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Message
It makes sense that there might be a
"spike" of output from time to time (particularly just as the unit comes on
line). Since the alternator B+ cable for that unit should be awg 4 or 6
(minimum) and the purpose of the fuze is protecting the adjacent wires in the
harness from collateral damage if the B+ shorts and tries to melt down, a
130-140 A fuze wouldn't be the least unreasonable.
I'm using #2
wire, and they do make a 140A fuse of the same type. The new alt
is only 55A, and I plan to rewire some of this when I make the change, so
I'll pick an appropriate fuse size then.
On another
fuse note, does anyone know how many amps a starter really pulls?
<... My leading theory is fatigue
...>
My guess is that if the fuze near the break is all smoky looking
it's not fatigue :o)
Correct, it's
smoky, but I can't tell if it's 100A smoke, or 30A smoke. If the fuse
element starts to crack, it will have less area to conduct, and will "blow" at a
lower than rated amperage.
I'm trying to visualize a dainty, flimsy
100 amp fuze. Help me out here :o)
Attached is a picture of an ANL-100 fuse. The metal is less
than 1/16" thick, and is solid from one end to the other. In other words,
the "element" is just the part of the flat metal stock that they didn't cut
away. The plastic body is attached via the two pop-rivets that you
see, and that provides the only mechanical support for the
element. This type of fuse is designed to be mounted
in a ridged fuse holder, but I made my own support bracket to allow it to bolt
directly to the alternator B
terminal.
I plan to move the fuse to a proper fuse
holder during the rev-2 rebuild, and if it continues to give me trouble
now, I'll just bypass the fuse altogether. Truth be told,
I originally didn't install the fuse, then decided to put it on. I'm
still not sure it does more good than
harm.
John, I
don't follow the aero-electric list, but I did look around for the posts you
mentioned. I didn't see them right off, and I can't really imagine sizing
a fuse smaller than the alternator output rating. If you can find those
posts in the archive, tell me what the subject line was, and I'll take a
look.
Thanks,
Rusty
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