Bad connections do melt fuse holders

[Savackz]

Yeah, I just made the thread to show it for people who haven't had the experience

Just confirming your thread for more people. Happened just last week.

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[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Just confirming your thread for more people. Happened just last week.
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Alright, thanks!

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Resistance + current = power dissipated.
Rich V.

yea it does cause heat, but increased resistance means decreased current flow.

i done industrial electrical for a decade. its becasue the products used are outright **** in car audio.

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

[quote name='adulbrich']I know somebody disagreed with @Massive spl; a while ago. They said that a loose connection couldn't melt a fuse holder. There wouldn't be enough heat to do it, and the fuse would probably blow before it got hot enough to melt the plastic.

Well, they were wrong. I pulled up to a stop light and all my gauges reset randomly. All the dials turned to minimum and the lights went off, then everything came back on, including my "check battery" light. When I got to school, I popped the hood and looked for a problem. I smelled something and saw the fuse was warped. The connection was loose and it had gotten hot. It burnt off all the gold plating, lol. I loosened the nut with a wrench, then went to take it off the bold with my fingers. I didn't know how hot it was and I literally heard my fingers sizzle :crap:

Then I replaced the fuse holder and fuse, making sure to tighten it down. I don't know if it vibrated loose, or I forgot to tighten it down the last time I removed it to work on electrical safely

The fuse was not blown

Melted a hole in my fuse box cover too!

[/QUOTE]
i didn't say it couldn't i said it wasn't very likely.
and then i agreeded with him that people usually dont properly install there equipment and agreed with him arcing does occur and can melt stuff.
through all the years ive hooked up 300-600 amp mains and HUGE generators ran main feeds. IVE NEVER SEEN THIS HAPPEN on the high-current side. thank god becasue 4160volt with 300 amp is a freaking killer. those generators are capible of well over 1 millon watts of output.

granted i've seen this happen in car audio becasue most people are idoits. but ive seen it from over current burping a 2500 on a 40 amp fuse..

did you even have it secured to something?

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

yea it does cause heat, but increased resistance means decreased current flow.i done industrial electrical for a decade. its becasue the products used are outright **** in car audio.

the concern with any connection is thermal. even NEC takes thermal impacts into consideration with ampacity of conductors. ampacity of conductors is limited by both ambient temperature and the U.L. listing of the termination (60, 75, or 90 deg. C.)

consider the cost difference though. consider what a U.L. listed fused 200A fused disconnect costs and the size of it. consider the size of 600V fuses. car audio is like Duplo Legos compared to commercial/industrial electronics.

arcing is a concern in industrial/commercial installations - hence the desire to do a thermo-scan of connections as a PM.

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

the concern with any connection is thermal. even NEC takes thermal impacts into consideration with ampacity of conductors. ampacity of conductors is limited by both ambient temperature and the U.L. listing of the termination (60, 75, or 90 deg. C.)
consider the cost difference though. consider what a U.L. listed fused 200A fused disconnect costs and the size of it. consider the size of 600V fuses. car audio is like Duplo Legos compared to commercial/industrial electronics.

arcing is a concern in industrial/commercial installations - hence the desire to do a thermo-scan of connections as a PM.

i am familiar with NEC guidelines. arc is of concern in high voltage applications this is why we use stress cones. the semiconducting tape used on the stresscones is there to help prevent any arcing from phase to phase by offering lower resistance than the air around the insulation.

one of hte biggest occurances in situation as above is the use of dissimilar metals in high current transfer. this was responsable for nearly 90 % of all fires.

In these cases the covnnection where toqured and passed inspection but what we/nec at the time failed ot realize that them expansion on dissimilar metals was different and enough so that over time the heat cause expansion and evently a bad connecting cause it to act as a resistor and catch fire.

i'm well aware of this i assure you. now n days this a VERY uncommon as the products made are designed to be compatible. but in the initial argument i failed to think that this **** is made in china and most people really don't have a clue what they are doing as well as what materials they are using,

for anyone interested.

What Are Stress Cones Used for? | eHow

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion here is some info on corrosion between dissimilar metals.

http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~msci301/ThermalExpansion.pdf

http://ul.com/global/documents/corporate/aboutul/publications/newsletters/electricalconnections/tcaec_summer2013.pdf

I've done alot of learning through the years and i can honestly say working on huge rigs boats an in plants I've never came across a loose connection. matter fact they are almost always over torqued.

edit if your going to be installing some serious gear you should read NEC wire and connection guidelines or you risk of catching your car on fire.

anyone remember the Pioneer truck catching on fire a few years back?

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

double post

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Blackburn #3/0 Stranded to #4 Stranded Type-BC Single Conductor 1-Hole Mount Wire Connector-BTC3104-B2-5 - The Home Depot

stop using those ****** *** car audio connectors. chances are that was you problem OP.

these are readily available at home depot and are pretty cheap. they are UL listed as well as they are a much better connection than the screw type. those are soon to be outlawed because it damages the cable and offers lower surface area as apposed to the connector linked when has a screw set that moves a sold peace of metal to wedge to another solid non moving peace on metal.

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

Only ones I buy now.https://www.vtewarehouse.com/content/electromech/fuse/html/anl/anlfuse.php

Great stuff. I've got 2 in now and 2 more to add to the front... been too lazy but that's a terrible excuse to not fuse.

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

Blackburn #3/0 Stranded to #4 Stranded Type-BC Single Conductor 1-Hole Mount Wire Connector-BTC3104-B2-5 - The Home Depotstop using those ****** *** car audio connectors. chances are that was you problem OP.

these are readily available at home depot and are pretty cheap. they are UL listed as well as they are a much better connection than the screw type. those are soon to be outlawed because it damages the cable and offers lower surface area as apposed to the connector linked when has a screw set that moves a sold peace of metal to wedge to another solid non moving peace on metal.

I personally don't like using anything but hydraulic crimped copper lugs. Not super fond of amp connections.

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

these are everybit as good as any crimpped connection. try one out for yourself. your going go love them. esp in a marine or outdoor location you can easily remove the wire to clean you connections..DX Engineering Penetrox A Anti-Oxidants DXE-P8A - Free Shipping on Most Orders Over $99 at DX Engineering

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

i didn't say it couldn't i said it wasn't very likely. and then i agreeded with him that people usually dont properly install there equipment and agreed with him arcing does occur and can melt stuff.

through all the years ive hooked up 300-600 amp mains and HUGE generators ran main feeds. IVE NEVER SEEN THIS HAPPEN on the high-current side. thank god becasue 4160volt with 300 amp is a freaking killer. those generators are capible of well over 1 millon watts of output.

granted i've seen this happen in car audio becasue most people are idoits. but ive seen it from over current burping a 2500 on a 40 amp fuse..

did you even have it secured to something?

It's very likely if it's not torqued down snug.

You've never seen this happen on the "high current side" because inspections are done and there are procedures followed to ensure that the fuses are torqued down