Should I Fuse the Alternator?
Transcript is auto-generated.
hi everyone jeff cote here at the pacific yacht hq all right so we've got a fellow boater asking us a question so brad asks jeff you say fuse the alternator at the battery if that fuse blows won't it toast the alternator i'm installing a blue c circuit battery switch and an acr the alternator is 55 amps with an internal regulator brad brad that is a phenomenal question honestly uh great question and it's a dilemma that we face every day right alternators especially if your alternator is directly connected to a battery which in most of our cases won't happen because generally the alternator is directly connected to the starter solenoid but if you've decided to take an upgrade or and wire your alternator directly to an engine battery or house battery and there's merits to both depending that alternator circuit needs to be fused at the battery so what happens if the fuse blows well if the fuse blows yes and your alternator is working you will lose your alternator meaning lose not physically lose but your altar will blow up but why did the fuse blow in the first place the fuse is there to protect the wire from an accidental short and you've got to remember alternators are this sort of dangerous device you know it's a device that has 12 volts and has also got zero volts right then most alternators are either grounded or grounded through the case and it's possible that the alternator positive post breaks i've seen that happen and the cable falls onto the alternator case and causes a dead short and so the fuse is there to protect the wire and so yeah you might lose your alternator but if the fuse was in there you have lost your boat and so it's a question of not worrying about losing your alternator it's a question of being happy to have saved your boat and not having caused a fire on your boat if the fuse on your alternator blows you've got to really ask yourself how the hell did that happen because the wire should be enough amperage to handle easily the loads coming from the alternator the fuse should be rated at least 1.25 the maximum output of the alternator and so if it blew that means that you had a serious event happen on that wire and you got to be curious and you got to look for it and yes your alternator might blow but who cares because ultimately you save for a fire on board your boat so fusing is not only for the appliance it's also for the wire and it's there for our safety on those super critical super important a big fan of fusing every single circuit on a boat except the starter circuit and an alternator is not a starter hence it should also be fused so that's a great question for thanks for watching this video if you've got further questions that we didn't answer please ask them below or go on our website and fill up one of the forms and lastly if you haven't subscribed to our channel please do so that way you'll get the regular contents and in closing thanks for watching you
