online170

Got a really simple (possibly stupid) question about fuses. I got my system hooked up, 8gauge wire from battery to amp, 12 gauge from amp to subs, and stock speaker wire from deck to speakers and amp. I did the wiring with a freind, we used correct gauge but used our own wires and stuff, without an expensive "kit". The system works great now, and it pounds good, but people keep telling me to put a "fuse" in there. I went to Best Buy and Future Shop, they both sold 150A fuses for 15$ with no holder. My question is, how big or small of a fuse do i need? And where does it go? And where do i get the holder?

Im assuming the fuse goes on the 8 gauge wire from the battery to the amp?

Also, its 300RMS subs each. 2x 10" kenwoods. 400ish RMS amp (he said 525 bridgeable). Its Phoenix gold XS2500. Dont know what type of deck, but i got it for $20. Plays CD's and seems decent. 20RMS 4x6 pioneer speakers, and 40RMS 6x9 speakers. I can get the max wattage for you guys too, but id have to do some research.

wicked-irocz

The fuse should either be the same size or just a bit larger than the fuse on the amp. 150 is way to big, the wire will have started your car on fire if it were to short to a body panel before that 150A fuse would blow. You should need no more than a 60A, probably even less. I know crutchfield sells fuse holders and I thought BB had them too.

online170

Ok, i know a place that sells 50, 60 and 70s with holders. But the gauge on the holder is very small. Im basically using jumper cables for the wire from the battery to the amp. What am i looking for in a good holder?

cdoyle

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMa...Fuse%20Holders



this one accepts 8 gauge.
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What size wire do you have at the battery? I thought you said 8 gauge earlier?

wicked-irocz

You want the holder to either have 8 gauge wire like your using or for the holder to allow you to clamp your current wire into it like your amp allows you to. Remember it needs to cover that clamped area though so it cannot contact metal.

online170

Sorry i wrote that a bit messed up. YES my battery to amp wire IS 8 gauge. BUT i was looking at buying a fuse holder that supported 70A fuse, and it's wire was not 8 gauge, it was actually pretty skinny. It didnt look like the one posted, so ill keep looking.

cdoyle

Look at the ones I linked too.
If you need a 70 amp fuse holder, I doubt you're going to find any with the wire built on, like you see at the auto parts stores.

airjordan6906

You can go and pick one at walmart for like ten bucks with the fuse

ChillPhatCat

Mine's in the upper left corner of this pic, that's a 60 or 80A on a 4AWG wire, you definitely don't want to restrict the wire anywhere with a smaller guage than the main power line. That fuse holder is water proof also. (yeah I'm aware I don't have an overflow cap )

online170

walmart on the weekend!

Stealthy-One

hey chill, looks like your belt is bit loose as well!

Iroctopless

A fuse should be mounted as close as practically possible to the source of the power. This is because you want to protect as much of the length of wire (and your car) as possible from shorts.
Should a short occur between the power source and and the fuse, you'll have no protection and a possible catastrophy.

In your case, it would be as close to your battery's positive terminal as possible. ChillPhatCat's picture above is a good example.

online170

Good to know, i was thinking to mount it inside the passsenger compartment, but ill rethink that. (my wire is not visible at all, you can only see the very tip connecting to the battery, and to see the other end, you have to remove interior panels. It runs inside the front frame horn thing, then through the antenna gromet, then all along and underneath the interior panels all the way to the spare tire where my amp is. But ill find a way to hook it up.

XxGeinNothingxX

iTrader: (1)

Ya, you want it as close to the main source of power. I have mine just like ChillPhatCat's and that should be the best place to put it. Mine is actually next to the coolent though, stuffed next to the side.

cdoyle

Yes like others said, you want to keep it as close to the battery as possible. The reason being is, this fuse is not meant to protect the amps. It's meant to protect the wire in case of a short.

so the closer it is to the battery, the less wire you have that could short and start a fire.

online170

Just went to walmart, cdn ones are a bit different from the american ones. In any case, they didnt have the water proof one, but they did have one that accepts 8gauge wires, and comes with a 40A and an 80A fuse, kinda like the ones in our fuse blocks, but way bigger. So im assuming its not waterproof. In any case, ill find a way to mount it to the car, and try to find a dry place for it. Only question is, should i go with the 40A or the 80A? Is 80A too much? Was thinking of goin with the 40, and if it blows, ill buy a 60A.

cdoyle

Do you have just the 1 amp?

How many fuses does it have? Add the ratings of all the fuses up, so if it has 2 20 amp fuses in it. Then the 40 will probably be OK. (A 50 might be better, just gives you a little head room)

If it has 2 40 amp fuses, then use the 80 amp fuse at the battery.

What you need to do is keep your main line fuse at a rating just a little over then the total of what all your power accessories require.

ChillPhatCat

Yeah I was upgrading the alt at the same time.




Yeah I decided to mount it in front of the firewall, figured that was the main area you might get a short, it would be nearly impossible for the 2 feet of wire between the battery and the fuse to short out. I used a grommet at the firewall, but it could potentially fall off, I'll probably dab it with epoxy just as a precaution.

Another thing, there are two bolts in the firewall, just above the end of the carpet on the passenger side of the firewall, a little to the left of the lower bolt is a great place to drill for the amp wire.

Stealthy-One

you shouldn't have to drill anything. the main wiring harness is on the passenger side under the fender. just run your wire through there. adn I would seriously put the fuse as close to the batt as possible... Here is mine with an 80 amp fuse after 5 inches of 4G wire...



sure you might be ok for a while, heck it might never fail you, but do you really want to risk burning your car down because your fuse has 2 feet of unprotected wire that some how got shorted? I wont risk it. Anything that I install in my car or someone else's car gets a fuse. If I am adding a lot of things, I normally run a fused 12V+ wire to a relay and then run that to a small fuse block.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

scoshe fuse holder is nice u cna buy it at walmart and the fuse holder should be no farther than 2ft from battery.

online170

Ill post pictures as soon as im done. My wiring is kinda stealthy its a nice setup. Except for the deck, and the sub box, there is no other visual way of knowing that i have a sound system. I went and bought the correct fuse holder from best buy, because my walmart didnt have it. The correct one is the roundish waterproof one. The 2 fuses on my amp are 30 and 30, so im gonna put in a 70A fuse in the holder. Also, the holder is gonna be less than 6 inches away from the battery, purely for mounting, and fuse replacing ease. Thanks for all the help!.

Also, im running alot of other stuff through any orifaces in the firewall, like wiring for gauges, and a vacuum hose, so my amp wire runs "through" the antenna grommet on the passenger side. i Drilled a slightly smaller hole than the wire, and then squeezed the wire through for a tight seal. When the fit was complete, i put a thin bead of sealant on the outside of the grommet. Very clean looking.