scott12v@pghaudi

I will be relocating the battery in my Coupe and have a couple of questions regarding fuses.

I have read that you *must* have a fuse near the battery and you *should* also have a fuse in the engine compartment. This isn't a problem because I am planning to put an inline fuse in the back near the battery and use a fused distribution block in the engine bay. The main question I have is how large should the fuses be? I've seen people say anywhere from 60 amps to 175 amps.

I know some will probably argue that the front fuse is not needed, but I am going to do it anyway and just want to know what size to use. The distribution block that I want to use can only take up to a 100 amp fuse. Is this enough or should I be looking at a different distribution block?

Thanks,
Scott

WYSIWYG

fuse? for what scenario?

xr4tic

That usually happens during the winter, when everything is cold, and you have nice thick oil.

The best way to do it is to run two wires.

One wire for the starter, and the other for everything else.

The starter wire would have a solenoid on it, so it's only active while cranking. The other wire would power everything else, and be fused, maybe 100 amp or so.

scott12v@pghaudi

Almost anything you read will tell you that you should have some sort of fuse close to the battery.

It is much rarer that you will see people reccomend to put a fuse at the other end, but those that do seem to be very adamant.

scott12v@pghaudi

I really don't want to run a second wire so maybe I'll look into getting one of the 300 amp fuses for near the battery and having a non-fused distribution box with a 100 amp fuse on the non-starter wire.

WYSIWYG

then again everyway you look at it there is always a big fat un-fused positive cable exposed to shorting out in a major accident.

i'm sure audiophiles have a better reason

squidix9

<center><img src="http://members.verizon.net/~vze4phja/images/boot3sm.jpg"></center><p>If you crash hard enough to mash the battery in the boot, you've got bigger problems to worry about than fire.

If mine were to get pushed that far in, my fuel cell would be in my lap for starters.

You can see it's mounted between the strut towers. probably the safest place to be.

If you have too many connections inline with the battery you're just asking for trouble.

scott12v@pghaudi

I'm not sure how many of you subscribe to the Autospeed online car journal, but if you don't it is worth checking out. There is an incredible amount of great material on the site.

Anyway, in their latest issue, they discuss battery relocation. I don't want to copy the entire article here because you are supposed to pay for it, but here is an excerpt that tells me what I need to know:

"A Blue Sea Systems 75 amp circuit breaker is mounted on the side of the box. Without a circuit breaker or fuse, any short-circuit that develops between the battery and the original fusible link in the engine bay has the potential to cause a fire. The breaker can tolerate twice its rated current for 10 seconds, allowing its rating to be lower than the starter motor current draw."

I'm still planning to use a fuse rather than a circuit breaker, but I am now leaning towards using just one 200 amp fuse near the battery and a regular distribution block up front.<ul><li><a href="http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_1843/article.html">Autospeed article (subscription required)</a></li></ul>

xr4tic

over time they heat up, and every time they trip, they get easier and easier to trip.

A 200 amp fuse would probably be fine, just make sure to tape a couple extras under the battery box lid.

scott12v@pghaudi

I don't know why, but I really didn't trust the circuit breaker idea as much.