so i think my biggest problem is i know just enough about wiring to get myself in trouble but not enough to do it right.

i'd take a pic of the area in question, but i think that'll just make things worse so i'll make a quick explanation and see if that does the trick. i have a lot of extra gear plugged into my 3 extra power slots, but i'm not confident in the job done that i won't have anything crazy happen down the road if i don't redo some of it. here's a list of stuff:

power with lights on slot:
defi BF gauges light sensor to dim gauge lights when on
mac's windscreen
(both wires fed into one spade and plugged into slot)

power with ignition on:
defi gauges power wire
comptech aftercooler's pump
V1 hard wired [not yet done but will be soon]
(again both wires fed into one spade and plugged into slot)



power always:
defi gauges (guessing it's the power down sequence power)

questions
fuses ... i have none on any of the wires other than mac's windscreen. will this lead me into trouble? if i should put fuses on them, what kind (umm ... aren't they rated in amps -- god! i feel like an idiot for asking)?

with the ignition on stuff ... shoudl i be concerned that those slots wouldn't have enough power for all the devices?

what's the best way to wire so many things into one slot like my ignition on?

all suggestions welcome.

 

sounds liek you have a crap load of stuff you want power going to.. if it were my car.. I would see if I could find a distribution block.. and start my own power wire coming directly from the battery.. to the distrib block... from there to each thing you want powered.. then you could use relays to control when you want them on..

and yes.. USE FUSES... if you ground something out that isnt fused.. well I hope you have a fire extinguisher near by....

that would be the BEST way to do it.. and the neatest looking.. but it would be a little bit of work..

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Now the other way.. the easiest way..

Everything you want on all the time.. you can tie into the thick white wire that goes to the key cylinder..

Everything you want on when your ignition is on.. tie into the black/yellow wire that goes to the key cylinder..

Everything you want to turn on with your parking lights.. tie into the red/black wire in the drivers side kick panel..
---OR--- (better yet)
Use a relay to supply power to anything you want on with your parking lights.. that way you wont draw too much from this wire, as you will see its of rather small guage..

sorry for my pathetic paint work..


but still with this way.. USE FUSES ON EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO POWER!!! if the wire is grounded out.. or the unit fails itself somehow and grounds the power wire.. that wire will become so hot it will melt straight through anything it touches.. and if it doesnt melt it will catch on fire.. so be careful..


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ok saw the fuse question.. for most of the stuff you listed I'd say a 5 amp fuse should do fine.. but it all depends on how much power it needs to draw.. if it draws more than 5 amps it will pop the fuse.. if that happens try a 7.5 or 10.. if it keeps poping fuses all the way up chances are you have a short somewhere ..

 

You really should have each one of those fused. I would put the windscreen and the V1 on one circuit and the gauges on another and the aftercooler on a 3rd. Each of those circuits should come off the main distrubtion block. Its fairly easy really. Once you pull the block down you will see how to attach it and then just pop fuses into those locations.
For the V1 and windscreen circuit I would use a 5 or 7.5 amp fuse. For the gauges a 7.5 or 10 amp will do fine and the aftercooler will/should need a 10 amp I would think.

 

If you have more than one item in a single fuse slot, you should individually fuse each item in an ideal world. However, you could get away with fusing the guages, V1, and my windscreen on one circuit (5A max).

Always put high start-up current load devices like pumps on a separate ciruit.

I also think you're getting to the point where it's wise to make a separate power run for the devices and use a relay to turn them on (if swithced).