Wiring Archives - Page 15 of 15

Title image from Jeff Jordan's article covering the Do's and Don'ts of wiring race cars

Great Wiring Article

February 6, 2015/0 Comments/in Wiring /by admin

Wiring is one of those things that intimidates a lot of people. There is a mystery around things when we can’t see how they work. We have spent a lot of time over the years helping guys learn simple tricks about how to wire their cars better with our Infinitybox system.

Regardless of how you’re wiring your car, there are some simple tricks and techniques that will make the job easier, safer and more reliable. This includes when you wire your car with our Infinitybox system, or just add a simple relay to an existing car. Josh Kirsh of Chevy Hardcore and Jeff Jordan of Jordan Innovations wrote a great article that just ran in Chevy Hardcore. It covers some basic but important tips for wiring.

The article is called The 5 Do’s and Don’ts of Wiring a Race Car. All of the tips are really intuitive and simple to follow. Here are the highlights.

The Do’s…

Diagram everything. This will make troubleshooting in the future very easy.
Use crimps when vibration or strain is an issue. There are good reasons not to solder splices.
Stagger your joints.
Use proper strain relief and abrasion protection.
Use high quality materials and the right tools.

The Don’ts…

Don’t hack it!
Don’t wire both ends then route the wires.
Watch solder joints in areas of high vibration or strain.
Use the right tools for important crimps.
Take your time. Don’t Rush!

You can catch the full article with a bunch of great pictures at this link.

You can learn more about what Jeff and his team are doing by visiting their website at www.jordaninnovations.com

If you have additional questions about wiring your car with our Infinitybox system, give our team a call at (847) 232-1991. You can also reach out team directly by clicking this link.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the MSD 6A with the Infinitybox system.

Wiring the MSD Ignition System

January 7, 2015/1 Comment/in Wiring /by admin

Our Infinitybox systems are used to power all of the electrical functions in your car. This includes all of the systems that run your engine. One of the most popular ignition systems in the automotive restoration and performance space is from MSD. The MSD 6AL is a powerful and easy to install Ignition Control system. It gets the spark to the engine but our Infinitybox system gets it the power it needs to run. This blog post shows how easy it is to wire on your key-on or ignition power to the MSD 6AL. This instructions will work for any of the Ignition Control systems in the MSD lineup.

Before you get too far, it is very important that you read and follow the instructions that come with your ignition system. We are going to show you how to wire the key-on power. You need to refer to their instructions and diagrams to wire all of the other connections that go to their box. Their manual highlights warnings and critical things to follow when you are wiring their boxes. Be sure to read these and completely understand them before you proceed. You can download a copy of the MSD manual by clicking on this link.

Also, this blog post and wiring diagram show you only how to wire the key-on power to the ignition system. See the manual that came with your Infinitybox harness kit and other wiring diagrams for the rest of the functions in the car.

This picture shows you a simple diagram for wiring the MSD 6AL.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the MSD 6A with the Infinitybox system.

There are three wires from the MSD 6AL that we will consider for this wiring diagram. The heavy red wire, the heavy black wire and the smaller red wire.

Heavy Red (Positive)- This wire connects directly to the battery positive (+) terminal or to a positive battery junction or the positive side of the starter solenoid. Note: Never connect this to the alternator.
Heavy Black (Negative)- This wire connects to a good ground, either at the battery negative (-) terminal or to the engine. We can’t stress enough the importance of good ground connections. Spend some time here and do this right.
Red- This wire connects to the POWERCELL ignition output on the Infinitybox system. See your configuration sheet for the location and color of this wire.
Connect the remaining wires according to the MSD instruction manual.

The heavy red wire that brings the primary power from the battery is fused internally to the MSD 6AL but this does not protect the wire if it were to get shorted to ground. We recommend putting a fuse ahead of this wire at the point where you connect it to the battery. A 25-amp fuse in this wire would safely protect it.

You are then going to connect the MASTERCELL input for ignition to your ignition switch. The input works by simply being connected to ground. See the configuration sheet that came with your kit for the connector location and wire color for the ignition input. You can also choose to use our integrated one-button start input to control both the ignition and the starter. Again, see your configuration sheet for the location and color of this wire.

The POWERCELL ignition output is your key-on power. You are going to connect this to the red wire on the MSD. You can also use this wire to power other accessories in the car that need ignition power. Examples include gauge power, ignition power for a head-unit and ignition power for a Vintage Air system. You can create a simple ignition power bus using a terminal strip for all of these functions. You can use the Infinitybox Splice Saver Kit to create a reliable buss bar.

