I bought some little battery alarm devices (Battery Marvel) for my vehicles from Nuts & Volts magazine and have successfully installed one in the Volvo.
But my 2000 GMC Sierra is a bit of a challenge. The alarm simply attaches to the battery terminals and constantly monitors it. The wires are short because they want it to monitor the battery and not be effected by any wiring between it and the monitor. They are about 12 to 18 inches long and have somewhat large spade lugs on the ends.
It was easy to use these lugs on the Volvo battery with the more traditional, clamp style battery connections. Just loosen the clamp screw, insert the spade lug, and tighten the screw. Done. But the GMC has side terminals on the battery and the screws are recessed in a heavily insulated terminal. So I can not simply insert the spade lugs.
Next to the battery is a black box, about 1 cubic foot in size, labeled "Electrical Center". I don't know what is in the bottom, but when I pop the top I found about two dozen fuses. This seems to be the main electrical distribution center for the truck. So I am wondering if this would be a good place to connect my alarm. I can see a rather large conductor going from the battery to the bottom of this black box so I am not worried about any Voltage drops. The alarm should be connected to the battery at all times so my main concern is if these fuses and the busses they are connected to are always connected.
Any thoughts?
And if this is a good place to connect, anybody have any references to the inner workings of this box or fuse panel? Exactly where would I connect the + and - leads to? The + could probably be connected to an unused fuse position. Perhaps I could modify a blown fuse for this? But is there a good ground in there?
But my 2000 GMC Sierra is a bit of a challenge. The alarm simply attaches to the battery terminals and constantly monitors it. The wires are short because they want it to monitor the battery and not be effected by any wiring between it and the monitor. They are about 12 to 18 inches long and have somewhat large spade lugs on the ends.
It was easy to use these lugs on the Volvo battery with the more traditional, clamp style battery connections. Just loosen the clamp screw, insert the spade lug, and tighten the screw. Done. But the GMC has side terminals on the battery and the screws are recessed in a heavily insulated terminal. So I can not simply insert the spade lugs.
Next to the battery is a black box, about 1 cubic foot in size, labeled "Electrical Center". I don't know what is in the bottom, but when I pop the top I found about two dozen fuses. This seems to be the main electrical distribution center for the truck. So I am wondering if this would be a good place to connect my alarm. I can see a rather large conductor going from the battery to the bottom of this black box so I am not worried about any Voltage drops. The alarm should be connected to the battery at all times so my main concern is if these fuses and the busses they are connected to are always connected.
Any thoughts?
And if this is a good place to connect, anybody have any references to the inner workings of this box or fuse panel? Exactly where would I connect the + and - leads to? The + could probably be connected to an unused fuse position. Perhaps I could modify a blown fuse for this? But is there a good ground in there?
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