I have plenty of 2 gauge power wire left over from my car audio days (roughly 20'). It's coated red, but wire's wire, so I imagine I could use it for both power and ground. My question is, would it be necessary to maintain the under-hood ground point, or could I just ground the battery anywhere to the chassis (thereby avoiding the need to run two large gauge wires through the car)? I was hoping to relocate the battery to the trunk, and find a ground near the battery.

Also, it was the standard in car audio to fuse all large power wires within 18" of the battery for safety. Am I to assume that I should do the same for the main power cable, or no? A blown fuse kills power to the entire car. Are there SCCA/NASA etc. rules I should be looking at for this? Thanks for any info.

 

yes, you can ground the battery in the trunk,

 

I'm not sure about this but i think you still have to fuse the power close to the battery in a trunk installation for the same reason you'd do it in an audio installation: in case the main power wire gets pinched/shorted against the chassis/body (like in a bad accident) there's a serious risk of fire. I would do it regardless of whether the rules require it or not. Just use a breaker-switch instead of a fuse.

 

Before going to the trouble, check to see that any rules applying to your racing actually allow moving the battery in the first place...

K

 

Not true. The engine will continue to run off the alternator even if the battery is disconnected. The only way to totally kill all electrical circuits is to break the alternator circuit as well. Be careful how you wire it, these newfangled ECU cars are pretty prickly about power.

 

Most organizations will require an external cut off switch for relocated batteries as well. Just something to keep in mind.

 

when i moved mine i put a fuse in the back with the battery. also i put a circut breaker up front for the alternator protection. also make sure you use a closed cell battery soyou dont haft to vent the battery box out side the car(less holes in your car the better)2 guage i great. i used 4 and it works perfect.

 

First, to the monkey,

You're right, I should have worded that better. I was simply trying to make a distinction between having an aux. fuse blow vs. the main power fuse.

Okay, so the basic setup should be...

battery->big *** fuse->kill switch->(through to the front of car)->power where battery used to be.

Can a closed cell battery just sit by itself in the trunk, or does it have to be enclosed and just not vented? Battery boxes seem cheaper than batteries, and there are plenty of holes in the trunk/hatch area already for vent. hoses.

As for the ECU vs. power issue, I know nothing about that. Does everyone think 2 gauge is fine?

 

The setup looks good. I'd go with a dry cell, it can be placed in the car without a box, only has to be tied down securely. 2 gauge should be fine. 4 gauge is pushing it, though it should be fine if your charging system is up to par. 0 gauge is always the safest, but is really only needed if you're planning on running a decent stereo (with an amp). BTW, 0 gauge will be heavier (noticeably), especially 20 feet worth . That's why I'd go with 2 gauge, if possible. HTH Kerry


[Modified by Overkll, 1:34 AM 1/22/2002]