I picked up an under hood Power Distribution Box from a Ford and was wondering if anyone used one of these to power an entire car in order to replace the lame glass fuse box that Mavericks came with? The 5 prong relays and mini fuses are familiar to me but I never saw these square cartridge fuses before.
I've seen those type fuses on a site I have ordered several electrical parts. www.wiringproducts.com. Those fuses sell for abt $6.00 a piece. Im wondering abt the block u have -- Lots of wires. Are they labeled "Im assuming they are not. I assume u'll only use abt 1/4 the capacity of the block?
I was originally going to use a box from a Crown Vic Police Car but it is too much of a plug and play circuit board type designed specifically for the Crown Vic needs - This box is original for under the hood of a Ford Truck, has a ton of capacity but I see no reason it can't be transformed into a whole car fuse box - It has, what appears to be a main power wire stud - I did a little searching on the net and found the cartridge fuses for just under 3 bucks but I wonder under what circumstances would I choose to add a circuit aimed at one of these cartridge fuses over one of the mini fuses? The 5 prong relays are pretty straight forward so they will be no problem
Yes, Dave - that is what is so nice about it - all of the wires lead straight out the back of each separate fuse and relay - no epoxy at all
Where u find the cartridge fuses for that price -- I need to check that site. Did u get long runs of wire w/ the d-box? Got a pix of the back side of the box -- wud like to see what it looks like whsre the wires exit/enter?
I'm using one from a 1955 Bronco that I used to eliminate all of the fuse links and interior fuse panel. I installed 2 of the 4 slot fuse panels (aftermarket parts store variety) for the ignition powered circuits inside the car. If you can get one or two more, you can combine terminals into one box and add them in empty slots to fit your needs
Everett, I'm still trying to find that site where I saw those cartridge fuses cheaper (I believe I saw 2.79 each) but maybe I was mistaken about the type -I'll keep searching to be sure. The back of the box is perfect as far as wiring up to a car - I bought this on Ebay and the guy left nice long wires leading out of all fuses and breakers. If I was to add this to my car and then make a list of circuits, what circuits would I add to the mini spade type fuses and which ones to the cartridge fuses? ( don't know the difference in fuses) Other than the normal car circuits I will have power door locks, windows, actuators, trunk release, fuel pump, tilt nose actuators, line lock and extra lighting
I found these cartridge fuses all over Ebay such as this auction here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LITTEL-JCAS...Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d03947e8e&vxp=mtr Granted, it is for the higher amp fuses but 5 of each ( 40-50-60 amp) at 12.99 shipped is a nice deal to have these as spares. I see them all listed at 32 volts. I assume that we're talking about the maximum voltage allowed and them still working with 12 volt?
a 32 volt fuse will not work in a 12 volt setting. They won't blow. Look at it in terms of the power those fuses can load. P=IE tells us that 32*40=1280Watts, and 12*40=480Watts. Which means in order to blow those fuses at 12V you need 1280/12=106amps of current to shock through them which will most likely toast every device behind them before they actually blow.
I was thinking the fuse would still blow when an electrical spike exceeds the maximum amps the fuse is rated for? What is 32 volts on a Ford Truck?
Make sure you are indeed using Jcase cartridge fuses and not PAL cartridge fuses. All regular Jcase fuses are rated for 32VDC/VAC. Low profile Jcase fuses are 58VDC/VAC.
MSmithPDX, Fuses are rated in AMPS, not WATTS. It's all about Coulombs / sec. Also, your P=IE result is assuming a total voltage drop across the fuse. 10 points to whoever can say when that is the only case...?
While searching the net, I have come across the 2 different fuses voltages - so assuming that this box, containing the 32 volt fuses, would work on a 12 volt system, under what circumstances would I need to aim a specific accessory at those J case fuses apposed to a mini blade type?
