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Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: Fuse your fishfinder  (Read 22046 times)

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pmmpete

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Missoula, Montana
  • Date Registered: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 1989
How do you keep your fuse from oxidizing going out in the salt and all. Everytime I put one in it lasts one or two days of fishing on the salt. Then in frustration I take it out.

If you put the fuse and its holder inside a waterproof battery box, you won't have any problems with the fuse oxidizing.  Shown below is a battery box I made from an inexpensive Walmart waterproof box.  You can find descriptions of a huge number of ways to make a battery box at http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=7606.0 .
« Last Edit: November 07, 2017, 10:11:58 PM by pmmpete »


rawkfish

  • ORC
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  • Location: Portland
  • Date Registered: Mar 2009
  • Posts: 4728
500 mA fuses are kind of tough to find in stores.
Have you checked out any online sources? I know McMaster has <1A fuse and I just quickly saw a couple options in the 630 - 800 mA range on Radio Shack's site (probably won't find it in their stores). I bet Graybar, Platt or even Fry's would have them locally though. I agree with you and might also downgrade if I had a high-end unit. I currently run a 1A and feel fine with it for my cheap unit.

Martial - I would look on the cables and find where the burn ends. Since you stated that it didn't make it all the way to the unit, I'm guessing that there was some kind of internal short. That short is probably near where the burn ends. Is that part of the cable near anything that could have pinched it? Say like a hatch or a through hull fitting, zip tie, etc...?
Yeah, I guess I'm spending too much time in hardware stores. I imagine a place like radio shack or Fry's would have better options. Fry's has really gone down hill. It makes me sad that it's becoming another Best Buy or Circuit City.
                
2011 Angler Of The Year
1st Place 2011 PDX Bass Yakin' Classic
"Fishing relaxes me.  It's like yoga except I still get to kill something."  - Ron Swanson


Skidplate

  • Salmon
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  • Location: Gresham, OR
  • Date Registered: Mar 2012
  • Posts: 707
I guess I'm spending too much time in hardware stores.
Blasphemy! LOL

Fry's has really gone down hill. It makes me sad that it's becoming another Best Buy or Circuit City.
Agreed, very sad to see. RadioShack has really gone downhill as well; and I didn't think that was possible!
My wife thinks fishing is merely guys wandering around like idiots swinging sticks in the air. Many of my trips prove how smart she really is.


uplandsandpiper

  • Guest
I guess I'm spending too much time in hardware stores.
Blasphemy! LOL

Fry's has really gone down hill. It makes me sad that it's becoming another Best Buy or Circuit City.
Agreed, very sad to see. RadioShack has really gone downhill as well; and I didn't think that was possible!

I can't think of the last time I went to RadioShack and found what I was looking for.


polepole

  • Administrator
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  • NorthWest Kayak Anglers
  • Location: San Jose, CA :(
  • Date Registered: Apr 2006
  • Posts: 10072
I have also used a 1 A fuse and that works too, but the idea of more than an amp running through my system is enough to make me nervous.

Why does it make you nervous?  Plenty of FF's draw 1A or more through the same power cables and generate negligible heat.

-Allen
I say that given what my ff normally draws. If it was rated at an amp or so, that much current wouldn't bother me but two amps would.

If you are spiking enough to trip a 1A with your unit, I don't think the difference between 500 mA and 1A is going to cause significant more damage.  The damage was already done at that point.

-Allen


smokeyangler

  • Lingcod
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  • Location: Tri Cities, Wa
  • Date Registered: Feb 2014
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When I had my fire I didn't have my fish finder plugged in.  It was a Lowrance Elite 4 DSI fish finder.  I did have my battery connected to the fish finder cord though..  My fire was due to a cigarette lighter extension receptacle that I had added to the wiring.  It had gotten wet at ORC, dried and the corrosion from the salt water created a path for the electricity to flow.  It created enough heat to start the wiring and socket to catch on fire.  I will never go without a fuse again.  I learned a valuable lesson.
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Wilfite

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  • Location: Columbia City, OR
  • Date Registered: Oct 2017
  • Posts: 119
I know this is an old thread but since it is stickied I figured it would be worth updating.

I have a background in electronics and I have been doing marine wiring on and off for a lot of years.  I see some controversy in this thread regarding fusing.  The fuse is intended to protect your wiring, it is NOT intended to protect the load.  The load (like a FF) will/should have its own fuse.

According to ABYC E-9.11.b "The rating of overcurrent protection devices used to protect a load other than a DC motor shall not exceed 150% of the current carrying capacity of it's supply conductor"

As I understand it, the 150% figure is to allow for short term current spikes (like from inrush current when you turn on a device) for a fully loaded wire circuit.  Extended overcurrent situations will still blow the overcurrent device before the wiring is compromised.  Best practice in normal situations where the circuit is not fully loaded is to rate the overcurrent device for the maximum of the wire or a bit below.  According to the same ABYC spec, the maximum allowable current (under 50V) for common wires size is below.  The two values are "outside engine spaces"/"inside engine spaces".  I prefer to err on the side of caution and go for the lower value.
18: 10A/5.8A
16: 15A/8.7A
14: 20A/11.6A
12: 25A/14.5A

ABYC E-9.10 says Overcurrent Protection Device Location - Ungrounded conductors other than cranking motor
conductors shall be provided with overcurrent protection within a distance of 7" of the point at
which the conductor is connected to the source of power measured along the conductor.
  This means you need to place your fuse right at the battery rather than at the device.

You can certainly use a lower value fuse if you like, however as you go to lower values corrosion and mechanical stress will have a larger chance of damaging the fuse so it seems better to me to go for the largest hunk of metal fuse that is reasonable and still protect the boat.

Hope this helps folks in the future.

The spec is available here: https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cfr/ibr/001/abyc.E-09.1990.pdf
-Tony

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skidlybo

  • Perch
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  • Location: Lake Stevens, WA
  • Date Registered: Sep 2014
  • Posts: 70
Thanks for the reference.  Brings back my old boat building days.  It's worth the effort to research the correct way to wire/fuse something.  It's so much easier to troubleshoot when something is wired properly.... and it won't catch on fire.