posted
I am currently running a stinger 100a wafer fuse under my hood. Occasionally I blow the fuse, should I switch to a circuit breaker?
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Posts: 854 | From: Syracuse, NY | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
There is an article at www.ampmanaudio.com goto the teamamp section...
its about circuit breakers and why they are a bad idea...given that... i have one in my car
briefly..it says that circuit breakers are unreliable and take much longer to break an over drawn circuit when compared to a fuse..
I've chosen to risk it for now anyways...
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Posts: 243 | From: Home of the Florida Gators! | Registered: Sep 1999
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posted
I had a circuit breaker fail on my power window wire when it grounded and it melted the greater part of my fuseblock. Took a lot of time to fix that!
1. Wafer fuses cost around $6.00 apiece, cheap compared to a circuit breaker unless you are blowing them constantly.
2. I may be wrong in this and if I am correct me but a fuse actually blows at double it's rated amperage. Hence a 100 amp fuse blows at 200 amps.
Circuit Breakers:
1. More costly than fuses.
2. Resetable however each time a circuit breaker trips and has to be reset the rating on the breaker drops, meaning that the load needed to trip the breaker grows less and less each time.
As to what I personally have....I have both a 150 wafer fuse under the hood and a resetable 150 circuit breaker in the rear of the car. Reasoning behind this is that in my car I have a battery under the hood and that is wired directly to 4 more in the rear of the car. The circuit breaker in the back allows me to isolate the rear batteries if needed with just the push of a button, if changes or repairs are needed.
Craig
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Posts: 1390 | From: Clayton, NC USA | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
The fuse/circuit breaker is there for pretty much one purpose: If the + wire were to somehow short to ground, by getting chafed through and touching the chassis. When that happens, the power flowing through will be wayyyy more than any fuse or circuit breaker to take, so just use the biggest circuit breaker you can get, or a large fuse. It isn't too important what size it is as long as it's bigger than what you need.
Sam
[This message has been edited by Sam Lin (edited 04-04-2000).]
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