You need to insert a fuse into the POWERCELL to protect the ignition harness. Remember that a fuse is designed to protect the wiring in the harness. The fuse should be sized to protect the smallest gauge of wire in the harness connected to that output. All of our standard harnesses are 14-AWG wire, so you can protect them with a 25-amp fuse. If you connect any smaller wires to these outputs, you need to choose the right size fuse to protect the wire. See other posts in our blog about proper selection of fuses for different wire gauges.

You can download a PDF of this wiring diagram by clicking this link.

If you have any questions about this wiring diagram or anything else with our Infinitybox system, give our technical support team a call. We can be reached at (847) 232-1991 or sales@infinitybox.com. You can contact our team directly by clicking this link.

Image showing how to wire a switch with an Indicator Light to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

Wiring a switch with an indicator

January 2, 2015/0 Comments/in Wiring /by admin

The inputs to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL are very easy to use. You simply connect the input wire to a switch and ground the other side. When you turn on the switch, the input gets connected to ground, which tells the MASTERCELL to turn on a POWERCELL output. You can get your ground connection from either the ground wires that we supply in the MASTERCELL harness or you can connect them right to ground on your chassis. This approach reduces the total number of wires that you need to go to your switch and lets us a very small gauge of wire to connect to the switch.

Sometimes, a customer wants to use a switch that has an indicator light built into it. That is very easy to do with the addition of a few simple components.

Here is an example of a popular switch that a lot of our customers use. It is a simple, round toggle switch. There is an LED built into the switch that can light up the rocker when the switch is in the on position. You can purchase a switch like this from Waytek by clicking this link.

Image showing how to wire a switch with an Indicator Light to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

The important thing to note here is that you MUST install a diode in the input wire from the MASTERCELL to the switch. This should be a 1N4001 diode and can be purchased on-line. Please note that the direction of the diode is very important. The stripe on the diode should be on the side of the wire that is connected to the switch, not the side going to the MASTERCELL.

You can get your 12-volts from anywhere in the car. If you want, you can use Ignition power from the POWERCELL for the indicators. That way your switches will only light when the ignition to the car is on. Alternately, you can wire this directly to a constant power supply from the battery.

Also note that the polarity of the wiring to the switch is important. Make sure that you are looking at the wiring diagram that came with your switch and referencing our wiring diagram.

If you follow these simple instructions, your switch indicators will light up when you turn on the switch. You can download a PDF version of this wiring diagram by clicking this link.

If you have any additional questions about this wiring diagram, please reach out to our technical support team at (847) 232-1991 or email us at sales@infinitybox.com. You can also contact our team by clicking this link.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the Holley Dominator EFI System with the Infinitybox System.

Wiring the Holley Dominator EFI System

December 18, 2014/4 Comments/in Wiring /by admin

EFI systems have been gaining in popularity for years. Guys want the conveniences, flexibility and power that they get from the engines in modern cars. Companies have been leveraging technology developed by the large OEMs to bring Electronic Fuel Injection systems to restorations, hot-rods, street rods, resto-mods and component cars. Our Infinitybox system does the same thing. We take technology used in practically every new car and bring it to the average guy in his garage. He gets the conveniences of less wire, more diagnostics and better functionality out of his wiring system.

It is very easy for us to bring the two systems together: Infinitybox powering EFI. This is a question that we get a lot. How do I connect my Infinitybox system to my EFI system? This post shows you how to connect the Holley Dominator EFI System to the Infinitybox 20-Circuit System.

First things first, Holley has some very important notes and warnings about wiring their system. Be sure to read their manual thoroughly and follow their instructions. The most important things are related to good grounds and keeping all signal & data wires away from the coil wires.

You are going to wire the Dominator following their instructions. There are two simple differences when you connect in the Infinitybox system.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the Holley Dominator EFI System with the Infinitybox System.

First, you are going to give the Dominator its key-on power from the Ignition output on the front POWERCELL. You going to connect the ignition switch to the ignition input on the MASTERCELL. When you turn on the ignition switch, the MASTERCELL sends a command to one of the POWERCELLs, usually the front, to provide battery voltage to the ignition output. This is usually the light-green output on the front POWERCELL but always refer to the configuration sheet that came with your Infinitybox kit.

