CB power wiers in a XJ

[Waytec]

I acquired a new CB this past week and put in my XJ yesterday. but when I went to connect it to the accessory power on the fuse panel I had no power at the terminal, I checked it with a multi meter. I did not have time to look into it.
Gust wondering where you guys with XJs ran the power from to the CB ?
Thanks
Aaron

[XJHERO]

right to the battery with sum in line fuses
feind...............

[FiEND]

yea, direct to battery is always the best.  if you want it on ignition, use a relay from the battery. if you have a noisy vehicle, it can help with the static and motor whine.

[01sahara]

Sounds like a lot of work.  In the TJ I just pulled out a fues, stuck the wire in and put the fuse back in to hold the wire in place. It has worked fine for a few years now.  I always planed on finding a better set up but his has worked fine and always had lots of other things to fix on the jeep. 

Blair

[cLAY]

Going direct to the battery is the best, less load on the factory wiring the better. I've replaced complete fuse boxs at work because of "fuse taps" putting too much load on the fuse contacts causing them to melt out.

On my new rig I ran a 12g wire into the cab to a selonoid mounted under the dash. All of my aftermarket accessories will be powered of this selonoid. Over the years I had so many wires running to the battery from the cab I forgot what they were all for!

[FiEND]

Sounds like a lot of work.  In the TJ I just pulled out a fues, stuck the wire in and put the fuse back in to hold the wire in place. It has worked fine for a few years now.  I always planed on finding a better set up but his has worked fine and always had lots of other things to fix on the jeep. 

Blair

heh but you barely notice if you are on the wrong channel for a while.  if you want a prime example of crappy cb wiring just listen to me most of the time.

[01sahara]

heh but you barely notice if you are on the wrong channel for a while.  if you want a prime example of crappy cb wiring just listen to me most of the time.

So Al your suggestion is I get Ian to help me wire the CB in next time.

[FiEND]

ian probably forgot everything i taught him already.

mine needs a big rewiring job.  includes dual batteries and such so never had the ambition to start the whole process.  replacing the radio too.  once it warms up.

[Elsifer]

To the battery is best. Fuses for both positive (red) and negative (black) terminals. Size being the same as what comes out of the radio. Stranded, not solid core.

One thing might be to bring power into the cab with a pair of larger wires, and build/fab/buy some sort of power distribution box/panel. That way you can run your cb, ipod, computer, cooler, toaster, microwave, etc. Without running all that wiring back to the battery, without cutting new holes in the firewall, and without overloading your cigarette lighter plug(s).

Plus, if there is noise in the system from the alternator, fuel pump, windshield wipers; a filter on the pos & neg side of the master feed should do ya.

http://www.powerwerx.com has some pretty bling connectors, distribution panels, plugs, etc. But you can pretty much get what you need from Princess Auto. And ask an electrician for some pointers or help.

But don't run the cb (or any transmit capable radio for that matter) from the cigarette lighter plug. It's noisy power, and you can blow fuses. And put fuses on both leads to the battery, that is very important; if the ground strap from the neg terminal on the battery to the engine block were to fail, you'd get a negative spike up to the radio. Not only blowing the radio, but starting a fire! Both fuses protect the radio, but the neg one protects the car!


http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/39574.pdf
Read that article, substitute "Amateur Radio" with "CB Radio" and you are still good to go.
Ignore the terms VHF and UHF, the frequencies are higher than what CB is. When you come across something in that article regarding HF, thats where CB is. Pay attention there.

Good luck, its not that hard once you get it all done, and your head wrapped around it.

[Waytec]

What I plan on doing now is I am going to take the suggestion and run power into the cab and put a power bar inside.

Can you suggest what size of wire pos and neg I should have to the power bar. I will be adding lights all the way around the roof. ( driving spot and flood on the front and then gust flood / work lights on the side and rear) I will be using relays to power them instead of going through the switch, as well as the plans for the fucher includes a winch so the relay control switch will come from the power bar. Should the ground go back to the battery or gust a good ground point?

Is their anything I should be looking for when I'm getting a power bar. I will be going to the parts places on 16th looking for the Bar.

Elsifer said about putting filters on the pos and neg weirs. what are thes and where do I get them?

Thanks for the help

[Waytec]

oh ya the fuses on the wires coming into the cab should be what Amprage.
Way

[FiEND]

2 amp for a cb

[Elsifer]

What I plan on doing now is I am going to take the suggestion and run power into the cab and put a power bar inside.

Can you suggest what size of wire pos and neg I should have to the power bar. I will be adding lights all the way around the roof. ( driving spot and flood on the front and then gust flood / work lights on the side and rear) I will be using relays to power them instead of going through the switch, as well as the plans for the fucher includes a winch so the relay control switch will come from the power bar. Should the ground go back to the battery or gust a good ground point?

Is their anything I should be looking for when I'm getting a power bar. I will be going to the parts places on 16th looking for the Bar.

Elsifer said about putting filters on the pos and neg weirs. what are thes and where do I get them?

Thanks for the help

Well, the filters you can get at Princess Auto, or any decent electric supply shop.
Don't run your lights from inside, pull those from the battery direct, the relay should be out in the engine bay, and your coil voltage would be 5 to 12v. Winch remote does't need power either, it gets it's juice from the winch.

The fuses on the runs to the battery should be the same size as your expected load inside. I would put 10amp ones to start. Change em out as your electrical needs in the cab change/grow.

Always ground back to the battery, especially on radio equipment. And any other high current device, big bad lights, winch, etc.