View Transcript

Hide Transcript

Transcript is auto-generated.

hi everyone Jeff Cote with another boating Tech talk we've got a question from a fellow boater Eric who's asking questions about fusing a solar wire on a Solar Ray hey Jeff I watch your view video sizing a solar controller based on your boat's voltage uh following your advice I'm installing a 100 watt solar panel for the fuse connection before the batteries can I use a 10 amp mini fuse or do I need to use a regular fuse

well fuses um yeah so I mean I wouldn't there's different types of fuses uh for sure and on a solar panel install generally I would recommend and for most of us boaters I recommend the ATO ATC fuse these are automotive blade fuses and the reason why I recommend them is a because they're color coded and so they're easy to identify the size um glass fuses sometimes break in the holder and it can be you know a hassle to clean up the glass and um blade fuses also are way easier to detect if they're blown than a glass fuse so if you're putting fuses on your solar controller of course it's a just it's a preference you know some people prefer glass Some people prefer blade I like blade like I said because they're color coordinated and they're easier to detect when the filament inside is blown and you can even buy them with an LED inside and they'll actually show you this is the best part they'll actually show you uh and they'll be bright red let's say if the fuse actually blew so the size of the fuse when you choose it the other thing too is making sure the wiring can handle the loaded so when you're choosing a fuse holder and in this case it's not going to be a problem because the circuit 100 watt solar panel is going to be outputting maybe Max five six amps total Max so 10 amp is really good but make sure it's your fuse holder is sized to handle the maximum amperage and that becomes more of a problem let's say if you've got a large solar rate if your solar array is now maybe 400 watts or 500 watts and you're exceeding let's say 20 amps or 30 amps not all fuels holders are the same so you need to make sure that the fuse holder can handle the continuous amperage coming out of the panel that's really important and what I mean from the panel it goes from the panel to the controller to the controller to the battery and so that connection add the battery from the battery to the controller needs to absolutely have a fuse holder that is rated for the maximum amperage of that panel so to Rick's question uh he can really do both but I strongly advise and suggest that you put Automotive ATO ATC blade fuses just because they're just easier to deal with and they're easier to swap out easier to know when they're blown so great question Rick thanks for asking and to all of you out there share your stories about fuses and by the way oh one last thing uh carry spare fuses on board I've got a spare fuse for everything on board and um I'm always happy I have a little set because sometimes fuses blew a blow just for nuisance stripping it does happen uh some things things happen and it's not catastrophic and the only thing you need is a fuse so be sure to carry that safe boating and thanks for watching so if you're curious again go on our website and find out more answers and solutions with this sort of setup and thanks for asking and thanks for all of you for listening and tuning in