So, today I out grew some of my car audio gear.

Post by **mr tibbs** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:20 pm

I had a HO alt installed today and when the mechanic called me up to tell me it was done he also told me that he had blown the fuse in the upgrade wire that I had provided for him. He told me that he tested the alt before he installed it and at idle it was pushing around 100 amps. He said I probobly would want to replace that fuse with a bigger one. No big deal I thought, but upon further research AGU fuses only go up to 60 amps I believe. I had to scramble and buy an ANL fuse holder with the bigger ANL fuses to get up to a bigger fuse! I can no longer use any of my AGU fuse holders!! I never thought that I would be running enough juice to warrant anything bigger than the AGU's, I guess I was wrong! I now have 2 ANL's under the hood, I'm still not sure if this is a good thing or not!

Hontzo_MD · Post by **Hontzo_MD** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:35 pm

What are you running to warrant dual ANL fuses under the hood. I have a single 200 amp fuse running my 1/0 wire at the battery.

slc72005 · Post by **slc72005** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:46 pm

agu can be found in 00 amp ones

Post by **mr tibbs** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:46 pm

I have 1 ANL going to the 1\0 that feeds my amps and now I have to get a 2nd for the HO alt. If the AGU's went up to 125-150 I would just use what I have.

Hontzo_MD · Post by **Hontzo_MD** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:14 pm

Or you could just get the resetable circuit breaker, makes working on the system a very simple push of the button. Really though, unless you have major electrical issues you should never pop the fuse. I typically only kept 200 amp ones in stock. They are pricy but in the long run a good investment. Do yourself a favor, dont cheap it. Get a good waterproof one.

Post by **stipud** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:05 pm

Agreed... you really should get a circuit breaker between the alternator and battery. Just imagine if you blew the fuse on the highway somewhere... after a couple of minutes on your battery, you will have no charge, and you will be stranded.

Post by **mr tibbs** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:05 pm

Hontzo_MD wrote:Or you could just get the resetable circuit breaker, makes working on the system a very simple push of the button. Really though, unless you have major electrical issues you should never pop the fuse. I typically only kept 200 amp ones in stock. They are pricy but in the long run a good investment. Do yourself a favor, dont cheap it. Get a good waterproof one.

Yeah buddy, I'm way ahead of ya! I allready ordered one with (2) 150 ANL fuses. Nice and waterproof, just like the other one. I really try to do things right the first times so I don't have to do things twice, but every now and then things happen. Like as soon as summer hits I'm going to redo my whole trunk!

Post by **mr tibbs** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:08 pm

stipud wrote:Agreed... you really should get a circuit breaker between the alternator and battery. Just imagine if you blew the fuse on the highway somewhere... after a couple of minutes on your battery, you will have no charge, and you will be stranded.

Ummm, nope, that is why you add to the existing wires instead of replace them. Right now I am running on the existing wire because I'm out of AGU fuses. Basically I just did this to get home. I rarely even drive the car on the weekdays anymore.

Post by **stipud** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:10 pm

So the point of running one fused and one unfused connection to the same terminal is...?

Post by **mr tibbs** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:15 pm

stipud wrote:So the point of running one fused and one unfused connection to the same terminal is...?

Backup to get you home!

Honestly I'm not quite sure. I have always done my "Big 3" wires like this. I guess that is just how I understood it, add to the existing wires, not replace. It really did save my ass tonight. The mechanic I go to is about 75 miles from my house. If I didn't have that existing wire hooked up I probobly would not have made it home!

Post by **stipud** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:29 pm

This is why I just run unfused power from the alternator. There's no stock fuse, so why add one now?

http://photo.stipud.com/stereo/saab/battery-connect.JPG

The factory alternator wire is disconnected from the new alternator. It is only there to provide power to the external regulator.

Better safe than sorry I suppose, unless that safety is what makes you sorry, which sucks too.. Hrm.

dedlyjedly · Post by **dedlyjedly** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 10:40 pm

i'm pretty sure that the factory wires in most vehicles between the alternator and battery have fusible links for circuit protection.

Hontzo_MD · Post by **Hontzo_MD** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:51 am

Ive upgraded several of my vehicles, I dont remember pulling out fusible from any of them. Ok, so In theory if you have both a fused and unfused wire on the same path you are going to have some serious shit go down if it goes out. The rating on those fuses is they will take a spike of 200% for a certain amount of time,( a few seconds) if that happens and you have a short, that wire is typically going to melt down potentially causing more issues. The current is going to take the path of least resistance. End result=FIRE. FIRE=BAD.

Post by **mr tibbs** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 1:33 pm

Well, today I got the new fuse holder in and low and behold, the system is louder!! I must have been starving the amps pretty bad.

O'well, now I feel a lot more comfortable upgrading the x600.1 to a x1200.1.

Mastiff · Post by **Mastiff** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:38 pm

mr tibbs wrote:Well, today I got the new fuse holder in and low and behold, the system is louder!! I must have been starving the amps pretty bad. O'well, now I feel a lot more comfortable upgrading the x600.1 to a x1200.1.

keep the 600

Post by **mr tibbs** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 7:07 pm

Mastiff wrote:
mr tibbs wrote:Well, today I got the new fuse holder in and low and behold, the system is louder!! I must have been starving the amps pretty bad. O'well, now I feel a lot more comfortable upgrading the x600.1 to a x1200.1.
keep the 600

Not really an option, the 1200.1 is allready on the way. I am curious as to why you think I should keep the 600.1 though.

jkrob21 · Post by **jkrob21** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 8:17 pm

dedlyjedly wrote:i'm pretty sure that the factory wires in most vehicles between the alternator and battery have fusible links for circuit protection.

Iv'e never seen a fuse on the charge wire from alt to battery on any car that Iv'e worked on.

Interesting Idea though.

dedlyjedly · Post by **dedlyjedly** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 10:45 pm

not a fuse, but an actual section of the wire that is designed to fail before the remainder of the circuit and thus open the circuit just like a normal fuse. if it went, there would still be damage that has to be repaired, but it would keep the entire cable from going up in flames.

here's a link to better describe what i'm talking about
http://www.carcare.org/Electrical/fusible_link.shtml
i didn't realize that manufacturers have all but done away with this type of circuit protection. they can be so hard to pinpoint that i didn't even notice they're not utilized anymore.

hawaiianbasshead · Post by **hawaiianbasshead** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 9:13 pm

Hontzo_MD wrote:What are you running to warrant dual ANL fuses under the hood. I have a single 200 amp fuse running my 1/0 wire at the battery.

a single one of my autotek mm4000.1ds draws around 400amps... I ran two. does this warrant me a dual anl holder?

I actually used no fuses even at amps for that

or for my extra batts...