Circuit Breakers

[DiB 10+ year member]

Just a lil fyi that I recently learned about. You don't have to use fuses in a car, for a little bit more money you can install circuit breakers up to 150a I think it was. I was exploring options to rewire my car more efficiently when I found this out. It's actually quite nice cause one actually popped the other day and all I had to do was flip a switch and I was good to go again.

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[worm 10+ year member]

nice right

 

[missionpilot 10+ year member]

i thought about doing that, does it really work all that well, are there any ups or downs to it?

 

[forbidden 10+ year member]

They work just fine, I've used them for years.

 

[MXJMR 10+ year member]

I own a 200amp and its the only way to go. Say u have a basic aue fuse and u melt it, if u had a circuit it prolly wouldnt trip but if it did u just reset it. Like heaven //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/toast.gif.bc0657bf54b9ee653b6438524461341e.gif

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Watchit guys.... the fuse police will be dropping by here any minute to tell you how circuitbreakers are unreliable and dangerous and don't belong in your car.

Don't use cheap ones.. make sure they're UL listed. Protect them from water. Or use sealed ones and they'll last for years.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Watchit guys.... the fuse police will be dropping by here any minute to tell you how circuitbreakers are unreliable and dangerous and don't belong in your car.

What's your badge number?

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cop.gif.57eb2cc10a7efd04d31083ca3c30d53c.gif

Your main fuse it there to protect the car, not your gear. It is meant to be the weak link in the power wire between the battery and your distribution system and protect your car from fire should you manage to short the power wire to ground. Without something to stop the flow of current you will melt your power wire and possibly start a fire. Best case is you will destroy your power wire and anything it was touching up to the short.

If you are blowing your system fuse regularly, you are doing something wrong or not using big enough a fuse.

The risk with breakers is when the contacts start to pit and wear. Exposure to the elements will corrode the contacts. They will then start to trip early as the degraded contact heats up prematurely. If the breaker trips or is used as a switch multiple times, then the contacts will arc and pit. Same problem as above. Worst case is the breaker arcs and welds itself closed. You won't ever know that this has happened until it is too late.

If you want to use a breaker in your system, that is up to you. I will not use them. I don't blow main fuses regularly (ever, actually), so there is no savings as far as money goes. I use good install practices ie. power cables away from exhaust components, grommets when going through metal, cables run inside the car, etc... If something does happen though (car accident comes to mind) I don't want to chance a fire because the breaker is bad. Just me though.

 

[LSCCEO 10+ year member]

A quality breaker is DEFINITELY the only way to go. The shop I work for uses a 140 amp circuit breaker for a display "power switch" and have been using the same one for about 5 or 10 years. But I have to agree with HeloTaxi, you really shouldn't be blowing fuses more than every year or so. I have had my fuses in the block for 3 years now and have NEVER had one blow.

 

[80_Cutlass_mn 10+ year member]

Speaking of which I just got through installing a Buss Fuses Automotive 40 Amp automatic cycling circuit breaker in my car not 15 minutes ago. Got it at Advance for 3 bucks but I had to do something, my other atc fuse holder was starting to melt with two amps on it but im not pulling much power, I had a 30 amp fuse in that holder and it never blew but the holder itself had alot of resistance and it was melting the plastic on the fuse and the holder itself so I just picked up one of these babies. I dont think I will have to worry about it too much though, since I doubt I will ever be pulling enough current through that 8 gauge wire to pop the breaker.

 

[scottrc5391 10+ year member]

I don't disagree with you about the great reliability of fuses, but I find nothing wrong with circuit breakers. I mean, if circuit breakers are the primary electrical protection in houses, then they must be good enough for cars. I use my circuit breaker as a switch for when I mess with the amp and although this isn't their intended function, I don't see how this could really hurt it. I mean, most people with breakers in their cars probably have them because they have blown a lot of fuses and run a lot of power. Why would they make the breakers so cheap that they can't be thrown many times (or switched) and still be reliable/safe. Seems like one of their main purposes. Maybe it would be a good idea to put a main fuse (bigger than breaker, but less current capability than battery/alt. could produce) just incase the breaker wasn't thrown? The most careless thing people do is to fuse near the amp instead of within inches to the + on the battery and some people don't fuse at all. I say a breaker is good enough (and should be better it seems if they behave like house breakers and you pay $20+ for one), but that is my opinion.