Help, I need some advice

Well I was reading in Side by Side Action about 12v accessories added to your rig. My question is this..........stock battery and stator on my 08 Rhino, will it support the following..............CD player, aftermarket Warn driving lights (not to be run all the time), and the aftermarket heater I just bought? The guy in the article says that aftermarket auxilary lights should not just be run off a switch (like what's provided) but also wired into a relay and fuse block. I know the Warn lights come with inline fuses. My main concern is the heater. It is not a ceramic heat, but rather a heater that hooks into the radiator. The only power it should need would be the fan for the blower and vents. I need some feedback please. I know we have some smart dudes here. Also keep in mind I want to add a winch, which obviously would only get run a little, and most likely never with the stereo, lights, and heater all at the same time.

I can't say about the power draw as you would need to figure the amperage of each devise that would be in use at the same time. I suspect you would be ok, unless you were using all the add ons at the same time. However, you certainly would need to power them thru a high current rated relay and not the switch.

These lights are supposed to have very low draw to be able to be run all the time. I only plan on using them sparingly. The heater would only be used in cold weather. The radio is already installed, and does not seem to draw anything. I know guys on here run amps and a radio on the stock battery. My main concern is frying the stock wiring harness, so I planned on wiring everything separate straight to the battery. I had thought about wiring the heater fan switch to the key so it only works when its running, since it will need to be running to provide heat anyway. This whole relay idea........how does that work?

LT.....the relay takes the heat! So no heat to the harness

How does the relay hook in? I don't get the concept. What does it hook to......the hot side of the battery, the ignition wire..?

I think the best thing to do is turn everything on and then check the volt meter on the Rhino. If it is dropping below 12 volts consistently then you might want to up-grade your stator or go with an extra battey setup. When useing a winch you will want to turn everything off and watch the meter.

So all you guys running aftermarket auxilary lights........none of you are using a setup like a relay or extra fuse block?

This is the one that was shown in the mag. Prices are not listed on this site, so I have no idea how much it is. I definitely don't want to overload something and short out my electrical system.
http://www.autotrendefi.com/utv_fuse_block.html

check out pianless wiring, they have 2-10 circuit fuse blocks with relays and circuit breakers to handle about anything.
you want to use the switch to turn on the relay and then the relay supplies the high current to the load.
most switches have a very low amperage rating and won't last long with the load current going directly through them.

you could probably snag one from a trashed humvee

There is one on ebay for around 70 bucks, the painless one from Summitt. It looked like you would have to add connectors to the wires to plug into the relay. Is this usually the case?

I know they make some that are just like an automotive fuse box, fuse and relay sections. there's also some that have switched and constant circuits all in 1 panel, if you wanted to listen to the radio with the switch off but still have the aux lights only work with the switch on. it's easy stuff, check out there website

I have 3 sets of lights, plus my existing stock headlights, radio, winch all wired into switches, than into a fuse block, than just 2 simple wires going to the battery. I have had all my lights on while driving and radio and it was right under 12 amps.....I will never run all the lights at once, but got them at work, so i figured i would put them on...never know when one won't work.....the fuse block was very simple to install and was only like 10 or 12 bucks.....
i installed it in my glove box.......very happy with everything so far.....

Summit or Jegs has relays and fuse blocks. The idea is to use a toggle switch wired from the battery or use an existing wire that is hot when the factory ignition switch is on. The switch or hot lead will turn on the high current relay. The relay contacts ( 1 side of normally open contacts) wire direct to the battery using heavy wire, like #10 or 12 and the other side of the relay contacts wire to the add-on devices. That way, the relay does all the high current switching. The combo fuse block and relay makes it easier to wire. I run 3 two-way radios in my truck and have always wired them that way, as most police, fire, etc vehicles are wired.

http://www.wiringproducts.com/index1.html?lang=en-us&target=d136.html&gclid=CP_64OKboJUCFQZlswodl22Dkw

this is the link to where i bought my fuse block...i bought the last one on the bottom of the page, except i bought the 8 or 10 position....never know what else i might add:)

so i have my lights wired to an LED switch(on/off), than wired each of them to the fuse block. 2 sets of my lights came with relays, but i bought the fuse block and got rid of the mess of wires that come along with the damn relays they send. It was much simpler this way.

LT , i read over at RF.net the 700 stator puts out alot more juice
than the 660's . so you should ok........

that is if this info was correct. I dont know.....

Well, my main concern is burning something up with too much straight juice. I bought an aftermarket heater and it was expensive. I started thinking about a fuse in line for it. Then I ran across that article in the magazine Yank sent me (thanks bro) and it was saying your aftermarket stuff should be run through a relay to prolong the life of your accessories and switches. Makes sense to me. I want to add that heater, and two sets of auxilary lights. The winch will come later when I get home and I will figure that out when the time comes.