I'd Like to know how many people have done away with Fuses and use circuit breakers instead on there main power leads it's so much more practicle I dont know why its not more commonly done!

circuit breakers can often have a longer trip time than a fuse blowing.

They also trip for a reason usually, alot of guys will just reset them without giving them another thought. Dangreous if you have a short-circuit somewhere.....

With a fuse, if I am paying say $20 for a 250A ANL fuse, I'm going to check everything to make sure I am not shorting anywhere and going to blow another fuse!

MitsiMonsta is correct, circuit breakers usually have time curves which result in a much longer opening delay for both overload and faults.

Another thing to consider is that, on a fault, the circuit breaker has to take the punishment of opening the circuit under fault conditions, ie. it has already been partially damaged. How much has it been damaged? Who knows.

I would generally prefer to throw out a fuse as a sacrificial safety item when it blows.

Some of this is academic for low energy faults, but it is still worth thinking about.

Ken

Make's sense! My original thought into this came after finding out how hard it is to get fuse's that blow at 80amp or higher its not something that most the normal places stock!

You should always keep spare fuses in the car. At least one of each type and rating required for EVERYTHING! They always blow 60kms from the nearest town at midnight on a saturday night.

I also suggest having at least TWO fuses spare per sub amp, and I am not just talking the power fuses, don't forget the fuses that are in the amp too. So you want TWO power fuses spare per fuse that runs from your distro block to your amp (or at your battery if separate cable) and two of the newer 'blade' fuses that are in your amp (or whatever your amp takes). If you have two fuses in your amp, get FOUR (two sets).

You'll thank me for this advice one day. I blew an 60A AWG fuse (hard to get out country) on a long trip. I simply pulled in at the next town, swapped the fuses, went on my merry way with tunes.

I asked the local servo owner if he had any of 'these fuses'. His reply was along the lines of (cleaned up for AMC consumption) "Bloody Hell, I've never seen a fuse that big in my life before!! What the damnation is it out of?" A 60A AWG isn't a big fuse by most standards....

Showed him my travelling mate's 250A ANL Wafer and he nearly had a heart attack. Of course he wanted to know what we needed them for, then preceded to deafen him.

I dunno

I happen to use a circuit breaker, and lucky enough, I've never blown a fuse or tripped my c/b ever.....*touch wood*

But honestly, each has their pro's and con's. You also need to watch out for el-cheapo fuse/fuseholders which can have quite a bit of resistance.

i trust a fuse more, but each to their own, no big deal either way as long as you have something close to the battery.

Big cables and small fuses is the best bet.

I think a circuit breaker on the main power line is fine as long as you have a distrabution block with fuses going to your amps if there is a fault your amps will still be protected and you have the added advantave of being able to quickly open circuit your whole system. the only other problem I can fosee is maybe a direct shot from the main power line to the chasis in a accident or some other frreak mistake! in which case the circuit breaker will still trip and the only thing likely to be affected is the battery which shouldnt be anywhere near as expensive as your precious amps!!!