block. Or do I ground the converter directly to the
frame, or the neg bus part of the fuse block to the frame. To me this
sound like lots of grounding. The rest I have all connected. grounding
it seems to be my confusion.
Thank you

John Arbuckle
1976 Palm Beach

>
>

>> Hey everyone not sure if my last mail sent think I deleted it. Well
>> again I have purchased this blue sea fuse block and it has connections
>> for positive and negative wires from all devices. My stock fuse block
>> seems to only have one wire per device. Are the devices grounded to a
>> body ground somewhere else or do I need to connect anything to these
>> multiple negative connections. Any help would be great
>>
>> Thank you
>> John Arbuckle
>
>
> You only need the one hot wire to the fuse block, and from each fuse to the device served.  On the GMC, the coach frame serves as the ground (negative, or return) path.  Each 12 volt device has one hot wire to it, and a negative to a local connection to the frame of the coach.
>
> --
> Rob Allen
> former owner of '76 x-PB
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
 
Sir, if you need a dedicated ground, you would run the negative from the battery to the ground bus. Your coach frame is already grounded so no need to ground there.

If there is a chance you may need a dedicated ground in the future, now is the time to run a gound wire to the ground bus.

At this point, I dont see a reason to run a ground wire, but would make testing easier if you were testing equipment and needed a handy ground at the breaker box.

The converter is usually grounded at the battery terminal. You are using fairly high amp rates so the pos and neg of the converter are generally connected directly to the batter. The positive may have a fuse inline to the pos batt pole.

It will work grounded to the frame but you may have a problem with DC supply when using high loading.


my thought
--
Gatsbys' CRUISER :d
74 GLACIER X, 260
455/APC/4 bagg'r(ver3)
Remflex Manifold gaskets
_______________________________________________
Purchased 08-18-04

_


 
> I have the hot wire connected from the converter and battery connected to the positive terminal on the new fuse block. In the instructions it seems I need to run a negative from the negative bus to the negative terminal on the battery. Is this true seeing we are not using the neg part of the fuse block. Or do I ground the converter directly to the frame, or the neg bus part of the fuse block to the frame. To me this sound like lots of grounding. The rest I have all connected. grounding it seems to be my confusion.
> Thank you
>
> John Arbuckle
> 1976 Palm Beach

John,

You do need a correctly sized conductor from the converter negative to either the coach frame or the battery negative.

If you are not planning to use the negative (ground) bus for anything, you do not need to involve that bus at all.

The instructions with that panel assume that you will be installing it in a fiberglass boat.

Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie
'73 Glacier 23 Chaumiere (say show-me-air)
SE Michigan - Twixt A2 and Detroit
 
The original converter was not grounded to the negative battery
terminal. So I should run the converter negative al the way to the
house battery and not ground it on the frame? And if running that
ground back could run the neg bus ground back as well to leave those
open for use at later dates? Is that even in the general area of
correct? Thank you all for the assistance. This will hopefully help
from a fire occuring.

John Arbuckle
Tucson AZ
1976 Palm Beach

>
>
> Sir, if you need a dedicated ground, you would run the negative from the battery to the ground bus.  Your coach frame is already grounded so no need to ground there.
>
> If there is a chance you may need a dedicated ground in the future, now is the time to run a gound wire to the ground bus.
>
> At this point, I dont see a reason to run a ground wire, but would make testing easier if you were testing equipment and needed a handy ground at the breaker box.
>
> The converter is usually grounded at the battery terminal.  You are using fairly high amp rates so the pos and neg of the converter are generally connected directly to the batter.  The positive may have a fuse inline to the pos batt pole.
>
> It will work grounded to the frame but you may have a problem with DC supply when using high loading.
>
>
> my thought
> --
> Gatsbys' CRUISER :d
> 74 GLACIER X, 260
> 455/APC/4 bagg'r(ver3)
> Remflex Manifold gaskets
> _______________________________________________
> Purchased 08-18-04
>
> _
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
 
John, I am not trying to confuse you but I want to see you do it right.

What I am understanding is you have a BLUE SEA fuse/breaker panel, that is not a big problem.

AND you are wiring an AC converter????? Or an INVERTER???

If it is a CONVERTER that charges the battery and supplies power to the coach, you can connect the POS on the battery lead by the fuse box. the heavy cable ( that you connected to the Blue SEA Pos term) that goes to the fuse link then the battery Pos should be sufficient.

If it is an INVERTER, the 12vdc cable needs to be able to carry the load needed and is recommended to be as short as possible. Size of this cable is determined by the size of the inverter.

there should be a wiring diagram of the GMC motor home out there that should be very helpful to you.

I apologize if I am getting deep here. I am feeling out what you are working with. The CONVERTER is fairly normal connections while the INVERTER needs specific connections.

