Fuse Question!

[sebber83]

Hey Folks,
I recently installed a set of 3 lights on my wakeboard tower. Since my dash switches were already all taken, I piggy backed onto my courtesy light switch. This included my dash lights and 2 little lights underneath the back seat of my bow rider. I unplugged the 2 lights under the seats and used the feed to power my wake tower lights. The fuse that was in there was a 7.5 but with the added light it kept on burning out. I tested the sytem with a 20 fuse and it worked, but I am weary of using the higher amp fuse. Could it give me problems, would it be a hazard?

Help me out please!


Thanks!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fuse Question!

Wouldn't it have been easier to add another switch, proper size wire and a proper size fuse rather than having to disconnect a feature that works and turning the wiring into something that may indeed be a hazard. However, there is no way we can answer you since we can't see your boat and have no idea what wire size feeds the switch, what size wire runs from the switch to the tower lights, and what sort of power (watts or amps) the tower lights draw. Chances are the courtesy lights were wired with 16 or 18 gauge wire. 16 gauge MIGHT be big enough for the tower lights but 18 will likely not be. wiring must be capable of carrying the current the loads demand and that wire must be the same size or larger throught the circuit. In your case, we don't know what you have. I can only guess however, that the circuit is overloaded since 16 gauge in an enclosed space is safe to 10 amps. A 20 amp fuse would be used in a circuit with 12 gauge wire which I gather is not being used..

 

[sebber83]

Re: Fuse Question!

I guess more info was in fact needed. Basically both courtesy lights which were old style bulbs were run with 16 gauge wire but I seldom used them because in my opinion, they were useless, the light emanating from them was too weak, likely due to the yellowed out lens caps. So I basically disconnected 2 lights to power 3 much never lights that use the never bulbs used in car fog lights, basically those little bulbs emanating a bluish light. The lights were also wired using 16 gauge wire so wire gauge was not changed. To be honnest, I should try it again with a 7.5 fuse, as the one I tested with was likely as old as the boat and on it's last legs anyways.

I did not want to add a new switch because the dash slot for switches was full and I did not want to ruin the symetry. What I might end up doing tho is runniong the tower lights stright from my deep cycle battery, using an inline fuse and hidden switch, but I am still undecided. Just wanted to see if what I had done was terrible!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fuse Question!

One more time! What is the current draw of those three lights. What kind of bulbs (LED, filament style, Halogen, what? That determines how big the wire and fuse needs to be. You won't know whether you have an issue until you determine wattage of each lamp or the current requirement of each lamp.

 

[sebber83]

Re: Fuse Question!

I checked and cannot find the actual wattage... its basically 3 bulbs that would be used for fog lights on a vehicle... sorry, wish i could have the exact wattage, but I didnt find that anywhere.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fuse Question!

Those are typically 55 watt halogen bulbs. P = E x I so a 55 watt lamp operating on 12 volts draws 4.6 amps. Since you have three of them that amounts to 13+ amps. Think 16 gauge wire is adequate? That is also why adding even two driving lights on a car/truck results in adding a relay to handle the load.