The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Fuseible Link - is it smart???

I put a new wiring harness on my '54, am concerned about the main power wire from the starter going into the dash. If anything in the dash short-circuits, that main wire is going to burn.

I found a 14ga fuse link at the parts store and want to install it on the end of main power wire that connects to the battery cable at the starter.

I ask: have others done this before? Is it a good thing? Will it cause problems? Am I overly concerned? Don

I think a 14 Gauge will be a little small for the load, especially if you're running an alternator. If you're running the charging current through the original dash-mounted ammeter, I'd reccomend a 10 gauge fuse link instead. It will still burn out in case of a major short, but it won't fail in case of a heavy charging surge immediately after starting. I've seen alternators produce spikes of close to 100 amps (full stator capacity) just as the engine starts after cranking for several seconds, particularly in cold-weather starting situations. BTW, you can also increase the capacity by doubling up on the 14 gauge links, running two of them in parallel to each other.
Jerry

Thanks Jerry,

I've got the original 6v system with generator. The harness has a 10 ga to the battery hot connection. Two web site are telling me to use a 14 ga fuse link. I think I'll go with that and see how well it works out. Don

if you are running a stock system w/ ammeter jerry is correct
i run about 5 fusable link to various componants
2-fan
1-low beam
1-high beam
1-fog lamps
these run from a '12v post' to 5 relays
fusible links run 4 wire gauges smaller than the wire you have in the circuit.http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/hweb1.pdf
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=2650080-R2-026-11A.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=4495365-R1-022-9A_1.jpg
http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/hweb1.pdf

Jim, Jerry,

Thanks for the help. I'm working on finishing the install of new original style wire harness. Think this is the best time to encorporate additional fuses/fuse links, still not sure what I will do. Do yoy know anything about the thermal breaker on the headlight switch. Now working on the turn signal circuts. Don

The thermal breaker is there to prevent total loss of lighting in case of a short. The breaker will disconnect, stay off a few seconds, cool down, and flash on again, repeatedly, avoiding complete loss of the headlights until you find a place to pull over safely and diagnose the problem. A fuse or a fuse link would just cut the lights off completely at the first sign of an overload.
Jerry

that's good, I've never read anything about it. Don

Here is a description of the workings of the lighting switch (from the 1954 Shop Manual).

Thanks Tim, hope I'm never in that particular situation but it's good to know.

Just finished the turn signal wiring. Wow, thought it was going to be terrible. I started on the simplest part and worked throught to the last connection. Connected the battery and it all works great. Don