Next, you are going to use the Infinitybox system to power the fuel pump. There are several advantages to doing this. First, the Dominator fuel pump output is only capable of delivering 10-amps. In most cases, you’d need to add a relay to switch the current to the pump. The POWERCELL is the relay and it is capable of delivering 25-amps. You won’t need to add a relay for most commercially available pumps. Second, the fuel pump is switched from the rear POWERCELL, which is mounted in the rear of the car. You don’t have to run any extra fuel pump wires to the back of the car. You just wire the fuel pump from the rear POWERCELL.

There is an important warning that must be followed when you wire MASTERCELL inputs to other controllers, like EFI systems. MASTERCELL inputs are designed to be connected to ground. This lets us keep the wire bundles small and simplify how you connect to switches. Applying 12-volts to a MASTERCELL input will damage the Cell and will void its warranty.

In the case of the Holley Dominator EFI system, it puts out 12-volts for the fuel pump trigger. You can simply convert this 12-volt trigger to a ground trigger with one of our inVERT Mini modules or a relay. The application note that we created for the Holley Dominator EFI system shows using an inVERT Mini. You can download a simple wiring diagram showing you how to do this with a relay by clicking this link.

You can download a PDF of the application note that shows how to wire the Holley Dominator EFI system with the Infinitybox 20-Circuit Harness by clicking this link.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our technical support group at (847) 232-1991 or email us at sales@infinitybox.com. You can contact our team directly by clicking this link.

Infinitybox System Benefits

November 25, 2014/0 Comments/in Wiring /by admin

We got an email from a customer who is wiring their Factory Five 1933 Hot Rod with our Infinitybox 20-Circuit system and inMOTION. He had two question that were very easy for us to answer. After answering them, we realized that they highlighted two of the most important advantages of the Infinitybox system and we thought that they were worth blogging about.

First, he wanted to use a large air-horn to replace the squeaky anemic one that he originally had in the car. The new horn came with a harness that included a relay and fuse holder. His first question was whether or not he could wire the POWERCELL output to the horn directly and eliminate the harness that came with the horn kit. The answer is yes. The POWERCELL incorporates the relay and fusing functions all in one box. As we’ve blogged about before, we don’t use electromechanical relays, we use solid-state devices called MOSFETs. Each of our POWERCELL outputs are designed to carry up to 25-amps continuously. Since the harness that came with the horn had a 20-amp fuse in it, he could easily power the horn directly from the POWERCELL. This eliminated all of the extra parts that came with the horn. The same would be true for fuel-pump harnesses, cooling fans and many other electrical add-on accessories. The POWERCELL eliminates the need for external relays and fuse holders.

The second question was related to adding a new electrical accessory to his car. He has most of the car completely wired with our Infinitybox 20-circuit harness. He has all of the CAN cables run, the POWERCELL power feeds are connected to the battery, the MASTERCELL inputs are wired to the switches and he has the POWERCELL outputs connected to his loads. He has everything loomed up and it looks really good.

He jus realized that he wanted to add a linear actuator to drive his emergency brake. His question was whether or not he could use an open pair of outputs from inMOTION to drive this actuator forward and back. The answer is yes and look at what it saved him.

Just like the horn above, he can drive the actuator directly from the inMOTION cell. inMOTION reverses polarity internally so that means that he can eliminate the relays that came with the kit for the actuator. It also means that he can use any switch to engage or disengage his emergency brakes. A single input on the MASTERCELL engages and another disengages. This means that he doesn’t need to use any special switches to change direction of the actuator.
More importantly, he can leverage the existing system that he has in the car. As long as he has open outputs on a POWERCELL or an inMOTION cell, he can easily wire them to his added accessory without having to run more wire through the car. Since he’s pretty much done with the wiring, this saved him tons of time fishing additional wires through the car. He simply connected the outputs from inMOTION to the linear actuator and connected the corresponding MASTERCELL inputs to his switches, and he was done. He didn’t even need to update his code.

We hope that these two simple examples highlight some of the benefits of our Infinitybox system and show how our system stands out against traditional wiring harnesses.

If you want to learn more about how the Infinitybox system can help you wire your car, give us a call at (847) 232-1991 or email us at sales@infinitybox.com. Click this link to contact our team directly.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire a thermostatic cooling fan switch to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

Wiring a Cooling Fan

November 23, 2014/0 Comments/in Wiring /by admin

We recently blogged about how you connect the Infinitybox MASTERCELL to the Holley Dominator ECU. The next thing that most guys ask about is how to wire a cooling fan. With the Infinitybox 10 and 20-circuit Harnesses, this is very easy.

