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Date:         Sun, 14 Oct 2012 19:03:43 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Overheated wire junction on 1.9
Comments: To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <507B2FF4.8080301@turbovans.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 05:34 PM 10/14/2012, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote: >If one is going to add a fuse to a circuit that could leave you dead in >a heavy downpour at night say .. >it seems more logical to use a Circuit Breaker where it's easily accessed.. >say just inside the license plate door ( making it an anti-theft device >also ) .

Scott, remember that engine harness you sold me? A ten amp fuse would have lost you that sale (and the associated aggravation <g>) by preventing this: https://picasaweb.google.com/117189706757545167023/VanagonMeltedEngineHarness?authuser=0&feat=directlink . Wouldn't have made any difference what the weather was, the van was going no place until the entire engine harness was replaced, along with the melted relay box.

I don't think it's a good idea to use a breaker exposed in the engine compartment. Inside that wiring box it's nice and comfy and dry, unlike the rest of the engine room.

>or perhaps an Automatic Circuit Breaker ..

I think you're solving a problem that doesn't exist. ATC fuses are highly reliable in a dry environment. I *would* recommend using an ATC inline fuse holder rather than one for glass fuses, as the contact is much more reliable.

>I hope non-stock modifications like this are well documented for the >vehicle.

This one's pretty harmless, as anyone not finding voltage at the ECU relay supply will go looking in the box for it, and there's the fuse. But anyone may feel free to use the photos above to document this change if it's helpful to them. Sorry about the poor contrast on some of the text.

>More modern cars such as typical japanese ones , including Subaru, have >Slow Blow Fuses at the fuse box. >My guess is that those are there to protect the 'must have' circuits >that VW decided to leave unfused.

Same-era Japanese cars fuse pretty much everything but the starter cable. They call the high-capacity fuses at the front end of the distribution system fusible links, but they're really just plug-in fuses. What American cars in the '70s called fusible links were lengths of high-resistance wire actually built into the wiring harness. Presumably they had enough insulation that when they smoked they didn't damage the rest of the harness too badly.

Yours, David


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