Christopher wrote,
>Sorry to bomb the list, but I'm not sure of Jarrid's address.
>
>Jarrid,
>
>I've been having a resistance problem. I have a 60amp fuse in between the
>alternator & the ammeter (mainly to protect the ammeter). When I use my
>stereo (450 watts) the fuse gets very hot (I have noted molten solder at
>one end of the fuse cap) and appears to develop a resistance in the
>circuit. The car then dies and no power makes it through the ignition
>circuit. All I usually have to do is fiddle with the fuse and connections
>immediately surrounding it & the car will start right back up. Should I
>just eliminate the fuse altogether? Should I be running a larger gauge
>wire due to the high amperage (30+) that the stereo makes the alternator
>put out? I am currently running the stock brown alt wire.
30 amperes continuous should require 10 or 12 AWG wire, which the car
really doesnt have at the fuse panel.
That much current, and 35+ year old corrosion in the crimps of the terminals
and you have resistance that you really cant do much about "without
rewiring".
Keep it up and you will let the smoke out of your lucas wiring.
If you want to do it right, put a second fuse box on the cockpit, and do
the following:
1) get a relay, and wire the coil terminals so that one goes to chassis,
and the other to the ignition terminal on the old fuse panel.
2) with a 10 or even 8 AWG cable, connect to the hot side of the starter
solenoid, and wire into one of the contactor terminals on the relay.
Extra credit if you go all the way back to the battery terminal instead
of the solenoid (gives less alternator noise).
3) take the other contactor terminal and connect it to the power feed
of the new fuse box.
4) take the fuse output to your radio/amp/accesories.
This is how it works...
When the ignition is off, the relay is not energized, and the battery
power is not switched to the new fuse panel.
When you switch the ignition on, the relay is energized and the relay
contacts connect the battery directly to the new fuse panel.
This makes the new fuse panel -ACT- like you connected it to the
ignition terminal, but since the relay connects to the battery, and
you supply the new heavier gauge wiring, the old and fragile wiring
doesnt bare the brunt to the current flow, in fact the only added
current flow to the old ignition supply is to energize the relay.
Hope this helps.
Jarrid
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