I hope this was helpful
--
Gatsbys' CRUISER :d
74 GLACIER X, 260
455/APC/4 bagg'r(ver3)
Remflex Manifold gaskets
_______________________________________________
Purchased 08-18-04

_


 
John,
Don't make a trivial job complicated.  Duplicate the original wiring
as much as possible.  Ground the new converter to the same location as
the old.  Renew the connection to the body, preferably with a size
larger wire if you're installing a higher output converter.  At the
very least, use a star washer between the connector and the body,
liberally doused with an anti-corrosive paste like NoAlOx, DeOx,
Penetrox, or other available at Lowes or Home Depot.

If you want the ground buss on the BlueSea connected for
troubleshooting, or to use for some local connections, fine, but DON'T
bother to run everything to it -- there's NO necessity when you're
surrounded by "ground" everywhere there's aluminum around you. Why
double the number of wires running to every current consumer in the
coach? Furrin cars with that wiring method are, almost without
exception, prone to troublesome electrical problems.

As far as fire, be much more concerned about the Hot wires -- they're
the ones in danger because they're always near that big aluminum
ground which, is, must, and always will be there.  Be sure the hot
wires are well insulated, loomed, sheathed and carefully routed.  AND,
that all their connections are clean and tight.  ALWAYS fuse them with
appropriately rated fuses.

JMHO, backed up with a little education and experience,

Ken H.
Americus, GA
'76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI+ & EBL
www.gmcwipersetc.com

>
> The original converter was not grounded to the negative battery
> terminal. So I should run the converter negative al the way to the
> house battery and not ground it on the frame? And if running that
> ground back could run the neg bus ground back as well to leave those
> open for use at later dates? Is that even in the general area of
> correct? Thank you all for the assistance. This will hopefully help
> from a fire occuring.
>
 
Thank you that sums it up. I am just going to wire it the same as the
original. So I need to insulate the power wire? with what. Again
thanks for the help. And yes it is a converter not an inverter.

JOHN ARBUCKLE

> John,
> Don't make a trivial job complicated.  Duplicate the original wiring
> as much as possible.  Ground the new converter to the same location as
> the old.  Renew the connection to the body, preferably with a size
> larger wire if you're installing a higher output converter.  At the
> very least, use a star washer between the connector and the body,
> liberally doused with an anti-corrosive paste like NoAlOx, DeOx,
> Penetrox, or other available at Lowes or Home Depot.
>
> If you want the ground buss on the BlueSea connected for
> troubleshooting, or to use for some local connections, fine, but DON'T
> bother to run everything to it -- there's NO necessity when you're
> surrounded by "ground" everywhere there's aluminum around you.  Why
> double the number of wires running to every current consumer in the
> coach?  Furrin cars with that wiring method are, almost without
> exception, prone to troublesome electrical problems.
>
> As far as fire, be much more concerned about the Hot wires -- they're
> the ones in danger because they're always near that big aluminum
> ground which, is, must, and always will be there.  Be sure the hot
> wires are well insulated, loomed, sheathed and carefully routed.  AND,
> that all their connections are clean and tight.  ALWAYS fuse them with
> appropriately rated fuses.
>
> JMHO, backed up with a little education and experience,
>
> Ken H.
> Americus, GA
> '76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI+ & EBL
> www.gmcwipersetc.com
>
>

>>
>> The original converter was not grounded to the negative battery
>> terminal. So I should run the converter negative al the way to the
>> house battery and not ground it on the frame? And if running that
>> ground back could run the neg bus ground back as well to leave those
>> open for use at later dates? Is that even in the general area of
>> correct? Thank you all for the assistance. This will hopefully help
>> from a fire occuring.
>>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
 
Oh yeah I ran a power wire to the pos bus on the fuse block and the
original power cable from the battery connects there as well. Is there
a fuse some where in the original power cable or is the fuse in the
converter for the power source good enough?

John Arbuckle.

> Thank you that sums it up. I am just going to wire it the same as the
> original. So I need to insulate the power wire? with what. Again
> thanks for the help. And yes it is a converter not an inverter.
>
> JOHN ARBUCKLE
>

>> John,
>> Don't make a trivial job complicated.  Duplicate the original wiring
>> as much as possible.  Ground the new converter to the same location as
>> the old.  Renew the connection to the body, preferably with a size
>> larger wire if you're installing a higher output converter.  At the
>> very least, use a star washer between the connector and the body,
>> liberally doused with an anti-corrosive paste like NoAlOx, DeOx,
>> Penetrox, or other available at Lowes or Home Depot.
>>
>> If you want the ground buss on the BlueSea connected for
>> troubleshooting, or to use for some local connections, fine, but DON'T
>> bother to run everything to it -- there's NO necessity when you're
>> surrounded by "ground" everywhere there's aluminum around you.  Why
>> double the number of wires running to every current consumer in the
>> coach?  Furrin cars with that wiring method are, almost without
>> exception, prone to troublesome electrical problems.
>>
>> As far as fire, be much more concerned about the Hot wires -- they're
>> the ones in danger because they're always near that big aluminum
>> ground which, is, must, and always will be there.  Be sure the hot
>> wires are well insulated, loomed, sheathed and carefully routed.  AND,
>> that all their connections are clean and tight.  ALWAYS fuse them with
>> appropriately rated fuses.
>>
>> JMHO, backed up with a little education and experience,
>>
>> Ken H.
>> Americus, GA
>> '76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI+ & EBL
>> www.gmcwipersetc.com
>>
>>

