accessing power through the key switch

T Man

I have a number of accessories I am adding to the cart, headlights, a car stereo, and a horn. I want no power to any of these when the key is off, except for the memory power to the car stereo.

I noticed when looking under the key switch on the cart there are four tabs for spade connectors, two of them are currently being used (a red wire and a white wire) and two are open. I don't know if the open tabs used to power something that was later removed, etc. Could I access power from these two tabs for two of my accessories? This would be easier than splicing into the power wire to the key switch.

BGW

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DOOmsman

Use your vom and check the tabs if one goes hot use it to
fire a fog light relay to a small fuse block for your accessories.
Less than $20.

Mo Hardy

Or use the terminal on the voltage regulator that charges the battery to supply your fuse block or circuit breakers. And you can add an inline diode to prevent feedback for extra safety.

T Man

I don't know much about this, can I not just use a power source to directly power the lights, horn, and stereo, do I need the relay, fuse block, etc? Is it dangerous if I don't? I'm not worried about buying the parts I just am not sure how to hook these things up.

Mo Hardy

Most radios have an inline fuse that comes with them on the red power wire. The horn should have a relay that is a simple device that prevents full amperage of the battery running thru the horn button and there is a simple light switch available that also has it's own fuse built right on it. And it is used on industial equipment that only requires a 1/2 inch hole to mount, you run 1 wire to it from a battery source and fasten the light wires right on it. I assure you it is not complicated. You just need a common source for 12 volts, but you will need to run red and black wires to all components as you will be mounting most of the items you wish to use on the fiberglass body so you kind make it simple when you use less longer wires by having a common source under your dash rather than routing all those sets of wires, two for each device, all the way under your cart body back to the battery. You should start with just one device, like the radio so you can get the feel for what you need to do and then expand from there. Then you can have music to enjoy while you decide what next to do...

T Man

Thanks for the input. Someone I was talking to today said I have to be careful not to burn out my key switch by drawing power through it for too many accessories. It would be a royal pain if that happened.

I might try to access power from the voltage regulator, I think I would access power from the same side of the regulator that goes to the battery because it is regulated right? If I run two power lines from the voltage regulator, both fused, and use one for the horn/lights and the other one for the stereo that should work right? I believe the power coming from the voltage regulator to charge the battery is also dead when the key is off?

I would then run all my negatives to the battery negative?

The horn kit I bought has two horns, a high and a low, comes with the horn button, wiring, etc. The light kit I bought comes with an on/off switch, etc. as well. The stereo is your typical harness at the back.

I want to add this stuff just for fun but I don't want to mess up anything in the process. This is my project for the weekend, sorry for all the questions.

Mo Hardy

Sounds to me as though you have a pretty good grasp of what is needed to accomplish your chores.

I agree with your local adviser, you do not want to convert your entire electrical system just to make some minor accessory additions. Using the battery side of your voltage regulator is the constant 'hot' side and will not damage it either, it is not regulated but more like using the accessory side of your car key switch. But that is what you want, you can blow the horn ,play the radio or turn on your lights when you want to. Keep in mind that that you will run your battery down so a voltage gauge would be a handy item to add, and when your engine is running your lights will be a bit brighter but your radio may pick up some engine noise on AM if you don't use a suppressor on your coil. That is an easy fix by installing one that is available at any part store and will afix to your coil,like a condenser does to your ignition points.
I would run two 10 or 12 gauge red and black (red+/black-) wires to a place under the dash to two insulated terminal posts under or near your dash from the battery directly or the positive from the regulator and the negative from the nearest place on the frame and wire what you want from that point to safely power what you describe.
'Power' does not come from the regulator but rather the battery, the generator,or alternator, charges the battery when the engine is running back through the wire that is hot,or marked battery on the regulator. It is not interrupted by the key switch but rather when the engine is not running. That type of usage would also damage the key switch if the charging circuit ran through the key switch as well. That is what the regulator is geared up for, higher amperage, as it uses larger contacts than the key switch.
Please free to let me know if you need more help I am on here or check usually every day and am glad to help ... Mo

T Man

Here is what I am looking at, sorry these are going to be very basic questions as I have not done this before. The gold box on the left in front of the battery, this is the voltage regulator right? There are two tabs underneath it that are empty, can I use those for power?

Also, the cylindrical silver thing to the right, what is that and should I be tying into that instead to get power?

Thanks.

Attached Images

voltage regulator.jpg (138.5 KB, 0 views)

Mo Hardy

Ok, you correctly identified the voltage regulator and the red wire on the left should show 12 volts with a vom,volt ohm meter/test light,and that should be the easiest place to connect for power as the connectors are smaller and can be done with a simple crimp tool using butt splices.
The 'round cylindrical thing' is your starter solenoid and is activated with the key switch. The large red wire,or cable, is a direct connect to the positive side of the battery on the battery + post. You can connect there with crimp connectors for your positive leg of power, but I don't like to do that as the solenoid post,the large bolt the cable connects to,does not like to be piled up with a bunch of smaller wires. Keep in mind that vibration is the enemy of a good electrical connection and it isn't a good idea to bolt a bunch of small wires to a real big one like the battery starter cable as you need a good constant source of power to run the starter. But it will work as long as it is tight, but care is needed to not over tighten the nut on the big bolt on the solenoid.
As I said the red wires are positive and black wires are negative,or ground. And the regulator should have letters on each of the tabs the wires connect to. The red will have a + sign, the black should have a - sign, there maybe an A and an S. Connecting to the + sign on the regulator with the corresponding red wire on your radio and fastening the black wire on the radio to the frame or directly to the negative (-) side of your battery will allow your radio to play or light up when the on knob is turned. If your radio has an inline fuse,most have,that should protect your radio if you get it wrong. But you won't as long as you match the colors of the wires red to red and black to black.

T Man

Well I ran one red and one black from under the dash, put the red on one of the tabs on the voltage regulator, the black on the negative side of the battery, hooked up the stereo black and red just to see if it would turn on and I get nothing. I have tried the red on several spots on the voltage regulator and still have nothing with the key on or off.

Any thoughts appreciated. When I put a test light on those same spots it lights up.