Fuse Block Or Bus Bar/Terminal Block

[Sunny]

I am planning to cleanup my bikes electricals (GS and NT) and am in a quandary: Fuse Block Or Bus Bar/terminal blocks.

Most electrical farkles harness come with their own fuses and/or relays ... and most fuse boxes (FZ-1, PC-8 etc) are limited to 30ish amp total draw.

So why are fuse boxes (more $$$) more popular instead of bus bars (Which I may say are cheaper and are rated till 100A or higher).

Looking for pros and cons ... guidance... wisdom ..

 

[DirtFlier]

Two completely different animals here.

Usually bus bars lack a fuse for each connection but perhaps there are some with fuses? Bus bars have way too many connector points to be practical - do you really need to connect a dozen accessories? And they are hot all the time which means power will go to your accessories even with the key OFF. Don't rely on the accessories ON/OFF switch because you might forget and come back to find your bike has a dead battery!

Fuse Boxes have individual fuses for each accessory and many of them have an integral relay which turns ON power when the key is ON and turns it off when the key is OFF. I've wired up 3 or 4 bikes with the most typical of accessories and I've never needed more than 3 outlets of additional power.

 

[seagrass]

Most motorcycles would not have more than 30amps (360 Watts) extra capacity in the stator to run electrical farkles so the fuse block is a good option.

I actually doubt that many motorcycles would have anywhere near 380 watts excess available, probably more like 300 watts maximum.

Seagrass

 

[DirtFlier]

You mentioned 30 amps as if it was inadequate and as seagrass mentioned, 30 amps is a might pull for any bike. Are you planning to offer a 2-wheeled, mobile MIG service using your NT's charging system as the power source?

All kidding aside, I have an electric vest that I use occassionally and it has a max draw of around 6 amps. My mighty Stebel horn takes around 12-15 amps but is only used on rare occasions and for a second or two. My GPS has nil draw and I don't have any additional driving lights.

 

[Sunny]

Thanks Guys

My Q was more from the perspective of price performance ...

I have the following on my 2 bikes, so 30 A is enough:
1) Heated Grips
2) Screaming Banshee Horn
3) ~50W of Fog / driving Lights (just replaced the 120W PIAA halogens with 25W LEDs on the GS)
4) USB Charger (max 15w) for Phone and GPS
5) Jump starting leads to battery

Let me take the example of these 2 popular fuse boxes and a simple 7 point bus bar.

FZ-1: Built in relay, 6 fused circuits that can be switched or always on, small, convenient, 30 A max / 10A per circuit, so recommendation is to have horn direct connect to battery, and also the jump starter leads directly to battery , battery tenderer can work via fz-1 . With Harness: $134, without $90

PC-8: No built in relay (needs dual circuit harness), 6 switched, 2 always on fused circuits, small, convenient, 50A max / 20A per circuit, so recommendation is to have horn direct connect to battery but horn may work (banshee has 25A draw) , and also the jump starter leads direct to battery , battery tenderer can work via un-swtiched circuit .With Harness: $107, without $65

7 Point Bus Bar: No relay, No fuses, 7 points of connection, $25 for 10, 150A rating. Relies on farkle harness fuses, will need DIY connections, installation and insulation, fuse, relay to battery (actually can use $42 PC-8 ). harness), very small, is do it once and forget it (not for daily/weekly tinkering). Horn, Jum starter lead, battery tenderer lead etc all can be conencted to it.

With 2 bikes my cost are hitting ~$250+, so was looking / thinking for options ...

Thoughts?

10Pcs Grounding Bars 7-Hole Electrical Distribution Cabinet Wire Screw Termin... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BYTMVQJ/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_147R6C3B2KNPR0F3Y80Y?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[DirtFlier]

How much will it cost to repair your bikes if an electrical fire should occur?

 

[mikesim]

For my money, the FZ1 is the safest, most elegant choice of the three. The option to make the circuit switched or unswitched offers the maximum flexibility. That's what I installed in Traveller and haven't looked back. I did replace the Phillips head screws that hold the cover on with thumb screws so I have tool free access. I also used fuses with LED illumination when opened which makes diagnosing a cleared circuit easy along a dark roadside.

Mike

 

[Sunny]

Anytime we modify bike, there is risk We minimize it by doing a good job of the modification.

Found another fuse block. This one looks more promising to me as it has 3 switched, 2 un-switched and 4 other relays on the board... and is cheaper wrt to the other 2.
Current rating for 3 + 2 outputs on main relay is limited to total 20A. the other 4 relays are rated at 8 A each.

Show Chrome Accessories 13-311 Electronic Fuse Block Accessory Lighting Show ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M4K65UO/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_S516715QE44HM8WQ384S via @amazon

 

[mikesim]

The price is attractive but it looks awfully "busy" compared to the Fuzeblock.

Mike

 

[Phil Tarman]

Whachoo mean by "busy", Mike? I thought it looked pretty good. Not that I'm gonna' swap out my Fuzeblock for one.

 

[mikesim]

Whachoo mean by "busy", Mike? I thought it looked pretty good. Not that I'm gonna' swap out my Fuzeblock for one.

Well, the yellow green and red leads make sense (+, -, and trigger), but what are all the other leads for?

Mike

 

[Sunny]

Well, the yellow green and red leads make sense (+, -, and trigger), but what are all the other leads for?

Mike

The 4 leads on the right are the trigger leads for the 4 NO Relays (8A). So in effect you have 4 additional triggered relays / outputs.

Manual:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjIlY7O9_LyAhUrGFkFHXDvDv8QFnoECAQQAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bigbikeparts.com%2Fcatalog%2Fdocuments%2F13-%2F13-311.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3X3ZPpqFH1CI57voUqvv1D