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Jeep CJ7 Wiring Series- POWERCELL Locations

Over the next few videos, we’re going to continue our theme on good planning.  Specifically, we’re going to talk about picking the best locations for the major components that come with your Infinitybox system.  We’re installing our 20-Circuit Kit with inLINK and inRESERVE in our 1979 CJ7.  To get the most out of our install, we want to pick the best locations for the MASTERCELL, the front & rear POWERCELLs, the MEGA fuse holder and the inRESERVE solenoid.  We’ve broken this up into 5 different videos, talking about what you need to consider for each part.  This video covers picking the best locations for your front & rear POWERCELLs.

Side View of the Infinitybox POWERCELL

Side View of the Infinitybox POWERCELL

You get two POWERCELLs in your 20-Circuit Kit.  One for the front of your car and one for the rear.  The POWERCELLs are the remote fuse & relay boxes for your system.  They get commands sent to them from the MASTERCELL and they do the actual switching for all of your lights, ignition, starter, fuel pump, cooling fan, horn and other accessories.  You can learn more about the POWERCELL by clicking this link.

There are two important things to consider when you’re picking the best locations for your POWERCELLs.  First, you want the POWERCELLs as close to your electrical loads as possible.  This keeps the wiring short and makes it easy to install.  Your front POWERCELL is going to power your headlights, high-beams, turn signals, parking lights, ignition, starter, horn and dash.  You want to keep the front POWERCELL close to these loads to keep the wiring short.  Your rear POWERCELL is going to power your brake lights, turn signals, reverse lights, running lights, fuel pump and any audio that you have in the back of your car.

The other thing to consider when you pick your POWERCELL locations is that your POWERCELLs are the remote fuse boxes.  You need to have reasonable access to the POWERCELL to remove the protective cover and change the fuses.

In our 1979 Jeep CJ7, we’re going to mount the front POWERCELL on the inner driver’s fender.  There is a nice flat spot there to make mounting easy.  It is accessible for maintenance.  The 8-AWG power cables can be easily routed across the firewall to connect to the battery and the runs of wires to the loads are all relatively short.  Check out more detail on the location in this video.

We’re going to mount the front POWERCELL inside the rear passenger fender.  We will fabricate an enclosure inside the fender that is outside the travel for the suspension.  We’ll make a sealed cover over the enclosure so we can get to it easily for maintenance.  We can easily run the 8-AWG power feeds and the CAN cable down the passenger side of the Jeep.  Finally, the runs of wires to the brake lights, turn signals, running lights, reverse lights and fuel pump are all relatively short.  Check out more detail on the location in this video.

We created this simple diagram to show the POWERCELL locations in the Jeep plus the primary power cables from the battery, through the inRESERVE solenoid and through the Mega fuse holders.  You can download a PDF copy of this diagram by clicking this link.

Infinitybox Jeep CJ7 Wiring Diagram- Cell Locations and Primary Power Routing

Infinitybox Jeep CJ7 Wiring Diagram- Cell Locations and Primary Power Routing

Picking the best locations for your POWERCELLs will make your wiring simple and efficient.  It will also make troubleshooting and diagnostics easier.  Keep watching for more in our 1979 Jeep CJ7 Install Series.

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Click on this link to get to the main page for the 1979 Jeep CJ7 wiring project.  You can find all of the videos on one place there.  

You can also click here to contact our technical support team with any questions about your car or truck wiring project.