Voodoo Blue 82 Complete Refresh

[gpassida]

Been busy with work but worked in some Scrambler time in-between. This will be an electrical accessory update.

Here is a current picture of the under hood shelf I made and the fuse block, controller and shutoff breaker:



I made the shelf out of 1/2" thick commercial cutting board. Mounted it all on the passenger fender. There is a lot going on here but here is some of the breakdown.

The Redarc BCDC1225D dual battery charge controller is mounted below the dual batteries. It's job is to monitor the second (Aux) battery and keep it charged. Either by the engine or the solar panels. Some pics of those will follow below.

And in order from the battery side to the front end:
- Ground block for the large negative cables. Nearly everything in the Scrambler has a dedicated ground wire.
- Blue Sea Safety Hub 150 - https://www.bluesea.com/products/7748/SafetyHub_150_Fuse_Block
- sPOD Source LT six circuit switch system - https://www.4x4spod.com/sourcelt_modular_w_led_switch_panel_36_battery_cables
- Blue Sea 187 series circuit breaker/cutoff switch: https://www.bluesea.com/products/7148/187-Series_Circuit_Breaker_-_Surface_Mount_150A



The Safety Hub 150 can handle 10 circuits with 280A total. Four of the circuits use MIDI fuses and can be up to 200A each. Then there are six ATC fuses that can handle up to 30A each. All of my planned loads if on at the same time, would draw 147 Amps.

In my use ALL accessory circuits are wired through this and are powered by the Aux battery. This includes the stereo/amp, all auxiliary lights, all nine USB outlets, Dometic refrigerator, Viair Compressor and the GMRS radio. Only the starter, Painless harness and the winch will use the Starter battery.

The sPOD can control six loads up to 30A each from the dash switches. It can also be controlled by a Bluetooth app. One of those is the "Dual Battery" switch that will activate the Solenoid you see on top of the batteries. It will link the two batteries together if I need to do a hard winch pull or jump start myself.


These switches are wired into the headlight switch like the other dash gauge backlights:



And the final device on the shelf is the 150A Blue Sea circuit breaker/cutoff switch. I can throw the yellow lever and disconnect all of the loads on the Safety Hub and sPOD.

Here is a closer up shot of the batteries:

Below the fuse blocks is another mount I made from the cutting board material. It has three MIDI fuses that protect the Redarc charge controller, including the inputs from the solar panels.


Once I add the remaining devices (mostly the lighting) I will clean up and secure the many cables better.

More about the rear outlets in my next post...

 

[gpassida]

One of the circuits from the Safety Hub is in the back corner of the Scrambler. I added a Blue Sea 6 circuit fuse block:
https://www.bluesea.com/products/5025/ST_Blade_Fuse_Block_-_6_Circuits_with_Negative_Bus_and_Cover

I was able to mount it on the driver side body protected by the roll bar. I used....gues what...my last scrap of that cutting board to mount it to the already existing body armor bolts. Did not need to drill any holes in the body. And I fed it with an 8AWG wire. (that will be protected in the convoluted tubing and mounted shortly.



For now, I am only using three circuits that are located in my outlet box: Twist lock Dometic refrigerator outlet, 12V ciggarete lighter socket and a dual USB outlet.





I found the three-outlet box on EBAY. It's hard to see in the pics but I also made a thin rubber gasket to mount it down with.



Here it is with the Dometic twist lock connector. The refrigerator can be used on the 12V ciggarete lighter socket but that leaves the possibility of it popping out on a bumpy trail.



Once I got all this wired up, I wanted to test it. I put the Dometic CFX3-45 refrigerator in the back and took it down to 0 degrees Fahrenheit. I will normally run it at 34 degrees and pre-cool it in the house. But it was a torture test. It ran continuously for about 30 minutes to get down to 0 degrees. Then I let it run overnight. It completely froze a water bottle. The Redarc controller did the job and kept the starter battery totally isolated. The Aux battery started out the test at 12.89V at 5pm and got down to 11.98V by the morning. At 8:30am I set the temp to 34 degrees and then connected two 100 Watt foldable RockPals solar panels. The Redarc's MPPT solar regulator proceeded to charge up the Aux battery. By 12:20pm the solar panels fully charged the battery (while the fridge was maintaining 34 degrees. IT was about 85 degrees in the garage. Then the Redarc went into "Float" mode to essentially trickle charge the Aux battery.

