Anyone wired up a battery charge point to their fuse box cover ?

[Ainsley]

I'm fitting a Ctek charger point / battery monitor to my fuse box cover, so I can just plug in the Ctek without having to take the bonnet off and connect it to the battery.

It will all be hard wired in and I can glance at the red/orang/green indicator lights to see if it needs a charge.

But now I need to connect the charger point from the fuse box cover to the battery and wondered if anyone has any suggestions as to where to drill through the bulkhead.

I don't think its worth trying to feed the wires along the loom which goes in the tunnel, it seems easier to go through the bulk head.

Anyone done something similar ?

[ScottR400D]

I did it years ago but I did feed the cable through the tunnel. 

[John Vine]

I did the same as ScottR400D.  If you have an FIA switch, the hole in the tunnel will be well filled with thick cables, but there's room for a single cable. 

The important thing is to ensure you have an inline fuse (say 10A) in the power supply line, close to the battery +ve terminal:

 

JV

[Dom Williams]

Why not hook it up to a ground and +12V under the scuttle? No need to go directly to the battery! Easier, neater…and lighter!!

[PlastererPete]

I just use the 12v cigarette lighter socket on the bulkhead. 

[Dom Williams]

5 minutes ago, PlastererPete said:

I just use the 12v cigarette lighter socket on the bulkhead. 

Not everyone has one of those - but it reinforces my suggestion 😜

[BigCol]

39 minutes ago, ScottR400D said:

I did it years ago but I did feed the cable through the tunnel. 

Me too.  C-TEK socket in the cockpit so can connect without the need to remove the bonnet.

[Jonathan Kay]

Usual advice: consider including a couple of USB charging sockets. 

Jonathan

[Ainsley]

BigCol, so how did you connect the wires to the battery then ?  Did you drill a hole in the bulkhead, or route them through the tunnel where the rest of the wires go ?

I looked at the tunnel wires and the seems to be loads of them and not much space.

Johnathan, as for USB sockets, I dont own anything that needs one.  If my passenger needs a recharge they can use a USB adapter in the existing socket.

The C-Tek wiring comes with an inline fuse, so its all sorted.  

[PhilT]

I fitted mine in the front face of the fuse box cover, the c-tek connector came with a template to cut the hole. I then ran the cables from the battery under the gearbox tunnel and through in to the cockpit with the main loom across to the fuse box cover. 

[Paul N]

Did same as PhilT above with ours, works a treat, did add USB sockets as well, useful if using phone for satnav 

[K7 VCT]

I fitted a 12volt  power outlet that's fused directly to the battery.

I than can charge the battery without bonnet removal.

Makes life very easy. 

Ctek supplied a 12volt power plug with my charger. 

[Ainsley]

Phil T, that's as far as I've got.  I just need to run the cables to the battery.  But now the car is all built up its a pain to route them the same way.  

I might have another go later.

[PhilT]

I used a piece of thick strimmer cord as a pull through, I slide it from the inside to the outside taped the C-Tek cable to it, and pulled it through.  It wasn't too much of a challenge.  

[Ainsley]

Ah, good idea.

*heads back to the man cave in search of strimmer cord*

[PlastererPete]

2 hours ago, Dom Williams said:

Not everyone has one of those - but it reinforces my suggestion 😜

Aaah yes I suppose they don’t 😁

Reading further down the thread I see the battery monitor doohicky aswell. Certainly makes more sense to have it more accessible and near the electrical hub.