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Mid week electrical project http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=33469	Page 1 of 1

Author:	05infernoCRDL [ Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:48 am ]
Post subject:	Mid week electrical project
Tuesday I decided, eventhough I have not had to do it for a few months, that I no longer wanted to open and close my hood to plug in my block heater. As I thought more, I didn't want to open my hood to jump start anyone either. My solution... A 7 prong trailer plug. 3 prongs for the block heater, 3 prongs for power and the center pole for the ground. Located on the drivers side in the grille next to my fog lamp. For the block heater, I cut an extention cord so if I for some reason am not at home I can still plug it in normally. The power and ground are 4 AWG going to the battery. The nice thing about this mod is if I added a winch all I have to do is convert the ends to the power outlet that I already have there. I posted this here cause the original intent was only for the block heater(CRD specific), but I had 4 extra spots so I used them.

Author:	Goglio704 [ Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:54 am ]
Post subject:
7 way trailer plug won't handle the amperage for a winch. They are also not rated for the 120 volts that the block heater needs, but that part should be OK. I like the idea, but the hardware just isn't up to the job.

Author:	05infernoCRDL [ Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:22 am ]
Post subject:
Matt, Thanks for the heads up on the amperage. I plan on testing to see what the plug will handle... I have no doubt the block heater will work, the jump starting I dunno about, I have to find a test subject.

Author:	UFO [ Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:57 am ]
Post subject:
My heater cord is in the grille. Easy to route, and supported with a tie-wrap. If you want to route jumper cable connections, I've seen some pretty trick setups on patrol cars.

Author:	rpapkey [ Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:36 pm ]
Post subject:
Kindof a neat idea. I think you have the right idea about using more than one of the contacts for your high load stuff, but i still don't think it'll be enough. And i really don't reccomend wiring your block heater through it. I'm not sure if i read your post right but thats the way it sounded. While theoretically it should hold up i really don't think it's worth the risk of fire. I do agree with above though about the winch drawing too much. I mean if you used all the contacts as direct from teh pos of the battery but at that point why not actually buy one of these. http://www.jeepdoc.com/catalog/partframe.asp?id=6785 I've seen them ALOT cheaper than this but for some reason it's the only one thats popping up for me right now. Good luck and keep us posted.

Author:	05infernoCRDL [ Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:20 pm ]
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so today i tested out the jump starting capabilities.... completely dead battery on our full sized van... connected the cables... of course the lights and buzzers cam on immediately, about 3 min of having them hooked up and it fired off... nothing melted so far... next i have to find time to plug the block heater in and keep an eye for melting there... however i don't think the block heater will be a problem at all. i have a pic of the outlet in the front of the truck but i seem to have forgotten my password to image shack.

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