AUXBEAM AC-1200 Switch Panel Instruction Manual
- June 16, 2024
- AUXBEAM
Table of Contents
AC-1200 Switch Panel
Instruction Manual
AC-1200 Switch Panel
How to install the Auxbeam AC-1200 Switch Panel in
a ’97-’06 Jeep TJ Wrangler？
Installing the Auxbeam AC-1200 switch panel involves a number of steps:
- Mounting the control box
- Powering the control box
- Connecting the switch panel to the control box through the firewall
- Mounting the switch panel in the cockpit
Mounting the Control Box
Supporting 12 circuits, the AC-1200 control box is fairly large. The best
place for it in a TJ engine compartment is on the driver’s side inner fender.
In the photo below, the mounting bracket supplied by Auxbeam is mounted, it’s
just aft of the washer fluid reservoir and just outboard of the cruise
control.
Mounting the bracket requires drilling one new hole. The photos below:
- The bracket bolted in place just outboard of the cruise control (not all TJ’s have cruise control, but the mounting of the bracket is the same whether or not cruise control is present.
- The left arrow points to an existing hole in the fender. The right arrow show the location of a new hole to be drilled.
- (and 4) Since the inner fender isn’t a flat surface, a nylon spacer is added under the bracket on the side towards the rear of the Jeep. Nylon spacers can be found at most well-stocked hardware stores.
Once the second hole is located and drilled and a spacer and bolts of the proper length are on hand, the bracket can be bolted in place by running the bolts down through the fender and putting nuts on the underside of the fender. Putting washers between the nuts and the fender sheet metal is recommended.
Once the
bracket is bolted in place on the inner fender, the control box can be bolted
to the bracket.
Powering the Control Box
There are two power connections to the control box – switched power to operate
the box, and higher current power to operate any accessories connected to the
system.
Auxbeam supplies heavy-gauge cables to connect the control box to the Jeep’s
battery to power accessories connected to the system. Unfortunately since the
best place to install the control box is further away from the battery than
the length of the supplied cables. Longer cables must be used, and they must
be of a gauge heavy enough to carry the 100 amps of current that the control
box is capable of supplying to accessories.
A good way to make new cables is to start with a set of jumper cables. Stores
like Walmart offer relatively inexpensive jumper cables which are an excellent
source of the require wire. Those cables are 20 feet long; only about 6 feet
will be required to connect the control box to the battery so if you remove
one of the clamps from the jumper cables, cut 6’ of wire from the 20’ and
reinstall the clamps you will end up with a 14’ set of jumper cables and
enough wire to connect the control box.
Also needed will be 4 ring terminals to terminate each end of the 6’ cables.
Auto parts stores like AutoZone and many electrical supply stores offer ring
terminals like those shown below – the accept 4-gauge wire and have a 3/8”
I.D. ring which is perfect for connecting to the control box and the battery.
A completed cable to connect the control box to the battery made from part of
a set of jumper cables can look like the one in the photo below. Red heat-
shrink tubing has been added to one of the wires to indicate that it is the
positive connection; black heat shrink tubing has also been shrunk over the
ring terminals to protect them. The heat shrink tubing isn’t strictly
necessary but it makes for a more professional looking cable. There’s a break
in the positive side of the cable with terminals on each end of the break,
that’s where the circuit breaker will be inserted into the circuit, as shown
in the photo at right.
The other power connection required provides power to operate the system. It
can go to the Jeep’s fuse panel and for switched power. Switched power is
power that’s only active when the ignition switch is in the on/run position
and is recommended so the system doesn’t draw power when the engine isn’t
running, which might drain the battery. Or, it can go directly to the battery
positive terminal and power to the system is controlled by a supplied switch.
Supplying Operating Power to the Control Box
The kit came with two fairly short wires for connecting power to the control
box.
One piece has a fuse adapter on it and the other piece has a plug for the
control box. The fuse adapter makes it easy to supply switched power to the
control box, but additional wire will be required in almost all installations
to connect between these two pieces. Wiring option 1:
When I met with Auxbeam at the SEMA Show, they gave me an alternate wiring
solution. This one has a ring terminal on one end for direct connection to the
battery and an inline fuse, a plug on the other end for the control box, and a
switch in the middle for turning power to the control box on or off. The wires
are long enough for most installations. This solution might be better for a
camping/overlanding vehicle in which accessories might need to be powered at
the campsite when the vehicle isn’t running, but one must remember to turn the
switch off if the system isn’t to be used when the engine isn’t running. Or,
the ring terminal can be removed and that end of the wire can be connected to
a switched circuit if the system isn’t to be used when the engine isn’t
running. Wiring option 2:
Whichever wiring solution comes with your
kit, both wiring solutions have their benefits and drawbacks but either one
will work fine in most implementations.
