fusible link replacement for battery cable upgrade

I'm upgrading my OE battery cables to 1/0 and need to replace the fusible link. Most of the ANL fuse holders are made from plastic and appear to be designed for a car stereo system.

Are there any fuse holders (or fusible link upgrades) available, designed for use inside the engine compartment, near the engine and an off-road environment? (resistant to mud, oil, gas, water, etc.)

98 XJ

I could probably make a fuse holder out of a piece of plastic conduit, silicon and a couple of nuts and bolts, but was looking around at other options.

I like these
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...circuit+breaker_-1_-1&keyword=circuit+breaker
They work pretty well and you can reset them if you blow them so you don't need to carry a spare

I'll consider the 150 amp breaker. The alternators I am looking at the maximum output ratings are from about ~180 to ~250 amps, which should require a similar size or larger load to increase the cable amperage to the alternator's maximum output.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1SKH6QXJXC21HXXWEABD

they are used in the marine industry. You will find higher quality bits if you look for those.

87manche said:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1SKH6QXJXC21HXXWEABD

they are used in the marine industry. You will find higher quality bits if you look for those.

Click to expand...

I have used Blue Sea fuse panels inside vehicles, their products are fairly good quality but designed primarily for marine applications. Installation in protected areas on a boat or vehicle that would not see much abuse, high heat, mud, dirt, etc.

Do a clean install....



And 1/0 is way overkill IMO, but i just did the 136 amp alternator...

whitexj98 said:

Do a clean install....

.

Click to expand...

My Jeep only has one terminal. I need to drill out the left side and install a second nut, bolt and a mega fuse that matches the alternators maximum output?

Alternator --------- (left) PDC (right) ---------- Battery.

If the alternators maximum output is 240 amps ... I found a 200, 225 250 amp mega fuse .. go with a 225 or 250 amp?

also found a holder ... http://www.ebay.com/itm/PER-038-MEG...t=Car_Audio_Video&hash=item3cd720039d&vxp=mtr

and an inline holder.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-X-Inline-...445?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c86f041c5

I grabbed a junkyard PDC to get the other terminal as well stealing the fuse terminals from it to add fuses into the open spots in my PDC for all my stuff.

whitexj98 said:

I grabbed a junkyard PDC to get the other terminal as well stealing the fuse terminals from it to add fuses into the open spots in my PDC for all my stuff.

Click to expand...

You needed to re-install the PDC , re-inserting all of wires from the harness?

It appears the left side can be drilled adding some spacers, washer, nut and bolt.

Muddzz said:

I have used Blue Sea fuse panels inside vehicles, their products are fairly good quality but designed primarily for marine applications. Installation in protected areas on a boat or vehicle that would not see much abuse, high heat, mud, dirt, etc.

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it's a piece of plastic with two studs.

what is there to fail from mud and dirt? Your entire PDC is made from the same plastic, it seems to be living fine in the engine compartment.

you're over thinking this.

87manche said:

it's a piece of plastic with two studs.

what is there to fail from mud and dirt? Your entire PDC is made from the same plastic, it seems to be living fine in the engine compartment.

you're over thinking this.

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Perhaps I am overthinking. However, I received an e-mail about ANL fuse holders, that stated in high heat conditions they melt and aren't really designed to install in an engine compartment. (not oil and gas resistant)

The maxi-fuse fuse and holder seems like a better option. I have a bunch of ANL fuses, but am looking at some mega-fuses which are a little more expensive.

Here is my solution:





One square of brass TIG welded to the head of a brass screw, then ground flush and square. The rectangular washer is what holds everything captive. Slide the welded screw in, drop the washer onto it and it can no longer slide back out. Washer is just slightly thicker than the plastic so as to avoid crushing/cracking the old and relatively brittle plastic. The washer started as a piece of brass rod, drilled, parted off to the thickness I needed and then three sides filed to fit the PDC space.

If you don't have welding capacity I expect the same thing could be accomplished with careful grinding of a 1/4" carriage bolt.

Makes for a clean install which looks factory. Given the design of the PDC I have to believe it is factory on something somewhere. If anyone ever figures out what it would be nice to share with the rest of the crowd.

You can get those square heded bolts from any autoparts store in the battery section. Guy gave it to me for free. I have the same setup as these guys, cleanest way of doing it in my opinion.

unhitched said:

I like these
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...circuit+breaker_-1_-1&keyword=circuit+breaker
They work pretty well and you can reset them if you blow them so you don't need to carry a spare

Click to expand...

I'm running one of these.

Look good, I haven't taken the PDC apart. I was just going to drill a hole and install a bolt with a washer. Your idea looks better and insulates the connection.

I don't have a welder setup .. so I would need to grind one down.

