Main Menu Vehicle Trails Mechanicals TJ/LJ Mods JK Mods Gallery
Painless Wiring 7 circuit wire boss

Painless Wiring 7 Circuit Wire Boss

Part # 70217

I never liked putting wire taps on wire, tapping into a fuse, or even cutting wires to install accessories.  I also hate things that look like they were just thrown together.  Now I knew that I was putting in accessories like a CB, rock lights, and who knows what else.  I remembered that Jeep used to have a unswitched and a switched wire located by the fuse box so that you could tap into the electrical system nice and easy.  Well I couldn't find them, so I looked in the FSM and it appears that Jeep decided to remove them.  I did hear all sorts of stories about why, but they just aren't there.  So I needed to come up with another way to provide power.  I looked to painless wiring to supply me with a waterproof 7 circuit wiring boss.  I decided on going with 7 ignition hot circuits for the simple fact of hating dead batteries.   Now all I needed to do is find me a switched circuit to power power the relays on this boss.

Additional Parts:
Wire Ties
End Connectors
Electrical tape or the Liquid
Auto Computer Bracket - 56041929AB
(3) M6 -1.0x25mm Body Bolts
Radio Shack Interlocking Connectors - 9 position 274-229 & 274-239
Littelfuse mini add -a-circuit - 0FHM0200ZP
Buss Fuses Heavy Duty Fuse Holder (Mini-fuse) BP/HHM
Tools Needed:
Drill
3/64" drill bit
Dremel
10mm Socket
Long Extension
Wire Strippers
Wire crimper

 

Installation:
1. I took the circuit boss out of the package and spent the next few minutes untangling all the wires.  I am always amazed at no matter how careful you package something it always seems to get tangled up. Wiring harness
2. One of the hard parts of this installation is finding a location to put it.  Since I have a manual, I have an open area right behind the Washer fluid bottle.  For those of you with Auto's, this is taken up by a controller.  The bracket for the computer looked just perfect for the job and it was cheap, less than $14. auto computer bracket
3. I located the circuit boss in the large oval opening and drilled (4) 3/64" holes in the bracket and then mounted the circuit boss with the supplied self taping screws.  I used a Dremel to cut the ends of these off after they were tight.
mounting the harness to the bracket feeding wires through wire loom on the wires.
4. Now I had to remove the washer fluid tank to get one of the bolts for the bracket installed, so remove the (2) hold down screws with a 10mm socket and a long extension.  I also had to unclip the pump harness to swing the tank out of the way. remove washer bottle
5. I mounted the Auto computer bracket with the (3) body bolts (10mm socket).  These were a real pain to get in.  I ended up running another bolt (Coarse thread) down through the hole before I put these in. install the bracket
bracket installed
6. Now reinstall the washer tank, don't forget to reattach the wiring harness for the pump. washer pump wire harness
7. I then ran the power leads over to the battery, but did not connect them.  I wrapped these in some wire loom to protect them from the elements. wires across the back of the firewall
8. I needed to find a convenient place to mount the (2) provided circuit breakers close to the battery.  There is a nice flat spot above the entrance hole for the A/C lines.  I took a look behind the glove box and didn't see anything that I could accidentally screw into that would cause problems.  I could clearly see the 2 dimples from the front side.  I placed the battery side of the circuit breaker towards the battery.  I placed the first circuit breaker right above the opening and screwed it in, then did the second one right on top of it.  Once these were installed it was simple to just cut the power wire to the proper length and connect it to the circuit breaker and battery.
mount the circuit breakers gold terminals towards battery behind the a/c box route the wires
9. The wires were already marked as to which fuse they went to on the circuit boss.  I marked the fuse cover so that I knew which fuse went to which wire.  This would help later as I hooked up equipment.  I had purchased a 9 wire connector from Radio Shack so I crimped the connector ends onto the wires.  No since I had only 7 wires coming from the circuit boss, but I had 9 spaces I decided to run 2 additional constant power sources from the battery over to this connector.  I did not connect these to the battery yet. connecting the 9 wire connector
10. Now I carefully tapped the remaining wires together.  I ran these along the edge of the hood.  You will notice a rubber plug below the brake booster.  The plug has a small round dimple in the center of it, so I used the Dremel to cut this out and ran the wires inside the cab.  
small rubber plug
inside view of rubber plug location
center cut out of plug
route the wires through
11. I then installed the wires into the connector.  The connector is marked with numbers so that you can install them in sequence.  The constant hot became #8 and 9. install the connector
12.  I needed to run a switched power to the pink wire so that I could activate the relays on the circuit boss. The boss comes with a fuse tap for the larger bladed fuses, well since I had mini fuses this wouldn't work.  I did find a mini fuse tap, that actually allows you to tap an existing circuit, keep it fused and actually have an additional fuse for the what ever you are powering.  Since I didn't have the hard top installed, I still had the power leads ran to the fuse box for the rear wiper and defroster, just no leads from the fuse box.  I decided to not disturb any other circuits and just install the tap into this location.
  fuse tap tapping the switched power in fuse box power tapped
13.  After I double checked all connections, I turned the ignition switch on checked for power at the connector.  I then wired up the 2 constant power leads to the terminal in the main fuse box and checked for power.  The nuts on the lug takes a 10mm socket to remove. constant power from underhood fuse box
14. Now all I needed to do was run power from my accessories to the other connector and I could just plug them as needed.  The only bad thing about this is when you disconnect the connectors, you disconnect all your accessories from power. running power to accessories
15. I realized that I didn't install any fuses on my constant hot leads, so I opened up the wire loom again and installed 2 waterproof fuses holders.  These holders use the same mini fuse as are in the Jeep, so I'll have spares if needed.  These fuses are rated up to 30amps so should handle about everything that I would be plugging into them. installing fuses on power leads
16. I used heat shrink connectors to allow for at least a water resistant connection. Fuse connectors fuse connectors fuse connectors

This page last updated: 16-Apr-2008

Content and Design © 2002-present WanderingTrail,  Ronald Seegert
Common Sense and Safety should always be observed when working on your vehicle or doing modifications. Jackstands, wheel blocks, disconnecting the battery are a few of the basic safety precautions that should be used and may not be mentioned in the write ups on this site. You are responsible for your own installation, these write ups are a helpful guideline and should not be taken as an official installation instruction. My write up may be different from the kits currently out there, so alwasy double check the manufacturers installation instructions when installing anything. I try to keep the site up to date with changes that have occured as I discover them, but may not have the latest unless someone lets me know. If you feel that an install is above your capabilities after reading my write ups, I recommend getting together with a club and getting some help. Only a few times have I needed to employe some actual help from a shop to get something done. Usually welding or A/C work. While I have spent many years working on mechanical systems, I am not an expert, nor do I pretend to be one. I hope these write ups have been useful to you.
All trademarked names & logos are property of their respective owners
This site is in no way associated with FCA.
Jeep is a registered trademark of FCA.