Wired2Serve Blog

The 10 products featured below shot to the top of our list as the most in-demand—out of more than 7,000 products offered at Waytek—in the first quarter of 2021.

Splice connectors—also commonly known as butt connectors, butt splices, or crimp connectors—have been in use for decades and remain an important component in 12-volt electrical systems. Here are some basics to help you select and use them.

Switches—whether they're toggles or rockers, push-button or disconnect—are found in every 12-volt electrical system, doing everything from turning on lights to moderating critical systems. To understand the basics of electrical switches, you must first understand the circuitry inside, then be able to discern the differences between different types of switches. Here's a crash course.

Circuit breakers are increasingly being used instead of fuses for transportation equipment of all types. Circuit breakers have many virtues: They're more durable, they're easier to reset and replace, and they can be ordered in types and sizes that work in most places where fuses would be used on vehicles.

Perhaps most important, circuit breakers with reset buttons enable users to immediately cut power, providing an added level of personal safety not available with fuses.

While circuit breakers are becoming more prominent in 12-volt system design, the fuse remains a common, and useful, technology. If you're not up on your fuses, here's an overview of where they fit into automotive circuit protection.

Controlling parasitic loads (battery drain) and properly distributing electrical power is crucial to keeping vehicles working. However, this requires balancing the needs of the battery against those of the electrical system.

Dual voltage electrical systems solve many power requirement problems in today's trucks, buses and motor coaches, but like any specialized technology, dual voltage establishes its own rules.

Power distribution modules, or PDMs, have been called by many different names: Power distribution centers or units, electrical centers, and even electrical boxes. In any case, it boils down to this: PDMs are circuits in an enclosure, distributing power from a central power source to many smaller circuits around a vehicle or equipment.

Relays, solenoids, and contactors are all switches—whether electro-mechanical or solid state—but there are critical differences that make each suitable for different applications. In this article, we will explain how each of these devices work and discuss some key selection considerations.

The battery cable is among the most important components in a battery management system. High quality battery cables will help ensure you have power and avoid battery drain—but only if they are properly sized, installed and maintained.

There are two things you must absolutely double-check when selecting your battery cables.