HELP NEEDED: 12V outlet fuse blown

[breaux_tC]

ok so i was messing around with my leds that are connected to the 12v outlet and accidently hit the positive with a ground and i heard the fuse blow or whatever it does when it dies

anyway, i understand that the fuse is located in a "yellow capsule" from what ive read in another thread but is this "yellow capsule" located in the back of the waterfall area?

can i put in a fuse with more power to increase the wattage that the 12v outlet can use?

[ack154]

There is a fuse panel under the left side of the steering wheel. As well as one under the hood. The 12v one is likely the former though. I don't have my manual in front of me to tell you which one though.

[breaux_tC]

i checked both and every fuse looked to be fine...

[ack154]

You could pull up the waterfall and see what's there then... it's simple enough that it shouldn't be too much of a PITA just to check.

I don't know about any capsule for that fuse... but I haven't had to look into it though.

[jsg93085]

check the 15A fuse underneath the dash. its the CIG one.

[breaux_tC]

jsg93085 wrote: check the 15A fuse underneath the dash. its the CIG one.

will do

[breaux_tC]

thanks for the help, for some reason i thought my buddy i was workin with checked that fuse box... well anyway, i replaced the broken 15 with a 30, any harm in that?

[rcf22]

Short answer: it depends :)

Longer answer: It depends on what you're running off of that fuse. The purpose of the fuse is to protect what you're running behind it from excessive current that could damage the components.

If what you're running off of that fuse shouldn't be drawing more than 15A and you blew a 15A fuse, something is wrong. Say you have 10 LEDs in parallel that each draw .02A (.2A total current draw), you have a problem if the fuse blew. But if you're trying to power something that requires 20A of current, using a 30A fuse is OK.

A general rule of fuses is you always want to use a fuse that's rated slightly higher than your expected current draw. That way when something cause wrong and higher current is drawn, your $.10 fuse blows before your $500 audio equipment does.

[breaux_tC]

rcf22 wrote: Short answer: it depends :)

Longer answer: It depends on what you're running off of that fuse. The purpose of the fuse is to protect what you're running behind it from excessive current that could damage the components.

If what you're running off of that fuse shouldn't be drawing more than 15A and you blew a 15A fuse, something is wrong. Say you have 10 LEDs in parallel that each draw .02A (.2A total current draw), you have a problem if the fuse blew. But if you're trying to power something that requires 20A of current, using a 30A fuse is OK.

A general rule of fuses is you always want to use a fuse that's rated slightly higher than your expected current draw. That way when something cause wrong and higher current is drawn, your $.10 fuse blows before your $500 audio equipment does.

i gotcha
im currently running 4 exterior LED tubes, 2 upper grille tubes, 4 interior tubes, 3 control boxes, and 2 rocker switches with a very small LED
probly too much but whats a good alternative power source

[rcf22]

Well there's nothing wrong with what you've done really. I might just split up where I'm drawing my power into separate fuses. Maybe one fuse for the exterior lighting and one for the interior or something like that. I honestly have no idea how much current most of those things draw, so it's hard for me to estimate what your fuse should be, but I'm guessing you'll be ok running them all on a 30A.

[breaux_tC]

yeah thats what i figure seeing that all of those had been running fine on the 15a til yesterday so im just gunna give it a run with the 30a
thanks for all of the help though