Implementing wiring option 1:
In the TJ Wrangler, fuse position 14 powers the Jeeps radio and provides
switched power. Auxbeam supplies a fuse adapter with the kit; remove the fuse
from position 14 in the fuse panel (which is behind the glove box), plug the
fuse adapter into that position and insert the fuse removed from position 14
into the open slot in the fuse adapter and shown in this photo:
Auxbeam provides a short length of red wire with a two-pin plug on one end, this plug goes into a two-pin location inside the control box. The other end of this red wire must connect to the loose end of the fuse adapter installed above, and two things are necessary to do this:
- An extra length of red wire is required because the combination of the fuse adapter wire and the control box wire is too short to reach between them. Auto parts stores sell red 16-gauge wire for this purpose.
- The additional wire must be run from the engine compartment into the cockpit where the fuse panel is. Also since the switch panel will also be installed in the cockpit, the cable that connects the switch panel to the control box must also be run from the engine compartment into the cockpit.
Implementing wiring option 2:
With the second wiring option, the ring terminal is connected to the positive
terminal of the battery, and the wires that connect to the switch get routed
through the firewall as will be described below; the switch can be mounted in
any convenient place on or under the dash.
Or, if it is desired to have the system be connected to switched power, the
ring terminal end of the wire can be routed into the cockpit, to the fuse
panel behind the glove box and connected to a switch circuit using a fuse
adapter as shown with the option 1 wiring.
Connecting the switch panel to the control box through the firewall
There are several places in the Wrangler firewall that wires can be passed
through.
- In a Wrangler with a manual transmission, a rubber plug can be found in the firewall at the driver’s side of the engine (arrow #1).
- A Wrangler with an automatic transmission will not have a clutch cylinder (arrow #2). This photo is from a Wrangler with a manual transmission but if this were an automatic, a plastic block-off plate would be where the clutch cylinder is in this photo; a hole can be drilled through that plate to pass the wires. It’s best to remove the plate before drilling it just in case there’s something behind it that the drill might damage
- Below the block-off plate or the clutch cylinder in all TJ’s is a wiring harness pass-through (arrow #3). There is enough space in the hole in the firewall that the wiring grommet goes in to allow additional wires through, so if neither of the above locations are best for your situation you could run the wires through this hole.
Installing the Switch Panel
Once the switched power wire in run into the cockpit to the fuse panel and
connected and the switch panel cable is run into the cockpit, it’s time to
decide where to mount the switch panel.
Having 12 oversize switch buttons, it’s a fairly large panel to find a place
for within reach of the driver in a TJ.
Some people mount it on the trim panel below the instrument panel and steering
wheel, but mounted there it can be hard to see and may be a distraction while
driving, so that may not be the best location. (A switch panel in this
location is shown on page 5 of the AC-1200 instructions) Two other locations
that work in the TJ are shown in the photos below – it can be mounted to the
windshield frame trim above the rear-view mirror, or it can be mounted just
ahead of the shifter on the center console.
There are two other options for controlling accessories connected to the
system…
One is to use the supplied remote control. In this next photo, the remote is
sitting in a cell phone holder that’s mounted to the windshield of the TJ with
a suction mount. The remote can turn any of the 12 circuits on or off, the
only thing you don’t get with this option is the labels on the keys so you
will have to remember what each button does. But an additional feature you do
get is the ability to control the circuits remotely – say for example you’ve
got campsite accessories connected to the Auxbeam system, you can turn them
on or off while sitting at the campfire. Perhaps campsite lights attached to
the roof rack of the Jeep?
The other option is to use the Auxbeam Switch Panel app from your Android
device or iPhone. The app is active in this next photo; the top half of the
screen shows the 12 keys and you can configure the keytops on the screen with
the same labels you might have put on the physical switch panel. And you can
control the system anywhere within range of the Bluetooth connection.
Source: Auxbeam websit
Documents / Resources
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AUXBEAM AC-1200 Switch
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[pdf] Instruction Manual
AC-1200 Switch Panel, AC-1200, Switch Panel, Panel
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