Poser

[towering]

I was looking at my fuse box and noticed the active fuses are 15 and 20 amps and the spare fuses are 20 and 30 amps. Why is that.

[dantama]

Saves space. A 30= 2 15's :)

This is a wild guess but here it goes: Most electrical wiring has a safety factor built in. for example 14 guage is rated at 15 amps but its not like 16 amps is going to make the wiring fry. If you pop a fuse and replace it with the exact same one that just popped the spare will probably fail too. The higher rated fuse acts as a bandaid to get you off the side of the road while hopefully not frying the wiring. I would bet 14 guage could probably handle 30 amps even though its only rated for 15.

[Yellow Jacket]

I was looking at my fuse box and noticed the active fuses are 15 and 20 amps and the spare fuses are 20 and 30 amps. Why is that.

I don't know why Ma Kaw does that. I had a 10 amp and a 30 amp spare. My 2006 uses 10 amp fuses and one 15 amp. I would strongly recommend that you purchase a few 15 and 20 amp fuses and ditch the 30 amp fuses. There is no way I would ever put a higher amp fuse in a circuit. If you have a fuse that is blowing, FIND OUT WHY and correct the problem. Don't just stick in a bigger fuse.

There is a thread in the General Board titled: Replacing Fuses. You may want to find it and read it. Below is a copy of one of the posts I made in that thread.

I've noticed in a couple of threads, particularly about adding lights, that there have been recommendations made about replacing a 10 amp fuse with a 15 amp fuse.

Personally, I believe that this is a very bad idea!

Let me explain why I feel this way.

The only job a fuse has is to protect the wiring.

Any current flowing through a conductor (wire) generates heat.
The higher the current the higher the heat.

The insulation on the wire has two primary jobs.
The first is to insulate the wire from touching another conductor and creating a short circuit.

The second is to dissipate the heat generated by the current, without melting which could allow the wire to touch another conductor and cause a short circuit.

With this said, when the engineers design a circuit they anticipate the highest current that should be required and then pick the appropriate size of wire and fuse.

If they have installed a 10 amp fuse on the circuit then the wire chosen will handle 10 amps of current without over heating.

If someone replaces that 10 amp fuse with a 15 amp fuse then that wire can be subjected to 150% of the current for which it is rated. More current means more heat. More heat than the insulation is designed to dissipate will result in either melting insulation and/or an electrical fire.

I have seen electrical fires in aircraft, cars, homes and commercial buildings. It is definitely not pretty.

If you are adding lights, horns or whatever and the circuit won't handle it with the original fuse. . .install a new fused circuit! ! !

It's more work of course but it's not all that difficult. I would hate to see anyone's pride and joy suffering from an electrical fire.

Remember, the fuse's only job is to protect the wire. If it's blowing, it's doing it's job. Don't defeat it from doing it's job by just putting in a bigger fuse.

[gshep]

Bob is right on......
Find out why the fuse blew.

Shep

[zoom45]

There's a 30amp fuse under the right side cover on the 1500.
Zoom45

[towering]

The fuse didnt blow. I was just looking around and noticed it.

[gshep]

Sorry Towering, I should have read the whole thread.

Shep