do you need a fused distro block?

[mikeyboc 10+ year member]

Do you need a fused distro block? What benefit is there for/against?

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[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

benefit=extra protection from a power surge. do you NEED it ===>no as long as your power wire is fused close to the battery and then i normally fuse the wire from the distro to the amp for slightly less then what the amps fuses add up to.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

For an install to be safely wired, you have to fuse for the current capacity of the wire. Your underhood fuse and the fuses at the distro block are not there primarily to protect your amps, they are there to protect your car. Whenever you step down in wire size you need to make sure that your fusing is correct for the smallest wire, so for example, if you have 1/0 wire running from the battery back to the distro lock and the underhood fuse is 200A and you split it at a distro lock into several 4 ga wires, you should fuse the 4ga as close as possible to the split. The idea is that if there is a short, a fuse will blow before the current capacity of a wire is exceeded. Exceed the current capacity of a wire and it will heat up tremendouly and melt through its jacket and damage the surrounding parts of the car at the least and start a fire and burn the car to the ground at the worst.

 

[kballa422 10+ year member]

how do u determine what size fuse to use?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

how do u determine what size fuse to use?

Based on the gauge of wire you are running out of the distro block.