[OAC_Sparky]

konafocuswrc,Mar 13 2008, 01:18 AM Wrote:i am not here to make an enemy..[right][snapback]259910[/snapback][/right]

Not at all, neither am I. (I will admit to being a little annoyed when I wrote my last post, but that in the big picture that doesn't mean squat).

And I agree it should be all taped up as well. I 100% agree there.

Where we diverge in belief is the "safety issue". I could give you a box of fuses and you could short a fuse-protected line until the second coming and you have little concern from a safety standpoint. Fuses. Not breakers. Yes breakers can fail, but I have yet to see in my years of experience a fuse "blow improperly". WHich is why fuses are still in use even in high-end cars.

Now from a diagnostic standpoint and just good wiring practice, I see a number of problems. Unless it's a short run, (like <2') I abhor using all the same coloured wire. Coloured tape that means only something to you doesn't help the person coming after you trying to figure out your spaghetti (that's the industrial electrician in me). Personally, I'll use wire markers (labels). I prefer solder joints and shrink tubing over butt connectors. As I mentioned before, I avoid electrical tape especially in the dash, because is gets hot and the tape gets gummy and falls off.

And just to let you know where I'm coming from about the fusing issue. Sometimes, "overfusing" (if that's an actual word) presents a whole new set of issues. You should only put another fuse on a line with another fuse if (a ) the ampacity of the branch circuit is less than the feeder (ie you splice a 22 guage wire onto a 14 guage wire that's protected with a 15A fuse) or (b ) to help protect a device that has a lower rating internally (ie a sat radio that needs a 5A protection and putting a 15A on it could cause a fire). Putting a 15A fuse (at the fuesbox) in line with a 15A inline fuse (in the dash) only creates headaches because a short can cause either or both fuses to blow. It just makes things harder -- finding the fault and finding the fuses.

A perfect example is my buddy's truck cap. Someone figured it was a great idea to put a 15A inline fuse between the splice at the tail brake light and the connection to the third brake light on the cap. So when the line between the tail and the cap shorted, it blew both fuses (panel and inline). Since my buddy didn't install the cap, he had no way of knowing that there was an inline, it was taped up and tucked up deep inside the rear fender behind the taillight. Now if the installer had followed better method (the cap light only needs a 10A fuse), my buddy wouldn't have been driving around without brake lights for a week and it wouldn't have taken an hour to find the short and the fuses.

Anyways, I've whored on this thread enough. No hard feelings.