>>>
>>> The original converter was not grounded to the negative battery
>>> terminal. So I should run the converter negative al the way to the
>>> house battery and not ground it on the frame? And if running that
>>> ground back could run the neg bus ground back as well to leave those
>>> open for use at later dates? Is that even in the general area of
>>> correct? Thank you all for the assistance. This will hopefully help
>>> from a fire occuring.
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> GMCnet mailing list
>> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>>
>
 
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: john arbuckle
Date: Sat, Jul 9, 2011 at 8:17 AM
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] blue sea fuse box
To: gmclist

Oh yeah I ran a power wire to the pos bus on the fuse block and the
original power cable from the battery connects there as well. Is there
a fuse some where in the original power cable or is the fuse in the
converter for the power source good enough?

John Arbuckle.

> Thank you that sums it up. I am just going to wire it the same as the
> original. So I need to insulate the power wire? with what. Again
> thanks for the help. And yes it is a converter not an inverter.
>
> JOHN ARBUCKLE
>

>> John,
>> Don't make a trivial job complicated.  Duplicate the original wiring
>> as much as possible.  Ground the new converter to the same location as
>> the old.  Renew the connection to the body, preferably with a size
>> larger wire if you're installing a higher output converter.  At the
>> very least, use a star washer between the connector and the body,
>> liberally doused with an anti-corrosive paste like NoAlOx, DeOx,
>> Penetrox, or other available at Lowes or Home Depot.
>>
>> If you want the ground buss on the BlueSea connected for
>> troubleshooting, or to use for some local connections, fine, but DON'T
>> bother to run everything to it -- there's NO necessity when you're
>> surrounded by "ground" everywhere there's aluminum around you.  Why
>> double the number of wires running to every current consumer in the
>> coach?  Furrin cars with that wiring method are, almost without
>> exception, prone to troublesome electrical problems.
>>
>> As far as fire, be much more concerned about the Hot wires -- they're
>> the ones in danger because they're always near that big aluminum
>> ground which, is, must, and always will be there.  Be sure the hot
>> wires are well insulated, loomed, sheathed and carefully routed.  AND,
>> that all their connections are clean and tight.  ALWAYS fuse them with
>> appropriately rated fuses.
>>
>> JMHO, backed up with a little education and experience,
>>
>> Ken H.
>> Americus, GA
>> '76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI+ & EBL
>> www.gmcwipersetc.com
>>
>>

>>>
>>> The original converter was not grounded to the negative battery
>>> terminal. So I should run the converter negative al the way to the
>>> house battery and not ground it on the frame? And if running that
>>> ground back could run the neg bus ground back as well to leave those
>>> open for use at later dates? Is that even in the general area of
>>> correct? Thank you all for the assistance. This will hopefully help
>>> from a fire occuring.
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> GMCnet mailing list
>> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>>
>
 
John,

I presume the "power wire" is a short, well insulated 8g. or so wire
running only a short distance from your fuse block to the junction
block on the beltline longitudinal member behind the equipment
cabinet. It's probably not near any metal, so is probably safe enough
with additional insulation if well secured. If you're not comfortable
with it, put a corrugated loom or similar around it.

The fuse in the converter is sufficient to protect the line to the
junction block and forward toward the battery, and to the fuse block
and connected accessories. A bigger concern is what protection is at
the battery, and the cable leading to it. Near the battery, beneath
the passenger's feet if up front, or on the rear wall of the battery
compartment if in the rear, there should be a "hockey puck" CB,
40A-50A, IIRC, with the power cable wired to it. Without that CB, the
main power cable through the driver's side wall is unprotected from
the 300A+ the battery is capable of suppying for a short time -- far
longer than needed to ignite 'most anything in the coach in the case
of a short.

If you didn't read the thread last week about the power cable through
the driver's side wall, you should do so -- someone posted some very
dramatic and enlightening photos of the cable they removed with
disintegrating insulation. That should be a MAJOR concern for ALL of
us.

Ken H.
Americus, GA
'76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI+ & EBL
www.gmcwipersetc.com

> Thank you that sums it up. I am just going to wire it the same as the
> original. So I need to insulate the power wire? with what. Again
> thanks for the help. And yes it is a converter not an inverter.
 
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