[C320-list] Battery Cable fusing question/conffirmation

[Mark Cole]

Hi, Scott;

I redid my battery system in the spring of 2017 and added fuses just upstream of each battery bank and the battery charger.  I went with Blue Seas ANL fuses and fuse blocks.  The fuse blocks are $21.15 at Fisheries Supply and come with a cover.  My notes say to size the fuse to the amp capacity of the cable being protected, so the #8 wire from the charger got a 35A fuse and the battery banks got 150A fuses.  Both the 35A and the 150A were $18.20.  Everything has worked so far…

Hope this helps,

Mark Cole
Fiddler’s Green #8


> On Feb 25, 2019, at 7:56 AM, jackbrennan <jackbrennan at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> 
> Hi Scott:
> A simple job. You can buy battery post fuses and install them in a few minutes.
> I believe my fuses are 200 amps, but I can't check because I am skiing in Colorado right now.
> The fuses are an excellent check against battery fires.
> Jack BrennanSonas, 1998 Catalina 320Tierra Verde, Fl.Dolphin Cruising Club of Tampa Bay
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android 
> 
>  On Mon, Feb 25, 2019 at 8:50 AM, Scott Westwood<scottwestwood at bellsouth.net> wrote:   I noticed that my Battery cables are/were not fused. At all.  I am talking about the 1/0 wires from Batt 1 and Batt 2 to the Batt switch and then from Batt  Switch Common to the Starter. 
> That is a straight shot without any fusing.  I noticed that some people have inserted some fusing.  I, however, see some people's schematics with 200amp and some with 300 amp.  (One had 200amp on the Batt side and 300amp on the Comm-Starter side???   Even if both Batteries shorted at the switch at the same time the 300 amp fuse could be too high??  That could be the reason for the 300 amp fuse on the common?  I wonder what the amp capacity is of my Batt Switch??
> Anyway....
>  If I read some documents right the ampacity for 1/0 (AWG) is 285 and 4awg is 160.  I would assume that 200 and 100 (respectively) is good enough fusing when protecting just the wire in our setup?  I doubt anything would draw that much?
>  I am thinking of adding 200 amp fusing on my 1/0 wires and 100amp on any 4awg??
> Any thoughts out there? Overkill?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Scott Westwood scottwestwood at bellsouth.net H (919)-362-8538    C (919)-618-7185