Quote:
Originally Posted by nglayton
Okay, my test unit arrived yesterday. For anyone wondering what you missed out on, here are some of my initial impressions.
- The build quality on this item is fantastic! - Looks and feels heavy duty, more than adequate for interior install.
- Everything on the board is clearly labeled - I wouldn't even need to read the install instructions, if I wasn't requested to review them.
- Included 20 various full size common automotive fuses, twice as many as needed to populate the system. (Nice!)
- Perhaps they could have used mini fuses instead to reduce the size of the overall system or just make the layout more consistent. (OCD on the one sideways fuse!)
- Did not include any extra of the bigger MIDI fuses, but did have 3 installed as noted when the order is placed.
- Install instructions from the link listed is more than adequate for anyone with an understanding of 12v systems. There is way more info there than any other 12v wiring solutions I've purchased in the past.
- I see no reason this install won't be as easy as advertised.
- I'm not sure how I feel about the rectangular layout of connections with all 4 sides potentially having wires connected and running out in every direction. (Again my OCD getting in the way)
- $400 price seems a bit steep to me, but I've never looked for anything equivalent to this, if it even exists. However, Quality DOES NOT seem to be an issue.
I need to plan my install, more to come
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Great feedback! Few notes:
T4R members get a 10% discount on all power distribution products, just put "t4r" in the notes field and it'll be applied to the order.
Purchased units will come with spare MIDI fuses, just updated the website to reflect that.
With regards to the mini fuses, I agree that a lower profile would be ideal but electrical considerations took precedence over mechanical considerations or aesthetics. Mini fuses will fit in those holders but they're quite difficult to remove without a tool. To show a little of how the sausage is made, the problem here is the current ratings on fuse holders. I spend more time than I care to admit looking at datasheets, if there's a THT ATC/ATO fuse holder with a rating higher than 30A I haven't found it yet.
You'll be happy to know the latest board design moves the small fuses a bit to fix the sideways one, I was a little worried about leaving enough access space to remove a blown fuse but seems not an issue so far.
The only equivalent product I'm aware of is the Egon DC hub sold out of Australia. Seems like they're selling them for AUD$599 for the board and AUD$149 for the bracket (plus shipping). Funny enough when you convert to USD it's about the same but we include the bracket in our base cost - it's an integral part of the design, not a nice to have.
I actually looked into importing and reselling their product a while back but after investigating the regulatory and compliance issues with reselling electronics in the US I determined that it wasn't viable from either a business or compliance standpoint. Making distribution boards to route connections like this is a standard engineering technique and these are very trivial circuits that aren't patentable. I'll credit the 4xoverland guys with applying this idea to the 4wd space but the cats out of the bag as it were.