Is it safe to wire something directly to the battery?

[masospaghetti]

Here's the deal...just installed a power seat in place of my non-power seat, so naturally I had to run a power and ground wire. My question is...how safe is it to wire the +12v straight to the battery? If the seat was power from the factory, all accessories are wired through the GEM (right?)...I'm worried that if one of the switches failed on the seat, it could drain my battery.

I DO have a in-line fuse hooked up.

I also am wiring up a factory amp and subwoofer, and I have aftermarket foglights installed, all wired directly to the battery hot. Any recommendations? thanks all

2000 Explorer Sport.

 

[Brandon96]

Put a relay on those fog lights for sure. Running multiple 55w (maybe more?) straight off the battery is asking for trouble!

 

[waskly]

as long as you fuse it with in 12 inches of the battery you should be fine.

 

[masospaghetti]

Put a relay on those fog lights for sure. Running multiple 55w (maybe more?) straight off the battery is asking for trouble!

Sorry, I was misleading...the lights ARE wired through a relay, but the relay is always hot (not through the GEM). But thanks for the tip.

 

[ncranchero]

As Waskly said, NOTHING is safely wired straight to the battery without a fuse/circuit breaker/fusible link. A relay offers NO protection.

 

[masospaghetti]

As Waskly said, NOTHING is safely wired straight to the battery without a fuse/circuit breaker/fusible link. A relay offers NO protection.

Sorry, again I was misleading.

All of my electrical accessories are wired through a fuse. The foglights are additionally wired through a relay. The seat and amp, however, are wired directly to the fuse. Is this a safe condition?

 

[budwich]

If you pull any schematic on any vehicle, you will find "tons" of circuits that are wired as "hot at all times"... that's the way it is... of course, they wired thru some form of fusing but whether a circuit is wired "directly" or "switched" is operational/conditional... if the circuit needs "juice" without a "key on" or "relay operation"... so be it.

 

[imp]

"Hot" All the Time?

If we're re-designing here, my thinking is:
Ford makes power seats powered at all times (no key needed). Often wondered about that, allows unauthorized use of seat movement, kids can mess with, maybe even get hurt.........

I would wire power seats through a switched circuit from ignition switch, "hot" in both "accessory" and "Ign. On" positions, BUT....

A relay must be used to carry the heavy seat motor current.....the ign. switch only carries the relay coil current (low amps, right?). The "feed" between the relay and seat motor MUST be appropriately fused, to prevent FIRE possibility. Check that the feed TO the ign. switch is already fused, and if not, also include a fuse between the ign. sw. and relay, to cover the possibility of a short circuit in that feed, or the relay coil itself.

Adding fused circuits is not a GUESSING GAME. One must know the maximum normal current flow expected, and size fuses appropriately. imp