Fuse panel hook up

[huntndakota]

I am going to buy a fish finder/gps and a vhf radio for my boat. I was wondering if I have to hook them up directly to the battery or if can I hook them into the 2 empty spaces on this fuse board? It has an inline fuse on the power supply wire which is hooked directly to the battery.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fuse panel hook up

All of those devices require 12 volts and ground for operation. It doesn't matter where 12 volts comes from -- battery or fuse panel. Since the panel gets its power from the battery, why would you run wires all the way to the battery when power is available at the fuse panel.

 

[huntndakota]

Re: Fuse panel hook up

i don't know how much power they draw. i figured i might need to run new ground and power wires to make up for the extra draw. the ones there look pretty small don't know what gauge they are. i would like to put a togggle switch on the entire panel. does it matter if i put it infront or behind the fuse?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fuse panel hook up

You need to think this through a little better. Fuse panels are fed from the battery using an 8 or 10 gauge red and black wire. Red from the POS battery post to the bus on the fuse panel. Black goes to the ground bus either on the fuse panel or a separate grounding point. You need a circuit breaker or fuse (20 amp) between the battery POS post and the red wire. If you want a main power disconnect switch at the helm then it goes in the red wire before the fuse panel. 16 gauge wire is plenty big enough for all circuits except those very high current draw items like killer stereos or trolling motors. The purpose of a fuse panel is to prevent making several long runs of wire from the front to the back of the boat. The circuit breaker or fuse at the battery protects the run of wire to the fuse panel. Individual fuses in the panel protect the devices.

 

[UWDiver]

Re: Fuse panel hook up

What type of fuse block or holder do you suggest for a 20A fuse at the battery? All the single holders I find only go down to 40A. I need to fuse my accessory line out of the common terminal on the battery switch.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fuse panel hook up

You aren't looking very hard. Any auto store can provide a blade type fuse holder that accept any fuse size from 1 amp to 20 amps. some even have a rubber cap to make them a little more water tight. Even my local farm store has them in their auto section. Heck, even WalMart has them.

 

[UWDiver]

Re: Fuse panel hook up

I looked at iboats.com and jamestown distributors and couldn't find a single fuse holder other than an in-line one and I wasn't sure what type to buy - hence my question. It wasn't a "where to" but a "what kind" question.