GTA88

I am going thru so many fuses as I disconnect accy after accy, that I thought it might be smart to spend $3 or $4 for a 20 amp circuit breaker and use it in the 20 amp fuse slot, that I am trying to track down the short for.

The circuit breaker instructions say it is automatically resettable. Does that mean it waits to cool down, then lets 20 amps through again ?


Is it safe to use a circuit breaker where a fuse usually goes ?

Thanks



------------------
88 GTA Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder than normal.

The ODB

man what a pain.
how safe depends on how fast-acting the breaker is. It is a good idea but you have to wait for it to reset.
man I'm not sure what I'd do.

I would be tempted to bring a battery (grounded) into the driver floorboard and bypass the fusepanel, taking the wire right to the battery and letting it fry whatever the culprit was just to find it quick. Of course I would have the carpet pulled up and a fire-extinguisher ready.
That would NOT be the best way to find the short, and may cause other damage, so I'm not really advising it. Just saying that if I went days of testing and my frustration level was high enough I'd probably do it to my own car.
You should be able to find the problem before that point though.
A slightly higher amp-rated circuit breaker may help you out. I wouldn't go much over 30 amps or you risk damage to the fuse panel and local wiring.
Sorry you are having one of those b*tch problems.

ODB

GTA88

Well, I MAY (fingers crossed) have fixed it anyway, so no need for circuit breaker. As I was looking for the horn relay, which I found hidden under a big panel I removed, I moved some wires to the left of the fuse box, and saw and heard SPARKS !! The left metal bar of the fuse box was rubbing up against the big black sheath of wires that goes right next to it. I pushed on the sheath again and it sparked again and this time blew out the 20 amp accy fuse. Aha ! Funny, I never got the wires to spark before, but whatever... So, I loosened up the panel by removing the 2 screws holding it to the metal frame, and justt let it hang there by the wiring above it. The 10 amp gage fuse , in the same row, also blew. I put a new 20 amp fuse in, and 10 amp, moved the wires around, and no sparks, with the fuse box just hanging loose.

So I put electrical tape around the left metal bar that was rubbing against the sheath, screwed the fuse box back onto the frame, pushed the wires around, and now the 20 amp blew again !!! No bare wires anywhere. Nothing is actually rubbed down to bare wire, as far as I can see, but when I screw the fuse panel down, zap ! So, for now, I am letting the fuse panel hang loosely from 2 bread bag twisties (high tech)

If this works, and the fuses stop blowing, I'm not touching it anymore !!!

GTA88

------------------
88 GTA Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder than normal.