In-Line fuses, are they all they are cooked up to be?

hi
just like battery terminals and clamps need periodic cleaning

so do inline fuse holders i take them out and rub the end of fuse across a wire brush and also the contact surface on the end of the wires that connect to the fusei nside the holder when they are inserted

then spray them with crc and also spray a bit inside the holder before putting it back together
moisture and dust gets in over a period of time building up resistance and you will experience the exact problem that you just have

it only takes a few minutes to do the maintenance and insures a trouble free run for the life of the vehicle
cheers

The inside of the fuse holder was clean as a whistle, no corrosion of moisture, even the copper was still bright copper coloured, its a mystery as to why the heat buildup. All I can sus is that the holder itself has held the heat and caused the meltment.

Stormy
Being orange in colour could point to the possibility of the dust haveing a low to moderate iron oxide content, not real good around electrical stuff as the dust is a good conductor and will dramatically shorten the effective life of electrical bits , fuses etc.
Mike

Its outback NSW dust, but the inside of the unit is sealed, the orange bit at the base of the melted fuse base is the rubber seal. All the flttings around the fuse itself are sealed

thanx Stuart I did replace the whole unit (see below) but there is no evidence of heat buildup in the actual contacts

Bonz,

Nice set up mate... neat & tidy!

I added the following in case you don't know..... if you do, then just disregard my drivel... LOL... if it's wrong, I'll happily stand corrected!

Happens a lot with 12V gear, you will often find 12vdc on your meter but the lights/fridge/winch won't run when you turn 'em on. If you have your meter on the terminals when you DO turn 'em on.... you will notice the voltage disappears, or at least greatly reduces. It's called "dragging down"... 'round here it is anyways.... ;-)) Resistance can be caused by a great many factors but usually age/dirt/grease etc... and contacts can build up resistance on their terminals just by use. Particularly relay contacts, e.g driving lights carry a high current, and when you switch them off, an "arc" occurs across the contacts for a split second. This builds up crap on the contacts over the years and eventually will cause a failure unless the relay is a very good brand, like your 29(?) yr old relay. It also, in my experience, doesn't take a lot to interfere with a 12 vdc circuit.


Cheers

Brian

Thanx Brian, I do a bit of electrical stuff and havent ever seen the no current problem I had here. I know about the dragging down but more to do with mains voltages. INteresting stuff eh? Thanx for your comments

Hey Phil,

Theres no corrision inside the holders at all, everything is clean as a whistle, I am puzzled

hmm that sounds like a plan, but alas we are engaged

HI

To detect possible bad joints in any line, the line MUST be loaded when the voltage test is carried out
Check voltage @ battery then work towards load when sudden drop occurs the fault lies between that point & the previous point

BUT THE CIRCUIT MUST BE UNDER LOAD

Yep totally agree about the input, what a pain to connect and solder up all the connections .

You mean like this:

http://bluesea.com/category/5/21/productline/126

Pictured is a 12 way, but they also come in 6 way as well. Have one common positive and negative post, so only one conductor to each of the poles in the battery.

3AG fuses, didn't even Noah do away with them because of their poor reliability?

Cheers,
Dion.

What a neat package, I might need to get me some of these

These were 30a fuses, runnung 2 100w lights