R1150 GS Blue Sea 5025 Fuse Block Install

Instead of attaching a slew of wires with associated fuses to my battery posts, I decided to install a Blue Sea Systems 5025 - 6 Circuit Fuse Block with Negative Bus on my R1150 GS Adventure. I also installed the identical unit on a friend's R1150 GS. The chosen location of installation of the fuse block makes for easy access as well as placing the unit next to the battery; a logical location.

A slightly smaller unit is the Blue Sea Systems 5028 - 6 Circuit Fuse Block without Negative Bus, but the 5025 fits nicely in the available space so I went with it instead. Besides, I wanted a negative bus on my fuse block.

The fuse block is mounted on an aluminium plate that was shaped, bent, drilled, glass beaded and then mat clear coated. It attaches to the bracket that holds the diagnostic plug using two rivets.


The front of the Blue Sea Systems 5025 Fuse Block mounting plate...



The rear of the Blue Sea Systems 5025 Fuse Block mounting plate...



The Blue Sea Systems 5025 Fuse Block installed on the mounting plate...



The finished product on my R1150 GS Adventure...



My Blue Sea Systems fuse block is wired directly to the battery using 10 ga wire with heavy duty eye lugs soldered to each end. Each wire is then covered in plastic spiral wrap for added protection, not that it is required in my installation. Considering how the main power wires are routed and protected in my installation, a main fuse for the fuse block wasn't used; BMW doesn't fuse the main power feed from the battery to the alternator or starter either.

My Blue Sea Systems fuse block is HOT all the time which is the way I wanted it, otherwise a relay capable of handling a continuous current draw would be inserted between the positive of the battery and the fuse block.

Connected to my Blue Sea Systems Fuse Block are:
- Hella FF50 driving lights,
- AutoSwitch,
- auxilliary power connector (cigarette lighter outlet),
- YUASA Battery Analyzer (connects to my YUASA Hot Shot battery maintainer and powers my electric vest),
- Datel LCD digital voltmeter, PN: DMS-20LCD-1-DCM.

A dimensional drawing of the mounting plate for the Blue Sea Systems 5025 Fuse Block is available upon request by PMing or e-mailing me.

Power Setup

Wow! That is art Alex.
Thanks for the info and pictures.
Bluwing

very nice. how did you ensure that the seat pan won't make contact with the fuse block?

newmanr19 said:

very nice. how did you ensure that the seat pan won't make contact with the fuse block?

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I made a prototype mounting plate out of 0.020 aluminium sheet and tried it first.

By pulling the side edge of the seat away, I was able to see that the fuse block is well clear of the seat pan. In fact the fuse block actually sits within the rear of the gas tank opening.

bluwing said:

Wow! That is art Alex.
Thanks for the info and pictures.
Bluwing

Click to expand...

Thanks!

I like tidy professional looking installations. I used mat rubberized heat shrink for all my Hella FF50 and AutoSwitch wiring. It follows the factory wiring loom neatly and in a parallel manner. You can't tell non-factory wiring was added.

That is an absolutely beautiful job! Art, as was said above. Thanks for sharing.

That's absolutely wonderful. What's the advantage of a negative bus? I've never heard that term before.

bus

Where can I get one?? Great job of install.

You guy's up north have waaaay to much time on your hands.

KBasa said:

That's absolutely wonderful. What's the advantage of a negative bus? I've never heard that term before.

Click to expand...

Blue Sea Sytems Fuse Blocks are designed for marine purposes.


Advantages of a negative bus? Well in our case, none really. You can run your "return" to a good ground point on the frame. For example, you would run the power wire from the auxilliary light relay to your auxilliary lights and then connect the ground wire from your auxilliary lights to an adjacent bolt nearby. Actually that is what I did, but only for my driving lights. The eye connector to ground is the held by the bolt holding the front fairing/instrument pod subframe to the steering head.

So why didn't I use that method everywhere?

Well my YUASA Battery Analyzer is a twin lead wire.

The wire running to my Datel voltmeter is a twin lead wire. Actually, I used RG-174 A/U coaxial cable. The braid is the ground and also a barrier should it chafe against the frame...not a chance as it is also covered as is all of my accessory wiring with rubberized heat shrink.

My cigarette lighter outlet is a twin lead wire.

So instead of splitting the wires and finding a ground point and having numerous connectors here and there, I chose to use a fuse block with a negative bus. It makes for better looking installations IMO.


Most boats are fiberglass, so you can't use the chassis of the boat as a "return". That means you'll have to feed a power wire and a ground wire to whatever device you are powering right from your fuse block with "negative (aka ground) bus".

Arrowheadjake said:

Where can I get one?? Great job of install.

Click to expand...

Thanks! A bit more work than just sticking it under the seat (no room anyways), but the finished product was worth the time.

Do a search on Google for West Marine.

For other sources, search on "Blue Sea Systems 5025" (or 5028), whichever unit you choose to go with. Prices are somewhere around US$25.

GlobalRider said:

Blue Sea Sytems Fuse Blocks are designed for marine purposes.


Advantages of a negative bus? Well in our case, none really. You can run your "return" to a good ground point on the frame. For example, you would run the power wire from the auxilliary light relay to your auxilliary lights and then connect the ground wire from your auxilliary lights to an adjacent bolt nearby. Actually that is what I did, but only for my driving lights. The eye connector to ground is the held by the bolt holding the front fairing/instrument pod subframe to the steering head.

So why didn't I use that method everywhere?

Well my YUASA Battery Analyzer is a twin lead wire.

The wire running to my Datel voltmeter is a twin lead wire. Actually, I used RG-174 A/U coaxial cable. The braid is the ground and also a barrier should it chafe against the frame...not a chance as it is also covered as is all of my accessory wiring with rubberized heat shrink.

My cigarette lighter outlet is a twin lead wire.

So instead of splitting the wires and finding a ground point and having numerous connectors here and there, I chose to use a fuse block with a negative bus. It makes for better looking installations IMO.


Most boats are fiberglass, so you can't use the chassis of the boat as a "return". That means you'll have to feed a power wire and a ground wire to whatever device you are powering right from your fuse block with "negative (aka ground) bus".

Click to expand...

I think the "negative bus" is the way to go. BMW has always impressed me with the fact that they run all the loads return ground wires (solid brown) to a common point and then make one connection to the frame of the vehicle. The more complex wiring harnesses for the later bikes may have more than one collection point for the ground wires, but I can't think of a bike with more than one connection to the frame. The advantage of that is that you don't have ground currents going thru the frame with various resistances here and there. There are probably dozens of good reasons not to run current thru the frame in a random fashion, but the outstanding one is a reliable low resistance "return" path for the load's current and no electrical noise due to random currents flowing in the frame of the vehicle. Obviously the left turn signal lamp is the same brilliance as the right turn signal lamp since neither relies on the frame of the bike for a return current path...or rather the return path is controlled and the same for both lamps. One example of the necessity of this in shown in the simple ("by choice"...heh heh) airhead where the return path thru the forks would otherwise be through the steering head bearings . BMW usually provides an entire schematic or two of the ground system wiring for each model.
Most aftermarket lighting systems rely on the frame for return path, but I would add the extra wire and return it to the battery neg post or the ground point on the frame. Keep in mind that starter motor return paths are generally thru the engine and frame and that may be the only exception. Possibly due to the way starter motors are built physically.

[insert sound of my heart singing.]



great job global rider.