View single post by edward_davis
 Posted: 08-08-2005 05:51 pm
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edward_davis



Joined: 07-06-2005
Location: Eugene, Oregon USA
Posts: 162
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 My JH, the orange '75 I bought from Jim Fritts, had an aftermarket fusebox installed by the PPO.  When I first got it, the headlight circuit burned out at one of the crimper connectors between the fusebox and the original wiring harness.  I thought the problem might have been in the fusebox itself, so I removed it and rewired the whole shebang with another set of aftermarket fuse boxes. 

Well, the box had been set up with a 20 amp fuse for the headlights, so I reused it for my new set-up, and it seemed to work fine when I tested it in the garage.  But I was out driving yesterday and turned on the lights, the fuse blew immediately.  Could it be that the lights are drawing more than 20 amps when the alternator is going?  I'll have to do some more experimentation, but I thought I would write in and ask if anyone had an idea how many amps the headlights (with all the marker lights and dashboard lights, etc.) would be expected to draw.  What was the orignial fuse in the 3-fuse Lucas box rated? 

It is nice to have the additional fuses, so that a short in the headlights doesn't cause a bunch of other circuits to fail.  I had a VW with only 5 fuses for a long time, and that was bad enough.  I have the car on 12 circuits, which helps a lot with troubleshooting.


Do I have a short, or just too small a fuse?