Remember that the POWERCELL acts like the fuse and relay box. Built in the cell is the switching device, called a MOSFET, that turns the output on and off. It also includes a fuse to protect the wiring harness against short circuits or other over-current events. You can use the Infinitybox system to control your cooling fan and in most cases, you can eliminate the need for a relay and separate fuses.

The cooling fan must turn on when the engine temperature reaches a set point. When the engine temperature cools down, the fan should turn off. There are two main ways to do this. Traditionally, you have a thermostatic switch in the radiator or modern ECUs have their own temperature sensors to trigger the fan.

In the first case, you are installing a thermostatic switch into the radiator or the engine block. Most of these switches have a single terminal on them. They have a mechanism built inside that electrically connects that single terminal to its case when it reaches a set temperature. This case is connected to ground by being screwed into the radiator or the engine block. When the temperature drops, the electrical connection between the single terminal and ground is broken.

The MASTERCELL inputs work by being connected to ground. To wire the MASTERCELL input to the thermostatic switch, simply connect the input wire for the cooling fan to the terminal on the switch. See the configuration sheet that came with your kit for the right wire color and connector.

Once you have the input connected to the MASTERCELL, connect the cooling fan output on the POWERCELL to one wire on the cooling fan motor. The other wire needs to connect to the chassis for ground. We recommend using a 25-amp fuse in the POWERCELL output to protect this wire.

This picture shows in detail how you connect the MASTERCELL input to the temperature switch and how to connect the POWERCELL output to the cooling fan motor. You can also download a PDF of the wiring diagram here.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire a thermostatic cooling fan switch to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

Most ECU’s have a trigger that is used to control the cooling fan. They have a sensor that measures engine temperature and they use an external trigger to turn the fan on and off. These cooling fan triggers can either ground switch the cooling fan or they can positive switch the trigger. The manual for the ECU will describe whether the trigger is ground switched or positive switched.

As described above, the MASTERCELL inputs work by being pulled to ground. When the ECU ground switches the cooling fan trigger, it internally grounds the wire when it wants the fan on. In some cases, the voltage on this trigger may float or get pulled to battery voltage when the cooling fan is supposed to be off. This voltage needs to be blocked from flowing back into the MASTERCELL input. To do this, solder a diode in series between the MASTERCELL input and the trigger wire on the ECU. The recommended diode is a 1N4001 and can be easily purchased on-line. When installing the diode, the stripe on the diode should face towards the trigger wire on the ECU. This will not work correctly if the diode is wired in backwards.

If the cooling fan trigger on the ECU positive switches the cooling fan signal, you need to invert this to a ground trigger for the MASTERCELL. You can do this with a relay. This link will take you to a diagram showing how to do this.

The easier way to convert the positive switch signal from the ECU to a ground switched signal is to use one of our inVERT Mini modules. These are small and fit easily into the harness. This link will take you to more information on the inVERT Mini.

Once you have the MASTERCELL input wired to the trigger on the ECU, you need to wire the POWERCELL output to the fan. This is done exactly the same way as described above for the thermostatic switch example. Connect the cooling fan output on the POWERCELL to one wire on the cooling fan motor. The other wire needs to connect to the chassis for ground. We recommend using a 25-amp fuse in the POWERCELL output to protect this wire.

This picture shows in detail how you connect the MASTERCELL input to the ECU and how to connect the POWERCELL output to the cooling fan motor. You can also download a PDF of this wiring diagram at this link.

Image of wiring diagram showing how to wire the cooling fan trigger from an ECU to the Infinitybox MASTERCELL

Sometimes, a customer may want to have a bypass switch that they can use to turn on their cooling fans. This is usually a toggle switch on the dash that will turn on the fan at any time, even when the engine is not up to temperature.

In the case where you have a temperature switch, you simply wire the bypass switch in parallel. This means you splice into the MASTERCELL input wire that is going to the temperature switch. You connect the splice to one side of the bypass switch and you ground the other side of the switch. You can see this shown in the wiring diagram for the traditional temperature switch case.

If you’re controlling the fan through the ECU, you do the same thing. You splice into the MASTERCELL input wire for the cooling fan that is going to the ECU. You connect the splice to one side of the bypass switch and you ground the other side of the switch.

