Quote:
Originally Posted by BoomInTheTrunk
now wait, what makes you think that it is ok to put a larger fuse in its place when it was designed for the smaller fuse. Mercedes doesn't put a 15 amp fuse in and expect people to replace it with a 20 amp. Anyways it would be a much nicer install if he went straight to the battery. No extra wire that you can see from the ash tray. I try to keep the car looking original or make it look better. if he now has a wire coming from the ashtray that looks tacky. By no means is it overkill to run 5 feet of wire if that to the battery. and i only suggested that if he get something over 300 watts then he would defiantly have to run the wires. but after thinking it over he should anyways. he wants a permanent feature in the car something that looks decent and extra wire floating around the interior doesn't look good.
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1. fractional increase in fuse size - current carrying capacity of the wire used in that circuit or any circuit is rated significanly higher than the fuse size. If you have any knowledge of ohms law, then you wll know that minimizing voltage drop in a circuit is directly related to the resistance of the wire and thus to the size of the conductor. The more current that flows thru a given conductor, the higher the voltage drop....which is not what is wanted by the device being powered. Therefore, increasing the fuse size by the small amount I suggested is not an issue (safety or operational) in THIS specific case. Your suggestion about running a cable straight to the battery REQUIRES a much heavier cable to avoid voltage drop especially if the battery is under the rear seat or in the trunk.....not really an esthetically pleasing thought!
2. I never said anything about wires running out of the ashtray - I said I installed a power jack to be used when needed!
3. You mention "300 watts" which is 20 times what he needs to power the satellite receiver, GPS and cell phone combined. By mentioning "300 watts" you make my case above for much thicker cables going directly to the battery. The cig lighter wire does not go all the way back to the battery....it goes to the (closer) fuse panel (power distribution point) which has its own, much heavier cable going back to the battery. Why are you suggesting 300 watts when he has no need for this amount of power? He specifically mentioned only satellite receiver, GPS and cell phone.
4. I used the word "over-kill" exclusively with respect to the installation of a bigger alternator only - I did not use it in the context you are now referring to. Not wanting to flog a dead horse but I need to repeat this...Adding a larger alternator for the sole purpose of powering his satellite receiver, GPS and cell phone from the factory installed cig lighter circuit is TOTAL OVER-KILL!! The cars battery powers these items NOT the alternator.......which is used exclusively to charge the battery which will be rated anywhere from 60 to 100 amphour or more.
5. As for how you like things to look etc is completely subjective and really has no place in any technical discussion however basic it might be.
I am done with this issue.
Dee8Go is free to decide what he wants to do.
I have only related what I have done in my current car and every car I have owned in the past 40 years.