Any pics/links to hooking up an electric shield?

[dhkr123]

Except that if your shield shorts out, it'll blow your headlight circuit and you'll be driving home without headlights.

I believe the headlight circuit is fused.

jf

No kidding.
Let me repeat:
YOU DON'T WANT TO BLOW YOUR HEADLIGHT CIRCUIT BECAUSE YOUR HELMET SHORTED OUT!!!


@OP: You put fusible link AND a fuse? You only need one or the other.

 

[Irv]

Except that if your shield shorts out, it'll blow your headlight circuit and you'll be driving home without headlights.

I believe the headlight circuit is fused.

jf

@OP: You put fusible link AND a fuse? You only need one or the other.

Just a link with a fuse, bad electrical terminology is all

 

[Irv]

Awesome info guy's, appreciate it

When saying the fuse should be located as close to the battery as possible, in your opinion would approx 4-5 inches be close enough?

I am hoping to install a fused joiner wire I had made up today but I am hoping I don't have to take everything apart again to get as close to the battery as possible?

Sorry for all the stupid questions.

As close to the battery as possible, or as close to the nearest FUSED MAIN as possible... as in 1" or less.

dhkr123, just thinking here, if the wire that came with the kit is so small(22-24 gauge) then would it not just melt if the wire got to warm/hot?

I am also thinking, with adding a 3 amp fuse that the wire will melt long before the fuse will?
I believe the draw on this E-shield is 1 to 1.5 amps only?

 

[dhkr123]

The smaller the wire, the hotter it will get faster, and the more likely it is to catch itself or something else on fire or do other serious damage, i.e. melt its way through your oil return hose if its near that.

And yes, you are right, you don't want to overfuse it. The wire should hopefully be able to handle more than 3 amps though... you would actually be surprised how small wires can actually be. Wire recommendations tend, in most cases, to be significantly oversized. 22 ga wire is good for 7 amps, 24 for 3.5. Either would be fine with a 3 amp fuse.

 

[Irv]

The smaller the wire, the hotter it will get faster, and the more likely it is to catch itself or something else on fire or do other serious damage, i.e. melt its way through your oil return hose if its near that.

And yes, you are right, you don't want to overfuse it. The wire should hopefully be able to handle more than 3 amps though... you would actually be surprised how small wires can actually be. Wire recommendations tend, in most cases, to be significantly oversized. 22 ga wire is good for 7 amps, 24 for 3.5. Either would be fine with a 3 amp fuse.

Thanks, some great info again.

 

[mtkaboater]

Irv, they sell fuse holder with caps to protect them from the weather for a few dollars at most any auto parts store. I wouldn't trust those connectors. Get yourself the proper holder.

Wish I had of known about those but I am not going to take my sled apart a 3rd time lol.

Irv: Sorry to join this thread so late, but after reading the whole thing... you really need to listen to Grizz and take it apart a third time and put in the higher quality fuse holder. Your fix is a bit lame. Sorry. Besides after you take it apart again, it should be getting a lot easier.

 

[Irv]

Irv, they sell fuse holder with caps to protect them from the weather for a few dollars at most any auto parts store. I wouldn't trust those connectors. Get yourself the proper holder.

Wish I had of known about those but I am not going to take my sled apart a 3rd time lol.

Irv: Sorry to join this thread so late, but after reading the whole thing... you really need to listen to Grizz and take it apart a third time and put in the higher quality fuse holder. Your fix is a bit lame. Sorry. Besides after you take it apart again, it should be getting a lot easier.

It is definitely not pretty, but calling it lame is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?

To me, it will get the job done and should last for years, so in all honesty I see no reason to go back in there and do it a 3rd time.

But I am all ears on your reasons?

 

[mtkaboater]

I have not seen your connections, so if you really feel it was a secure quality job, then by all means, go with it. Sorry to call it lame without seeing it in person. Just saying that you should always do the highest quality work possible unless the sole purpose of your sled is to ride in your backyard or to your ice shack.

I just don't like to do anything that might compromise the performance of my sled when you are on the trail with your friends and it is 5 below. It just seems to me that driving sled creates a lot of vibration and stress on many parts. Temperature fluctuations weaken connections, etc. Snowmobiling in general is hard on the equipment.

It appears from your photo that your connection is going to flop around which will cause all kinds of stress on the connections- at least zip it down good. But the real thing is that for the price of taking the sled apart again (maybe an hour tops) you could significantly improve this. My main thought is that if this does crap out, you just don't want to have to deal with this on the trail or outside your motel room while your buddies are having a good time. And lets say your connection does come apart on the trail. Your faceshield not working will be the least of your problems - you may have a live wire connected directly to the + side of the battery flopping around sparking #*$&@ or worse, melting and causing a fire.

 

[Irv]

I have not seen your connections, so if you really feel it was a secure quality job, then by all means, go with it. Sorry to call it lame without seeing it in person. Just saying that you should always do the highest quality work possible unless the sole purpose of your sled is to ride in your backyard or to your ice shack.

I just don't like to do anything that might compromise the performance of my sled when you are on the trail with your friends and it is 5 below. It just seems to me that driving sled creates a lot of vibration and stress on many parts. Temperature fluctuations weaken connections, etc. Snowmobiling in general is hard on the equipment.