I was very impressed. As I said, I wont normally use the battery to do the initial cool down cycle and then I will only run to 34 degrees, not zero like in the test. If I am just setting up camp and staying one night, I won't need the solar. But if we're camping multiple nights, I will put out a panel or two and not worry about having to start the engine to charge the battery.



I used "Anderson Plugs" for the solar connection as that is what is on the panels. I wired a pigtail off the Redarc down to the bottom of the passenger front fender. I can reach up and plug in the solar panel connector without having to open my hood. To protect the connector, I made a "plug" from another Anderson connector. When traveling, they will be plugged together to keep the contacts from being exposed to the elements.

Here you can see the Redarc plugged into the panels. The storage plug is to the right. (yes, I will be replacing the rusted nut with a new one...)



Here are the Rockpals 100 watt panels. They fold up pretty compact and fit perfectly in a Rubbermaid Action Packer that I use:



I will be hitting a trail very soon....

 

[designerRob]

What an amazing electrical setup, and so clean! I'm sure many of us here will take information from this post alone for our Jeeps. 🍻

 

[TimmyTooTall]

I envy your electrical knowledge and capabilities. Outstanding!

 

[Chamba]

Here you can see the Redarc plugged into the panels. The storage plug is to the right. (yes, I will be replacing the rusted nut with a new one...)

Don't ever take this stunning machine to the Southeastern Sauna. One year in Florida and every bolt you have on that rig will look like that.

 

[gpassida]

I envy your electrical knowledge and capabilities. Outstanding!

@TimmyTooTall I learned a lot doing this project for sure. Had to draw it all out on paper a few times to get to where I liked it.

 

[bigwalton]

@TimmyTooTall I learned a lot doing this project for sure. Had to draw it all out on paper a few times to get to where I liked it.

Drawing out electrical is SO much smarter than just trying to run it in the vehicle as you go. Especially anything with relays and distribution blocks. I once forgot to add a fuse to a new circuit I added without thinking and going too quickly and had a wire catch fire when something shorted. That was a hard lesson learned.

When I did the 4.0 swap, I printed out all the ECU/engine harness connector pinout pages from the XJ FSM and literally marked them up with a pencil and highlighter as to the circuits I was keeping/deleting and I still refer back to those in my binder to this day.

All of this is just spectacular work.

 

[Chamba]

When I did my first engine swap (2000 Vortec 5.7 from a Tahoe into a 1984 HJ47/H55F 5 speed in 2001), I printed out the diagrams for both cars, then laid out the harnesses for both on the floor of my basement. I then spliced them together on the floor, testing as I went.

Once I was happy with the result I drew out the entire diagram and laminated it. When I sold the HJ47 in 2014, I gave that diagram to the new owner. He was thrilled. I got an email from him a few years ago saying he put cruise control into the HJ47 and that he couldn't have done it without my diagrams. Very satisfying.

I thought I was pretty good at it. Then I saw how George does things and realised I'm a rank amateur.

 

[gpassida]

Time for another update. I am needing to get out on the trail badly. But a few things came up that temporarily delayed me. I got real busy at work and then I had two relatives on my mothers side pass away. One was my eldest Aunt at 92 years old. She had a great life and there were lots of my cousins at the funeral. Found out one has a Toyota FJ. We will do some So. Cal trips together. I was pretty close with my aunt and I spent a lot of my youth with her two sons. We did a lot of camping, fishing, backpacking and somehow crammed all three of us and minimal gear in my 78 CJ-5 Levi's edition. 304 V8 with a three-speed manual transmission.

Then did a couple of great family trips with my wife and all three of our kids. My son just got out the Marine Corps and is back with us for a couple of months. Then he heads to Ashland, OR to attend Southern Oregon University for Business Marketing. Best part is it will all be covered under the GI Bill! And my youngest daughter is home for the summer between her Sophomore and Junior college years. My oldest daughter graduated last year and lives in nearby Chico. We were all able to escape to Monterey for 3 days and then Sisters, Oregon. Both were fantastic trips. Here is a shot from the Oregon trip.



Then, I developed a damn Inguinal Hernia on my left side. Took a few weeks to get all the Dr's appointments and Ultrasound done. Just had the surgery last Monday. That was definitely painful and I am just now getting back to where I can go to work tomorrow. On light lifting duty for another 30 days. After that, I have trail time planned!

