Hey Glass, Isaac, others... circuit breaker vs. inline fuse question.

 

Silver Member
Username: Jbailey

Indianapolis, Indiana

Post Number: 188
Registered: Mar-05
Hey guys, I am getting ready to rewire my system with 1/0 gauge power and ground cable. I would like to know if there is any drawback to using a circuit breaker, by the battery, rather than an inline fuse holder? I know the obvious advantage to using a circuit breaker is not having to replace fuses, but are there any negatives? Also, my amps have built-in fuses so do I need any other fusing outside of the one under the hood by the battery? Lastly, should the fuse/circuit breaker by the battery be rated just higher than what my amps should require or should it correspond to how much current the 1/0 gauge wire can handle (100A compared to 200A+)? Thanks for the help.
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 4442
Registered: Nov-04
Justin, as long as the circuit breaker can handle the everyday weather, it's a good idea. It'll save you having to replace the fuse every time it blows.
However, the circuit breakers cost 3x - 5x more.
The fuse size should equal all the devices attached to the power wire.
 

Silver Member
Username: Jbailey

Indianapolis, Indiana

Post Number: 189
Registered: Mar-05
Thanks Isaac. I am going to have two amps (PPI AX400 and Zapco 500.1) which have 30 and 40 amp built-in fuses, respectively, a one farad capacitor, and two unfused distribution blocks to split 1/0 ga to 4 ga for the amps. Nothing else will be hooked up to the power wire, so should I just make sure the circuit breaker/ inline fuse is rated high enough for the amps (maybe around 100A) or should it be higher because of the other stuff? Thanks again buddy.

P.S. - Hey just out of curiosity, do you think I need 1/0 ga wire given the two amps I mentioned above will be the only ones I use, and the wire will be running about 12-15 feet in my 2002 Honda Civic Si hatchback?
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 4453
Registered: Nov-04
If you're not planning on upgrading to higher powered amps in the future, then 4 gauge will nicely.
Although going to 0 gauge won't hurt anything but your wallet.
As for fuse, you can make it slightly higher. The main purpose of the fuse near the battery it to protect the car from catching fire if one of the power wire got cut or shorted to ground.
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