Please let us know if you have any questions about how you wire your cooling fans with our Infinitybox 10 and 20-circuit harness kits. You can reach out technical support team at (847) 232-1991 or email us at sales@infinitbox.com. You can also contact our team by clicking this link.

Image of a wiring diagram showing how to wire a simple photosensor relay to a MASTERCELL input

Automatic Headlights

November 2, 2014/0 Comments/in Wiring /by admin

We get a lot of questions about adding advanced features to our Infinitybox system. The reality of our system is that it is very easy to add modern functions to your car Here’s another great example.

A lot of customers want to add automatic headlights to their car. Some people call this a twilight function and practically every new car can do this. When it gets dark outside, the headlights turn on automatically.

To do this, you can use practically any light sensor. It just needs to make a connection when the light level gets dark. You are going to use this connection to ground the MASTERCELL input for the headlights. Remember that the MASTERCELL triggers an output on a POWERCELL when the input wire is grounded.

You can find simple photosensor relay modules on-line. Amazon has a lot of options. Try searching for “Photosensor Sensor Relay Module”.

The photoelectric switch simply needs power and ground. You should tap off of the ignition output on your POWERCELL to provide 12-volts to the switch. You can ground it locally in the car. The power and ground terminals are located on the side of the switch close to the white sensor connector. The power terminal is closest to the white connector and it is labeled VCC on the board. The ground terminal is on the side away from the white connector and it is labeled GND on the board.

On the other side of the board is a blue connector. The center terminal of this connector will connect to ground. You can connect this locally to ground or you can use one of the black ground wires in the MASTERCELL harness. There is a black jumper that may be located on a set of pins next to the relay on the board. See the picture below for more details. It is very important that this jumper be removed from the pins. You can do this with your fingernail or a small pair of needle-nose pliers. This jumper selects between ground switching the outputs on the relay or applying 12-volts from the relay. The MASTERCELL inputs are designed to be ground switched and they can be damaged if voltage is applied to them. You must make sure that you remove this jumper from the pins on the board.

Once you have the jumper removed, connect your MASTERCELL input to the left terminal next to the relay. See the diagram below for more details.

Lastly, take the white sensor cable and mount it in a place in the car where ambient light will hit it. You may have to experiment with the location of this sensor. There is also a potentiometer on the board that you can use to adjust the sensitivity of the sensor. Essentially, you need to adjust its location and the potentiometer so that the relay turns on when the ambient light falls below the threshold that you want.

You can have this light sensor as your only way to turn on your headlights. To do this, simply run the headlight input to the MASTERCELL directly to the light switch. You can also have it so that either the light sensor or the headlight switch will turn on your lights. To do this, wire the MASTERCELL input to both the headlight switch and the light sensor. You can split the MASTERCELL input into two runs, one for the headlight switch and one for the light sensor.

Image of a wiring diagram showing how to wire a simple photosensor relay to a MASTERCELL input

This diagram is just an example of one photosensor relay board that we found on Amazon. Follow the instructions that came with the photosensor that you are going to use.

You can download a simple diagram from our website that shows you all of the details. This link will take you there.

Please give our technical support team a call if you have questions about wiring your twilight lights with this sensor. You can click on this link to contact our team directly.

Picture of the Infinitybox 20-Circuit Kit

10-Circuit vs. 20-Circuit Kits

September 3, 2014/0 Comments/in Wiring /by admin

A lot of people ask: “Do I need a 10 or a 20-Circuit Harness Kit for my car?” The answer is, it depends. Both the 10 and 20-Circuit Harness Kits use our rock-solid multiplexing technology. The only difference between the kits is the number of POWERCELLs that you get. The 10-Circuit Kit gets you one MASTERCELL and one POWERCELL. The 20-Circuit Kit gets you one MASTERCELL and two POWERCELLs. Each POWERCELL has 10 outputs. When you sit down and look at the number of things that you have to control in a basic car, you can handle most all of them with the 10 outputs on a 10-Circuit Kit. This includes things like the starter solenoid, ECU power, headlights, turn signals, parking lights, etc. Wiring your car with a 10-Circuit Kit can be a lower cost option to get more advanced features in your car. You have the option to add practically any of our Infinitybox accessories to the 10-Circuit Kit including inLINK for security functions, inTOUCH NET for touch screen control and inMOTION to control windows and power locks. Going up to the 20-Circuit Harness Kit gets you some significant advantages over the 10-Circuit Kit.