Maybe this is the cause of the hernia: I did get the 24 year old Warn XD-9000i winch all updated and cleaned up. It was working great but needed a little TLC. Here are some shots:

Before I started the tear down:



And after:



Yes, I stayed with steel cable. It was a close call but I can get 125' of it on there vs the 85' of synthetic. I've always used steel and never had any issues.

I did upgrade to a Factor 55 Flatlink-E instead of the standard hook. This thing is beefy. You can actually pass the eye of a steel shackle through it with the elongated hole. For example, use my front "Crosby Shackles" as a typical attachment point. You can take the screw pin out of the shackle and pass the eye through the Flatlink-E and then put the shackle pin back in and go. Reduces the attachment pieces by one.

Like this - (the standard "thimble" in the background can't do that with just the round hole):



Hook vs Flatlink-E:



I also got some things done for my cargo area. I have always used multiple big Rubbermaid totes to organize my gear. I drew out the plan to work from below. I am able to fit three of the large totes and the new Dometic CFX3-45 12V refrigerator. (remember I added the outlet for it on that side already)



I sourced some "L-Track" - similar to the stuff that holds your seat down on an airliner from: https://www.uscargocontrol.com/ I cut the slots in my bed mat and bolted them down through the bed with 10 Stainless Steel bolts on each side. The 4' tracks come with holes every 5 inches. I have large fender washers on the bottom side. Three of the bolts on each side go through a side-to-side body cross member too.

You can get many types of attachment points and place them anywhere on the tracks. I got round and squared points for 1" webbing type straps. Each attachment point has a working load limit of 1,300 lbs. Far more than I will ever need.



Here is a shot of the tracks installed with one attachment point on each side at the back:



I'm also going to put a strong tab under one roll cage bolt on each side and be able to thread a strap through. I am able to fit one 3-gallon Dometic water jug on each side over the small pieces of the bed mat you can see. It's also here on the drawing:



They will give me 6 gallons of water and won't have to be removed to be used. I purchased the USB rechargeable Dometic GO faucet too. You just plug the hose from the faucet in the quick connect at the top of each tank. Then put the magnetic faucet base on the tailgate or steel bumper and you have running water! The jugs also have slots for the 1" webbing tie downs to lock in. Each jug will be strapped down with the roll cage tab and L-Track on the other side.



There is a good sized space behind the seats and in front of the Rubbermaid Totes. I will build a strong and lockable custom box with a hinged lid and bolt it down there. That will hold my tool rolls and recovery gear and be easy to get to. You can see the space for it in the full drawing above.

That's it for now. I will detail my gear loadout at some point too. Let's go!

 

[Belizeit]

Nice setup. My sister and BIL are in Ashland. I think my BIL is still on the board at SOU. Pretty area.

 

[gpassida]

Nice setup. My sister and BIL are in Ashland. I think my BIL is still on the board at SOU. Pretty area.

Yes, very pretty area. We will be doing a lot of trails in Oregon for sure.

 

[gpassida]

If you recall, I added the stereo amp to the bottom of the Tuffy locking console. I finally made the "false bottom" to protect the wiring.

I used some left over 1/2" thick commercial cutting board and 1x1 wood blocks to elevate it. I needed 1.5" to clear the wiring but gave it 3" to allow for more air as the relay does get hot when running the stereo hard.

Here it was before:

And here are some pics of it:






I definitely lost a decent amount of capacity but it still has a good amount of room. I have a storage area with 8" of height, 15" of Length and 7 3/4 of width.

 

[gpassida]

I also installed a Tuffy locking storage box just behind the front seats. This is keyed the same as my glove box and center console.

This will keep my tools and recovery gear locked up at all times. Then I can still fit my Dometic CFX3-45 refrigerator and three of the Rubbermaid 24 Gallon Action Packer boxes for my gear.

The Tuffy box is bolted down and the Dometic and storage boxes will be held down using the L-Track system.

This was the rough plan. It also shows the Dometic 3-gallon water tanks.





I may end up making a boxed in/slide in housing with a pull off lid for this tool. It would hold it in this vertical position all the way to one side. I doubt I will use the small storage box on the left. It is removable.









Here is the general cargo plan. I want everything neatly stored, secure, strapped down but easily accessible.