VP: blowing brake light fuse

[wagonist]

I recently installed a towbar & trailer wiring to my VP exec sedan.
The wiring was a factory Holden(?) harness bought from a wrecker & was previously installed into my VN Exec sedan.
The loom is a plugin between the connection on the rgiht hand side taillights.

When I plugged in my car trailer on the weekend, it started to blow the fuse.
It is a 10A as per the factory rating.
Once it had a 15A fuse in there, it all seems ok.

The car trailer has 4 brake lights & I've also repalced the taillight looms with the aftermarket type that has 4 brake/taillight globes as my original looms were corroded.

It is just that having 5 brake lights on the car (including the high mount) & 4 on the trailer was too much for the 10A fuse?
I don't like the idea of doing a dodgy fuse replacement to hide a problem.

[SweetWagon]

I recently installed a towbar & trailer wiring to my VP exec sedan.
The wiring was a factory Holden(?) harness bought from a wrecker & was previously installed into my VN Exec sedan.
The loom is a plugin between the connection on the rgiht hand side taillights.

When I plugged in my car trailer on the weekend, it started to blow the fuse.
It is a 10A as per the factory rating.
Once it had a 15A fuse in there, it all seems ok.

The car trailer has 4 brake lights & I've also repalced the taillight looms with the aftermarket type that has 4 brake/taillight globes as my original looms were corroded.

It is just that having 5 brake lights on the car (including the high mount) & 4 on the trailer was too much for the 10A fuse?
I don't like the idea of doing a dodgy fuse replacement to hide a problem.

It should have already had a 15 amp fuse in there. I worked it out that each brake globe draws about 1.7amps. So running 9 all up will draw 15 amps. But if the fuse is not blowing you should be alright. The only thing i could suggest is running LED globes on the trailer, they draw a lot less current.
Cheers

[wagonist]

The sticker on for the fuse box says it should be a 10A

Power (Watts) = Volts x Amps. Is this correct (it's good have some tech guys around occasionally)?

So 9 x 35W = 315W!!
Amps = 315 / 12 = 26A!!
or 2.8A each.

Now I've got myself real confused..

[wagonist]

oh yeah, I can replace 2 of the lights on the trailer with LEDs, which is planned as I don't trust filament globes with towing a rally car on dirt, but the other 2 lights on the trailer are actually on the towed car.
Because the trailer is small, the towed car, an Excel, hangs over the rear of it & I've made a loom so that the taillights/brake lights of it are plugged into the trailer.

[SweetWagon]

The sticker on for the fuse box says it should be a 10A

Power (Watts) = Volts x Amps. Is this correct (it's good have some tech guys around occasionally)?

So 9 x 35W = 315W!!
Amps = 315 / 12 = 26A!!
or 2.8A each.

Now I've got myself real confused..

Correct me if i'm wrong, I thought that they're only 21 watt each.

[wagonist]

Correct me if i'm wrong, I thought that they're only 21 watt each.

oops Nothing to see here, move along
I was thinking of the front fog light globe I just replaced in another of my cars.
At least that's solved why there was originally a 10A fuse.
5 x 21 = 105W = 8.75A

I feel better now (at least about upping the fuse rating)

[SweetWagon]

oops Nothing to see here, move along
I was thinking of the front fog light globe I just replaced in another of my cars.
At least that's solved why there was originally a 10A fuse.
5 x 21 = 105W = 8.75A

I feel better now (at least about upping the fuse rating)

lol that's better, my service manual says 15A, so I'd say its safe to put a 15A in there.
On another note, you rally an Excel! lol nice!.

[wagonist]

On another note, you rally an Excel! lol nice!.

not yet. I've been trying to finish it, but when your tow car blows it's engine, and your buy another for the motor & find it's in better condition, but needs a blue slip, and then all the blue slip people in your area arent' doing any because the RTA's been around doing audits.

Besides, they're cheap, fairly reliable, fairly rugged, and a lot easier to handle around the forest than the VR SS that I saw being rallied in Qld on the weekend.