Fuse question

[TWF 10+ year member]

Do i need a fuse between a second battery and the stock? I know i need one between the batt. and amp.

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[dkguitarist 5,000+ posts]

yes. you don't want a short in a 15+foot wire and no fuse to cut it off from the other battery and it blows up and catches your car on fire.

 

[TWF 10+ year member]

i think the wire will be less than 10' (Ranger ext cab) What size fuse? I will be using a hifonics brutus bxi 1606d amp. I bought a streetwires 2 gauge kit for $65. it has a 250 anl fuse. Should i use that in between the batteries or between the amp and battery?

 

[dkguitarist 5,000+ posts]

use that fuse at the battery under the hood if you don't already have it fused. then just get another 250A anl fuse for the second battery. just fuse to the wire's maximum current draw. i'd fuse with a 10 foot run to another battery.

 

[Symon_say 10+ year member]

the use of a fuse in a cable is not to protect the equipment hook at the end of the cable is to portect the car is of short circuit, every time run a + cable you should fuse it with the cable gauge fuse to avoid posible fire.

this means if you run a cable from a battery to anywhere fuse it, if you use a distribution block for various amp an they are dif gauge size fuse every size you have, protect your car and protect you from a possible fire in the wrse casenario.

 

[spin dB 10+ year member]

You don't need one but it is a good idea. YOu can be a little safer by wiring the second batt into a closed circuit. that is run pos to pos on the second batt and then run neg to neg on the batt. if you do this you don't have to run a fuse,because you are not charging the frame of your car but it is still a good idea to put one in on the pos of the loop.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

You don't need one but it is a good idea. YOu can be a little safer by wiring the second batt into a closed circuit. that is run pos to pos on the second batt and then run neg to neg on the batt. if you do this you don't have to run a fuse,because you are not charging the frame of your car but it is still a good idea to put one in on the pos of the loop.

what? if the wire from batt 1 pos to batt 2 pos comes off and shorts to the car, what do YOU think will happen?//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blackeye.gif.66a1670f5aaf7f406e783a63e3387dc5.gif

there SHOULD be a fuse at each end of a + batt run from the front of the vehicle to the rear.

 

[spin dB 10+ year member]

AS I said it is a good Idea. If you do the install the second batt into a closed circuit and you make sure that your connections are tight and that you have made sure the terminals on both batts fits the posts snuggly then you should not have to run another set of fuses. This is true! I didn't say that it is the best option. His question what does he have to and the answer is No! However it is a good Idea. If you run the fuse and run it in a closed loop then you are more safe than if you just run the closed loop or if you just run the fuse!

Contrary to popular belief power does NOT run from Pos to Neg but the other way around. If you connect the second batt the same way most connect an amp then you are charging the frame of the vehicle with another 12v power supply. If your amps are grounded to the car and not to the neg on the batt then you are also charging the frame. In line fuses don't do anything for the amps, they are only there to protect the car in case of a electrical shock. If you run the amp's ground to the car and then do the same with a batt you will have to run even larger fuses to protect your car.

 

[Symon_say 10+ year member]

of course you dont have to put a fuse, you can install a 20k watts system without fuses, but if you have a short in your car be prepare to look for the extinguisher or have 911 on hand.

the fuses are protection of a cable, you can install it a dont fuse the problem is if you have an accident and one of your + cable get loose you're in trouble, the best way to install anything on your car is to put a fuse smaller than the maximun amp of the cable, so if the cable get lose and start to fry the fuse burn up and stops everything.

 

[coolahan 10+ year member]

battery bombs can get pretty nasty

 

[spin dB 10+ year member]

of course you dont have to put a fuse, you can install a 20k watts system without fuses, but if you have a short in your car be prepare to look for the extinguisher or have 911 on hand.
the fuses are protection of a cable, you can install it a dont fuse the problem is if you have an accident and one of your + cable get loose you're in trouble, the best way to install anything on your car is to put a fuse smaller than the maximun amp of the cable, so if the cable get lose and start to fry the fuse burn up and stops everything.

This doesn't stop everything all it does is keeps the power (only under optimum conditions) from traveling down any further, the lose conection still has power, it can no longer travel down the wire but if you have a ground connected to the frame in any way then the fuse will not necessarily help!