Hello!
I'm (finally) preparing to re-do my glow plug wiring harness, and wanted to run what I've got planned by you all to see if everything sounds good or not.
Going by another thread, each plug draws 12 amps...meaning that one bank draws 48 amps, and both banks together draw 96 amps. I haven't quite decided yet if I want to run one wire from the glow plug controller and split it somewhere in the line to two wires (one to each bank), or if I just want to start with two wires from the controller. On the banks themselves, I figure I'll run one wire along each bank, with a 3 inch or so pigtail going from the bank wire to each plug (solder the wire end of the pigtail to the middle of the main wire, so it looks like the drawing below).
Going by a chart in a West Marine catalog, if I run a single wire off the controller, it needs to be 4 gauge to handle the current safely. The two bank wires need to be 8 gauge, and the pigtails are supposed to be 12 gauge, although they'll be so short that I think I can get away with 14 gauge (this will depend on how well the 12 gauge wire can be shoved into the connector that's meant for 14 gauge wire).
The big question that comes to mind is protecting the circuit. I know that the stock 6.9l glow plug harness uses fusible links to protect this circuit. Was this for cost-cutting, or is a fusible link better than a fuse for this sort of application? Could I have problems with either setup with the 7.3l solid-state controller that I'm installing? I assume that a 100 amp fuse (or two 50 amp fuses if I run two wires all the way from the controller) will do the job.
Thanks in advance It'll be nice to stop needing drugs to start the truck...
I'm (finally) preparing to re-do my glow plug wiring harness, and wanted to run what I've got planned by you all to see if everything sounds good or not.
Going by another thread, each plug draws 12 amps...meaning that one bank draws 48 amps, and both banks together draw 96 amps. I haven't quite decided yet if I want to run one wire from the glow plug controller and split it somewhere in the line to two wires (one to each bank), or if I just want to start with two wires from the controller. On the banks themselves, I figure I'll run one wire along each bank, with a 3 inch or so pigtail going from the bank wire to each plug (solder the wire end of the pigtail to the middle of the main wire, so it looks like the drawing below).
Going by a chart in a West Marine catalog, if I run a single wire off the controller, it needs to be 4 gauge to handle the current safely. The two bank wires need to be 8 gauge, and the pigtails are supposed to be 12 gauge, although they'll be so short that I think I can get away with 14 gauge (this will depend on how well the 12 gauge wire can be shoved into the connector that's meant for 14 gauge wire).
The big question that comes to mind is protecting the circuit. I know that the stock 6.9l glow plug harness uses fusible links to protect this circuit. Was this for cost-cutting, or is a fusible link better than a fuse for this sort of application? Could I have problems with either setup with the 7.3l solid-state controller that I'm installing? I assume that a 100 amp fuse (or two 50 amp fuses if I run two wires all the way from the controller) will do the job.
Thanks in advance It'll be nice to stop needing drugs to start the truck...