The extra POWERCELL gets you 10 more outputs. This gives you more flexibility to control more things through the Infinitybox system.
Having two POWERCELLs lets you put them where you need them in the car. With two POWERCELLs, you can place one in the front of the car and one in the rear. This means that you’re running less wire because you can wire things to the local POWERCELL. Examples here include the turn signals, which are on the front & rear of the car. The parking lights are another example since they are in the front and rear of the car. With the single POWERCELL in the 2-Cell Kit, you have to run all of the wire back to a central location. With multiple POWERCELLs you have more flexibility and can run less wire.
The extra POWERCELL in the 20-Circuit Kit gets you more flexibility to control your tail lights and turn signals. A lot of late 1960’s cars use a single filament of one bulb on each side of the car for both the brake lights and the turn signals. We call this a single-filament configuration. The filament on each side of the car flashes independently as a turn signal or both sides turn on together when you step on the brake lights. The 20-Circuit Kit is set up to manage this turn-signal and brake light function within Infinitybox. You can’t do this directly with the 10-Circuit Kit because you only have one set of outputs for the turn-signals spliced to the front and rear of the car. If you did this with the 10-Circuit Kit, your front turn signals would turn on when you stepped on the brake pedal. There is a fix for the 10-Circuit Kit in a car that needs a single-filament configuration that involves a trailer converter. Give our tech guys a call if you want to go this way.

The other thing to consider is that the 10-Circuit Kit may not get you all of the outputs that you need to make your car street legal. Talk to our team to verify.

We have a configuration sheet specific for the 10-Circuit Kit. Click on this link to see it. This link will take you to an example of one of our 20-Circuit Harness Kit configurations. This one is for our front-engine set up. At the end of the day, you can wire a basic car easily with our 10-Circuit Kit. You get all of the benefits and add-on capability of the entire Infinitybox system. However, adding the extra POWERCELL expands the flexibility of the system significantly. Click here to contact our team with any additional questions.

Why A Fuse?

July 17, 2014/1 Comment/in Wiring /by admin

We get this question a lot.

Why do the POWERCELL and inMOTION cells use fuses to protect the outputs? Some say that we’re already using smart MOSFETs, why not rely on them to protect against over-current on the output wires? Others ask, why not use circuit breakers? There are several important and practical reasons why we rely on a traditional fuse to protect the outputs on our Infinitybox hardware.

With respect to MOSFETs, they are tried and true technology. They are used in practically every application for switching and current control. The MOSFETs used in the POWERCELLs are automotive-grade and designed to carry up to 270-amps. The chances of them failing in a typical customer car are minute. However, if a MOSFET fails, it doesn’t fail gracefully. If a MOSFET were to fail, it fails resistive. That means that they are going to generate a significant amount of heat, quickly. No intelligence built into the circuitry can interrupt the current flow if the silicon die in the MOSFET package has become a resistor. In that case, the fuse is your last line of defense to protect the system from thermal runaway.

You can use the same logic for inMOTION. It has sensors on the board that monitor the total amount of current flowing out to the load. inMOTION already shuts off the relay coils when it sees too much current, why not rely on that alone without the fuses? The practical reality is that a common failure mode for relays is for the contacts to weld together, especially in inductive motor application. If this were to happen, no intelligence on the inMOTION board can open the circuit. Again, the fuse becomes the last line of defense.

With the above being said, you can see the need for some circuit protection component in the system if other components fail. That leads to the debate between fuses and circuit breakers. Circuit breakers can certainly do the job, however a fuse will out perform a breaker in all categories.

Fuses are more cost effective than circuit breakers.
Fuses are smaller and package better than circuit breakers.
Fuses have better low-overload protection characteristics than circuit breakers. This is very important in cases of resistive shorts like a failed MOSFET.
Fuses respond quicker than circuit breakers under short-circuit conditions.

Most importantly, a fuse drives better end user behavior than a circuit breaker. At the end of the day, there is a reason why a fuse opens or a breaker trips. A motor has failed. Insulation on a wire has shorted to ground. An electronics module has failed. In all these cases, you do not necessarily want to blindly reset a breaker and keep on driving. The cause of the over-current condition needs to be identified and fixed before resuming normal operation of the vehicle or equipment. Otherwise, more severe thermal events can occur in the wiring harness causing damage or injury.

See our blog for additional posts on proper fusing and other circuit protection lessons. If you have any questions, reach out to our power distribution experts at (847) 232-1991 or email our team at sales@infinitybox.com. You can also click this link to contact our team directly.