Circuit Breakers & Fuses
Overview
Overview
Circuit Breakers & Fuses Overview
About Circuit Breakers & Fuses
About Circuit Breakers & Fuses
Every circuit off a battery wants one of two things at the source end: something that blows, or something that trips.
A fuse blows. It is cheap, it is simple, and when it goes it is gone, so a spare has to be somewhere in the vehicle. A circuit breaker trips. It costs more, it takes more room, and when it goes you press the button and it is back. Both have to be rated for the DC voltage and current of the circuit first. Once two options are both suitable, the choice comes down to whether you would rather carry a spare or press a button.
The cable is what catches fire, so protection is sized so the cable can never carry more than it is rated for. Where the equipment on the end specifies its own fuse, that figure applies too, and the lower of the two governs.
The fuses here run from the blade format a dash circuit uses through midi and mega for chargers and heavy accessories to ANL for inverters and battery links. Holders, blocks and inline versions to mount them. MC4 inline fuses for the solar run. The circuit breakers cover the same range in surface mount and inline waterproof formats.
Put the protection as close to the battery as the install allows. A fuse three metres from the battery is protecting three metres of cable from nothing.
And label it. A fuse block with six unmarked fuses is six fuses to pull one at a time at the side of a track. A block with six labels is thirty seconds.



