Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I'm currently putting together a fuse/distribution box and am unsure whether it is worthwhile putting an inline fuse between the fuse box itself and the battery.
The cable i am using between the fuse box and the battery is 4GA rated at 120amp and it is very unlikely i will be drawing this much through it ever. I will run things such as fridge, cb, uhf, gps lights etc out of the fuse box.

Also, i have run 15amp auto cable to the back of the car to run the engel. Is it reasonable to expect to be able to also have a cigarette lighter plug connected to this and run a camp light in the evening or would this place too much load on the wire? From what i have read the engel seems to draw about 6A max and the camplight about 1-2A.

TIA.

Most vehicles from the factory will have either a fusible wire or heavy duty fuse/ fuses hanging directly off the positive battery terminal. If the main cable should short out somehow (eg. rub through the insulation) it could help prevent a fire.

Sorry, should have mentioned that this will be running of an auxillary deep cycle battery.

definately fuse it, with such a large cable. Unsure of the distance between the distribution box and the battery though, but even if it was to the other side of the engine bay I would still have a master fuse as close to the battery as possible.

Area54 wrote:definately fuse it, with such a large cable. Unsure of the distance between the distribution box and the battery though, but even if it was to the other side of the engine bay I would still have a master fuse as close to the battery as possible.

I second that! If in doubt, put in a fuse. It's like insurance - it's better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.

Cheers,

Scott

yep fuse it, or better yet jaycar have a 70 amp trip wich could be used.
i would go bigger on the rear wiring, maybe 20A, at night my fridge is normally unpluged ( except in this sydney weather at the moment ) and i run a fuse/distribution box at the rear with a 4GA main and a narva box to a camp light, rear int. light and fridge no prob.

Ended up getting a 100 amp circuit breaker from Jaycar to go between the battery and the fuse box.