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A 100 A fuze is pretty stout. There was a recent bit on the Velocity
forum to the effect that a 60 amp alternator needs an 80 amp fuze at a
minimum. If your alternator is over 75 A, you might want to go to a 120 A
fuze. I think current limiters are only supposed to come into play if you
get a dead short in the alternator output so some overkill (as much as 30%-40%)
shouldn't hurt. I'm installing a 100 A fuze to protect my [allegedly] 75 A
alternator.
How big is your alternator anyway ... Jim S.
The
alternator is 100A, and I originally wondered if a 100A fuse would be
enough. As you mentioned, I had a larger fuse than the
alternator rating on my RV-8. I decided to try the 100A fuse here, since I
figured I'd never have reason to draw that much current. If the
battery had been more run down than usual today, or there was some other
reason to suspect that I would have been requiring extra current from the
alternator, then I'd figure the fuse was too small. As is, it's still sort
of a mystery for now.
My leading
theory is fatigue. The fuse is flimsy, and I have a bracket built to
keep it from flexing. While this looks like it would work, I can't be
sure that it doesn't still vibrate, and flex a tiny amount.
If that's the case, it may have just fatigued the element until it cracked, and
lost capacity. I'll probably find out more
tomorrow.
FWIW, there
will be some changes in the fuse installation for the rev-2
arrangement. For now, if it works OK tomorrow, I'll just
continue flying it and will keep a close watch on the volt meter.
Even with my draggy cowl and lack of wheel pants, I'm never more than 9 minutes
from the edge of my test area to my home
airport.
Cheers,
Rusty
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