Here are some stainless ones .. better to use steel or brass?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-S...395?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c5ee4da3

I think what to look for are track bolts, T-bolt, T slot bolt, etc. , that fit in a track of some sort, or a bolt with enough head that it can be ground down.

Found this write up that shows some images dismantling the PDC for installing new circuits and fuses.

http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/how-add-circuits-power-distribution-center-174498/

Stainless sounds fine to me.

It's the connection between the terminal on the end of the wire and the fuse that matters most. If a plastic screw had the tensile strength it would work. Stainless shouldn't cause any electrolysis issues (that would be the other thing to fret about with materials choices).

Brass would probably file easier though.

You might want to get a 1/4-20 coupling nut and a 3" long (or so) 1/4-20 bolt so that you can better hold onto that thing and have at it with a bench grinder or stationary belt sander.

Or at least double-nut it and mount it in a vise so you can apply some pressure to it as you wear down your file.

That should indeed work. You will just have some quality time getting it thinned down to the right thickness.

Anak said:

Stainless sounds fine to me.

It's the connection between the terminal on the end of the wire and the fuse that matters most. If a plastic screw had the tensile strength it would work. Stainless shouldn't cause any electrolysis issues (that would be the other thing to fret about with materials choices).

Brass would probably file easier though.

You might want to get a 1/4-20 coupling nut and a 3" long (or so) 1/4-20 bolt so that you can better hold onto that thing and have at it with a bench grinder or stationary belt sander.

Or at least double-nut it and mount it in a vise so you can apply some pressure to it as you wear down your file.

That should indeed work. You will just have some quality time getting it thinned down to the right thickness.

Click to expand...

I'm looking at the 1/4 inch bolt and was thinking of going larger without using a spacer.

Mega fuses 125 amp and higher, specifications show to use a M8 bolt ... The fuse hole is 8.5 mm

Ideally you would be using a M8 bolt or slightly larger such as a 3/8 inch.

I don't think it would cause any problems. However, the PDC wasn't originally engineered to accommodate large terminal lugs and battery cables 1/0 and larger.





Mega Fuse Holder

I believe an M8 is remarkably close to a 5/16". Close enough to confuse the unwitting.

If I could wish hardware into existence I would have gone with either an M8 or a 5/16" bolt, but neither of those was readily available to me in brass. I don't think I would want to step up to a 3/8" bolt. It would probably require drilling out the hole on the fuse, and then anytime you needed to replace the fuse you would be faced with that additional requirement.

On my set-up the spacer is the magic that holds it all together without risk of damage to the plastic of the PDC (I will note that the plastic on my vehicle doesn't seem to have improved with age). Once the custom bolt has been slid in and the spacer has been dropped onto it the bolt can no longer slide out (assuming the spacer is not allowed to go up--fuse on top with a nut serves that purpose rather nicely). Additionally, with the spacer thicknessed correctly, there is no compression on that wonderfully aged plastic such that the PDC would be inspired to develop undesired fissures and features.

Trying to surmise at what you might gain with the larger bolt, perhaps the head would be thick enough such that you could file a step in each side and thereby have a single piece of hardware which would be thick enough to eliminate the compression issue. If so, you would still have to address the "sliding back out" side of the equation. I am not sure how you would resolve that.

Just my musings...solutions vary depending on the resources available.

I'm just experimenting right now to see what will work. Either size works to hold the fuse. The problem may be when using heavy duty cable and terminal lugs, pressure from the cables on either end will force the front of the PDC downward ... angular (90 deg.) forces potentially cracking the PDC.

If you have cruise control the cable on the left appears it needs to be installed from the front of the PDC instead of the side.

I had a spare 3/8 inch hex bolt laying around. After grinding the head flat. It fits tight into the slot ... requires prying with a screw driver to remove. The slot opening is 3/8 inch wide so the bolt fits really snug. A large washer seems to distribute pressure evenly over a larger area of the fuse holder.

I see your point of using a spacer, compression overtime potentially could weaken the plastic holder.

Perhaps plastic from a glue gun would be able to distribute pressure more evenly, saving the plastic holder.

Torque specification for a Mega Fuse: 12-18 Nm for M8 (~8 to ~13 ft/lbs)

I will try using a 1/4 inch bolt with a spacer to determine any differences.

It appears the OE bolt is a M8, I don't have any details how it was designed to hold the OE battery cables.

MM ... Dec. Fraction
--------------------------
7.938 __.3125 5/16
8.0 ___ .3150 (M8) .... Standard size bolt for higher amp Mega Fuses.
8.334 __.3281 21/64
8.5 ___ .3346 ............ Mega Fuse bolt hole diameter.
8.731 _ .3438 11/32
9.0 ___ .3543 (9mm)
9.128 _ .3594 23/64
9.525 _ .3750 3/8 ...... Oversized 0.0404 inch (1.025mm) difference

You guys are over engineering this. Works fine from the side with cruise control module.