USE a FUSE

[coo dawg]

The other night me and a couple of mates thought it would be a good opportunity to do some random work on our commodores.......

Long story short, I was hooking up one 30cm Cathode directly to my battery. However after wiring it up, it blew a fuse straight away, WTF.

Happened again with another higher voltage one! So being new to the whole auto sparky scene we tried it without a fuse. BIG MISTAKE!

Hooked it up, then the wires started melting ??????? FAAAARK FIRE. Wires lit up in seconds. I watched the flames follow the wire through a hole in the firewall into the cabin!

Luckily we put it out. But all I could see in my mind was my VT going up in flames ahah. It just burnt a bit of carpet and put sticky wire crap in the engine bay.

It was wired up to a lighted switch which i think was the problem, the terminals i used might have been touching.. and yes it was all earthed.

So yeah kids use a fuse ahahaha.

Any one else had an experience such as this??

COOEY

[PanthaVS]

correct me if im wrong... but arent Lead acid batteries capable of instantaneous 400Amps if shorted?

[coo dawg]

i dunno dude??

[DVSV8]

i managed to weld a screwdriver to my amp years ago lol. i was tightening the positive cable and i accidently touched the body of the amp. zap. the fuse worked but took a couple of seconds. amp stopped working too. replaced the fuse and took the amp apart and resoldered the fried power wire and away it goes. i still use the same amp 5 years later on my VY!

[daron]

at work i see heaps ppl put their amp fuses in the boot nut under the bonnet and i tell them its not a good idea they shrug their shoulders
and for the record it takes 5 secs to melt wires from battery to boot and make carpet catch fire
so if your doing 100 on freeway youll be on fire b4 you get a chance to pull over and go wtf is this

[coo dawg]

ahah yeah man, it took like 2 secs to get from the battery to the footwell in mine.

[daron]

even though its 12 v man it goes up fast hehehe

[VrWagz1]

Originally Posted by PanthaVS

correct me if im wrong... but arent Lead acid batteries capable of instantaneous 400Amps if shorted?

Dont fully quote me but i think it is in the thousands on the instantanious front.

[Phreddy]

You're right VrWagz - THOUSANDS of amps for an instant, if the short is low enough resistance - before the out-gassing builds up too much hydrogen pressure in the battery and it explodes! (I haven'te ever seen this happen, but a mechanic mate of mine told me about it happening when a bloke dropped a spanner across a pair of terminals - it welded itself to the battery terminals, a few second later the battery showered acid all over the workshop...)

Always - no, ALWAYS - use a fuse, and as close to the battery as possible. Don't doubt for a second that there's enough energy stored in your battery to set fire to your ride literally within seconds - as Daron suggested if you're mobile at the time, it's already well on fire by the time you pull up. All you have time to do is bail out and RUN!

[immortality]

Originally Posted by Phreddy

as Daron suggested if you're mobile at the time, it's already well on fire by the time you pull up. All you have time to do is bail out and RUN!

this is the exact reason i keep a fire exstinguisher in the front passanger foot well and not in the boot

[DVSV8]

Originally Posted by immortality

this is the exact reason i keep a fire exstinguisher in the front passanger foot well and not in the boot

its a good idea but i find fire extinguishers butt ugly. so i keep mine in the boot. the way i figure, better to have one in the boot than none at all

[PanthaVS]

ahhh... gotta love Lead-Acid batteries! :P

the fuse should always be pretty much ON the battery! :P (really i mean within a foot of cable, but i like to exaggerate to get a point across)

fire extingiushers are a good idea for people running amps... but consider your boot is on fire... and thats where a (pressurised) fire extinguisher is.... 1. can you get to it past the flames.... 2. will it explode if you cant?!

the fire extinguisher should be a PRACTICAL addition to your motor vehicle... NOT a "look good" addition... hence... it will never look good in the cabin... but it will be practical!

:-)

[DannyboyDS]

they can be hidden or disguised though.