caravan fuses

Submitted: Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 21:05
ThreadID: 48648 Views:2328 Replies:3 FollowUps:5
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what is peoples opinions on replacing the blade fuses in the van with those silver circuit breakers that reset?
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Reply By: Member - Mike DID - Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 21:07

Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 21:07
Why ?

Are you regularly blowing fuses?
AnswerID: 256973

Follow Up By: Member - shane (SA) - Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 22:00

Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 22:00
today i went in the van to start getting things ready for the naracoorte trip on the 22nd, turned the main switch on, nothing. no 240 no 12v, checked every thing, nothing. battery was ok, then remembered the fuses under the seats( why they out them there i don't know) every one of them blown. only thing i did was use the 12 volt drill hooked up to the out side 12v supply before i opened the door weather this did it i don't know. replaced them all (eight) all good now. got me stumped.
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FollowupID: 518128

Reply By: Aandy(WA) - Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 22:38

Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 22:38
My first reaction is "Why?" A blown fuse should be a rare occurence and replacing them with circuit breakers won't solve the problem you have. Find the reason for the blown fuses, but I wouldn't bother swapping to circuit breakers.
AnswerID: 256988

Reply By: drivesafe - Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 23:05

Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 23:05
Hi shane, as with both Mike DID and Aandy, why would you want circuit breakers if everything was working.

In your case, it quite obviously is not.

I supply equipment to caravan, camper trailer and motor home manufacturers and as such I often take note of the different ways many of these manufacturers set up their electrics and to put it bluntly, most should have their fingers broken so they CAN’T touch the electrics.

If you have blown all the fuses then you have a major problem as each fuse should be protecting a single circuit and even if you did overload the circuit you powered your 12 volt drill from, only that one circuit should have blown.

If I were you, I would be getting your van to an auto electrician double quick and most certainly before you go on your trip.

Believe it or not but MOST caravan, camper trailer and a number of motor homes are not wired anywhere near to being correctly done

It’s a common problem and most are extremely inefficient because of the way they waste power and many are just down and out right dangerous.

These vehicles are made by carpenters who have no right touching vehicle electrics but through either penny pinching, ignorance of both, they do what should only be done by a qualified electrician and auto electrician.
AnswerID: 256993

Follow Up By: Member - shane (SA) - Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 23:20

Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 at 23:20
as i said, i have replaced the fuses but have no idea what happened. will be having every thing checked this week. i did put the ohm meter on each circuit to see if they were cross wired but none were.
what i was thinking was, the large orange wire that is 20 amp seems to supply the outside 12v points. this is the one i was going to replace with the circuit breaker in case i overload that circuit by mistake.
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FollowupID: 518138

Follow Up By: drivesafe - Monday, Aug 13, 2007 at 07:02

Monday, Aug 13, 2007 at 07:02
Hi again shane, the point is, if you blow just the one fuse continually, you need to install a new wire circuit of a safe size and fused accordingly.

Just replacing the existing fuse with a circuit breaker is not making the circuit safer just makes it more convenient but the initial safety issue is still there.

At this point though, you need to find out why ALL the fuses blew because this is sounding like a major wiring problem.

BTW your idea for trying solve this problem is the exact same way many of the caravan and motor home manufacturers are “resolving” the problem.

Their customers continually complain about fuses repeatedly blowing so the manufacturers fit circuit breakers so the customers won’t have to repeatedly change a fuse in a faulty wiring system, instead of fixing the wiring problem in the first place.

In your case, you have had the intelligence to to ask about the problem, unfortunately these manufacturers can not be accused of having the same level intelligence.
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FollowupID: 518144

Follow Up By: Member - Kiwi Kia - Monday, Aug 13, 2007 at 07:04

Monday, Aug 13, 2007 at 07:04
Hi Shane,
Your ohm meter will not prove if a circuit is faulty so don't depend on it 100%. Some faults only show up when a higher voltage then you can get out of your ohm meter is applied. An electrician would use a 500 volt device to check for a short in the insulation to the chassis ground or between the wires. You should unplug fridge and any other devices that have electronics in them before testing just in case the 500 volts does them some damage.
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FollowupID: 518145

Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Monday, Aug 13, 2007 at 10:31

Monday, Aug 13, 2007 at 10:31
But make sure you take it to an Auto Elec who understands something about installing circuits.

The NSW TAFE Auto Elec syllabus focusses on repairing circuits someone else has designed - not designing new installations.
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FollowupID: 518172

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