It appears from your photo that your connection is going to flop around which will cause all kinds of stress on the connections- at least zip it down good. But the real thing is that for the price of taking the sled apart again (maybe an hour tops) you could significantly improve this. My main thought is that if this does crap out, you just don't want to have to deal with this on the trail or outside your motel room while your buddies are having a good time. And lets say your connection does come apart on the trail. Your faceshield not working will be the least of your problems - you may have a live wire connected directly to the + side of the battery flopping around sparking poop or worse, melting and causing a fire.

I hear ya, and like I said earlier, if I had known of a connection like Grizz suggested existed, I definitely would have gone that route to begin with
But in all honesty(with my limited electrical knowledge) I do believe it is fairly stout.
All the connections are very secure imo and everything has dielectric grease applied and shrink wrapped then tied off securely with zip ties.
In the pics, what they don't show, is how it is tucked up under the battery cover, the battery cover fits tight to begin with but is even more tight now that the connections/fuse are up under there as well.
In all honesty I don't see how it could move around or come loose especially with the fused being taped in with the connectors?

Thanks for your concern just the same, I do appreciate what it is your telling me and to be quite honest, I will probably be thinking about this from time to time now as well

 

[Vector LTX GT 08]

I hear ya, and like I said earlier, if I had known of a connection like Grizz suggested existed, I definitely would have gone that route to begin with
But in all honesty(with my limited electrical knowledge) I do believe it is fairly stout.
All the connections are very secure imo and everything has dielectric grease applied and shrink wrapped then tied off securely with zip ties.
In the pics, what they don't show, is how it is tucked up under the battery cover, the battery cover fits tight to begin with but is even more tight now that the connections/fuse are up under there as well.
In all honesty I don't see how it could move around or come loose especially with the fused being taped in with the connectors?

Thanks for your concern just the same, I do appreciate what it is your telling me and to be quite honest, I will probably be thinking about this from time to time now as well

What size fuse did you end up going with 3 Amps, or 5 Amps? Why I ask is I am going to be wiring in my heated shield hook up like you did. And I am sorry as this is an old post.

 

[RobX-1]

Considering how inexpensive those inline fuse holders are and their relative availability (any hardware store, Wallyworld, Amazon, or even truck stops for that matter carry them) and no offense to Irv, but why anyone would create an line fuse like he did is beyond me. I'm all for building a better mouse trap as long as it's not a step backwards to what's already available. I believe if it wasn't for the fact that he had already disassembled and reassembled his sled 3 times, he would have opted for the inline fuse holder version of doing this. When I installed the heated shield kit / RCA plug connector for my heated shield on my 08 Apex, the inline fuse holder I used had a 3amp fuse.

 

[Vector LTX GT 08]

Considering how inexpensive those inline fuse holders are and their relative availability (any hardware store, Wallyworld, Amazon, or even truck stops for that matter carry them) and no offense to Irv, but why anyone would create an line fuse like he did is beyond me. I'm all for building a better mouse trap as long as it's not a step backwards to what's already available. I believe if it wasn't for the fact that he had already disassembled and reassembled his sled 3 times, he would have opted for the inline fuse holder version of doing this. When I installed the heated shield kit / RCA plug connector for my heated shield on my 08 Apex, the inline fuse holder I used had a 3amp fuse.

Yeah that is what I am going to do. Wire it in once using an inline fuse. Just was wondering if 3amp is good, or a 5 amp. I am using my 12 volt cigarette lighter for the heated shield right now. I just hate how finicky it is. Plus it would be nice to have the 12 volt outlet for other stuff, cell phone.

 

[RobX-1]

I know what you mean by that 12volt outlet can allow the plug to come loose as I had used the one on my 08 Apex to power my Montana gps and there would be times it would wiggle loose and power off my gps if I didn't detect it powering down in time. On my new Apex, I opted to use the Garman power dock/mount and wired it direct to battery but also added an inline fuse to it as well. For those times I do ride the 08, I found if you wrapped electrical tape around the 12volt adapter that plugs into outlet a few times around that it will create a tighter seal and not come loose as easily; seems as if that port is enlarged more than standard size 12volt adapters. Just have to trial and error how many times to wrap and when doing so tape over the metal prongs that make contact with the inner tube of 12volt outlet. Then go back with Xacto knife and trim electrical tape off those prongs. I'm still glad I went with power dock but this little cheap trick prolly would have sufficed but then like you said, would be nice to use that 12volt outlet for other devices.

 

[maim]

You could always get one of rock’s smart power supplies. Has 2 rca for heated shield and 2 USB for cell phone or gps. I love mine on my older sleds. Waiting to put it on my new one.

 

[Vector LTX GT 08]

I know what you mean by that 12volt outlet can allow the plug to come loose as I had used the one on my 08 Apex to power my Montana gps and there would be times it would wiggle loose and power off my gps if I didn't detect it powering down in time. On my new Apex, I opted to use the Garman power dock/mount and wired it direct to battery but also added an inline fuse to it as well. For those times I do ride the 08, I found if you wrapped electrical tape around the 12volt adapter that plugs into outlet a few times around that it will create a tighter seal and not come loose as easily; seems as if that port is enlarged more than standard size 12volt adapters. Just have to trial and error how many times to wrap and when doing so tape over the metal prongs that make contact with the inner tube of 12volt outlet. Then go back with Xacto knife and trim electrical tape off those prongs. I'm still glad I went with power dock but this little cheap trick prolly would have sufficed but then like you said, would be nice to use that 12volt outlet for other devices.

Wow good idea, thanks!! Yeah it is like the 12 volt plug is to big like you said. Idk how many times last year I looked down and the green light was not lit. Had to push it down and then it would come back on. Very good idea though!!