With the truck bodies put together and the opening cut between the two the first order of real business was wiring things up. I had a new plan for the chicken yard's electrical system, which was to install a dusk/dawn module on the cord going to the chicken coops so the lights and the soon to be newly installed "always on" heaters will come on through the dark hours then go off during the day when they're not needed by the birds. Because of this I would be omitting the switch box in this coop for the light, the only junction box needed is an outlet box for the heater and the venting fan that I would also install.
As for the outlet box I planned on installing a double outlet box with a total of four outlets to accommodate the heater and power adapter for a vent fan with two extra outlets for any extra shit I might install in the coop at a later date. I started off with one of the surplus square boxes I had laying around. The box had tabs on it for attaching to a stud in a wall but here I just used self tapping screws to attach the box to the side panel. I drilled a hole in the side behind the door frame for the power cable to go through. I took an old extension cord and cut the bad plug from it. I routed the cable end through the hole and up to the outlet box. Using the proper clamp fitting I secured the cable in the box. After stripping the end of the cable I went ahead and wired up one of the outlets then cut a short piece of 2 conductor cable to use as a jumper to the other outlet. From there I ran a length of 2 conductor cable through another clamp fitting from the top of the box up along the top of the cab to where the 3rd brake light used to be since that's where the light fixture would be hung. The next thing was to attach the light fixture to a point on the ceiling of the cab. I had to attach the two conductor cable to the fixture prior to securing it in place. Using some surplus cable I go the fixture ready for hanging. Using self tapping screws I attached the fixture to the internal framework where the 3rd brake light was at. I then used some plastic straps to secure the cable along the top of the cab and around to the outlet box. With the light fixture wired up and hung and the cables inside suspended I finished mounting the outlets and covering up the box. After doing that I had to get the extension cord routed over to the outdoor outlet box between the Mustang Chicken Coupe and the Toyota Chicken Truck. I ended up using my foot to etch a trench in the gravel and top of dirt to create a shallow trench for the extension cord to be buried in. I put the cord in the trench and covered it with the dirt and gravel. I will be covering this area with more gravel in the future after getting the whole area covered so I can ensure that the cord is buried pretty good. I had to disassemble the outlet box and remove the clamp fitting so I can route the extension cord cable into the box. I cut the excess from the cord, leaving the other plug end intact so I can finish this part of the job. I hooked the cord cable to the outlet's extra terminals and used wire ties to secure the cable to the other cables. With that I was able to put power on the line to feed the new coop. I installed an LED bulb in the light socket and plugged the heater up to verify that the outlets were working. With everything working, I then had to fabricate a platform for the heater. This ended up being made with a piece of sheet metal. I folded the piece of sheet metal to provide the platform for the heater and a brace to keep the platform steady. I welded this platform in place next to the outlet box. From there I put the heater on the platform and used wire ties around the body of the heater and under the platform to help hold the unit in place so it can't be knocked free by an errant chicken. I also routed the excess cord through the platform to hide it while plugging the unit up to the outlet. The last bit of work to be done regarding the electrical system on the coop was securing the power cable on the outside of the cab. This was done using a couple of the same plastic straps that I used on the inside for the cable along the cab's ceiling. With that the electrical system on the S10 Ranger Chicken Coop is done and ready to rock and roll.
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