Fuseable link question/help!

[Tripwire]

If anyone has experience with this your help would be appreciated.....

My 86 Waggie has blown the green fusable link again - last time it happened was about a year ago and I just re-spliced it and all was well., there are 2 links one for the altenator circuit and one for the rest of the rig? - am I correct?

anyhoo is this special whire or can I just splice in say a 12 gauge wire to act as the fuse

Thanks in advance

Tripwire

[jode]

Yes it is a special wire that is undersized so that it blows B4 your wiring harness does. Wiring in a 12Gauge wire is a bad idea Because you could lose your protection - it is like bypassing a fuse. A better idea is to do some scouting around to find out why your are blowing the fusible links....

[LRRH]

http://www.ifsja.org/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=search

type in "fuseable link" and search the tech section. there have been numerous posts about this.

[Tripwire]

True, but is it a special type of wire? my factory service manual diagrams indicate its a 12 gauge wire ....hmmm

[Tripwire]

also forgot to add - it only blows when its very cold outside - think the wife opens/closes the power windows and the coldness somehow affects the current draw for the windows - dosnt happen often , about once a year

[Joe Guilbeau]

A fusible link is 4 AWG wire gage sizes smaller than the wire it is protecting.

It is, all in all, a bad idea...for instance a 14 AWG wire protects a 10 AWG link. The insulation surrounding the 14 AWG fusible link is higher temp rated than the cheap insulation surrounding the rest of the wiring harness in which it rests.

Typically what happens is that by the time the copper 14 AWG wire has burnt into, by becoming RED HOT and essentially vaporizing or melting the copper, it has sufficiently damaged the surrounding wires that one must wonder Great Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley Moogley they were thinking.

Take a AND fuse rated at above the alternator output and the thermoplastic-resin fuse holder and go that route, for about $40 dollars total.

Mush better solution...and yes, it would be helpful to find out why you hve 100 amps or more running through the circuit!

[Tripwire]

thanks.i will try to find the cause of these intermittant "blows" - called NAPPA and a 10 ft roll of 18 gauge fusable link wire is $4.95 ....That will keep me going till I find my deamon

Trip