zombienerd

I'm adding a Kicker HS8 hidden subwoofer to the car, but I don't want to punch a new hole in the firewall, as it is pristine. Inside the fusebox, you have the "add on" areas that you can use a bladed connector to add extras to the car. Specifically the two "BAT" lines.

My question is what is the max current load that they can handle? I'm guessing they're off the main hot line from the battery, and should be able to handle 30A a piece, but I don't want to smoke my fuse box if I'm wrong.

The amp only draws 12.5A Max, and I have a 15A fuse on the hot line for the amp, as well as the 15A fuse in the amp face itself, so it is double fused already. The hot line for the amp is 18GA from the factory, IIRC, maybe 16GA?.

I've never taken the fuse box out of an F-body, so I'm not sure what size wires feed it, just don't want to burn anything up

zombienerd

Well, I guess I answered my own question today... I installed the hot line to one of the two BAT connectors, and the remote activation line to the IGN connector. I ran the sub at full blast for about 20 minutes while I monitored wire temp (by hand :P ) and everything remained nice and cool to the touch.

sleeper84

iTrader: (1)

I powered a 400W amp pushing two 12" subs in a Cavalier for years just tapping into the fuse panel. Worked great and never had any burnt wiring problems. I did run my signal wire to the radio though, so when I turned off the radio the amp also turned off. I did drive it some just listening to the sound of the wind.

91 1LE

iTrader: (1)

The real test will be when you have all the accessories on at the same time at a stoplight. Your first indication of a problem will be when the lights dim with the turn signals or you start having overheating problems due to inadequate power to your fans. You should be ok but the entire fuse panel is fed by a single 10(?) gauge wire which is kind of small considering the kind of draw you just added in addition to everything else.

zombienerd

Well, my fan is mechanical (82 V6), not electric, so that's not an issue. I did have the headlights on, as well as the heater blower when I did the test. I didn't turn on the hazards or directionals though.

My original train of thought was they wouldn't have added accessory ports in the fuse box if it couldn't handle an extra load or two, and in the grand scheme of things, a 12A load isn't that large at 12v.

I didn't know that it was fed by a single 10GA wire, but if that is correct, I'm not too concerned. That's the exact information I was looking for.

At 12V, a 10ga wire is rated to handle 100 amps (and if it is 8, it would handle 150), which if you add up the values of all the fuses in the box, you'd see you're already well over that. But, rarely is everything in the car turned on at once, nor are you ever coming close to using the full maximum capacity of the fuses.

I might bring my meter out tomorrow and see what I'm actually drawing through each circuit, just for the heck of it, but I'm betting I'm WELL under 100 amps, even with the amp going full blast.

sleeper84

iTrader: (1)

Looking at my fuse panel in my 84 (originally a 2.8 car), the fuse panel is fed by at least 4 different 10ga wires. Some switched and some constant power, depending on the place it goes. I've got my fuse box dropped out right now looking at adding a circuit in it to power my fuel pump and torque converter clutch.

zombienerd

That's good to know. I figured there had to be at least two, as parts of the panel are switched, and parts are fed constant.

I put my meter in line with my amp today to see what it was actually drawing, and it never passed 7 amps. I didn't feel like rigging up a harness to test the rest of the fuses though, I wasn't that bored

I gotta say that little sub is just what the doctor ordered though. Never thought they'd make something so small that sounded so good.