No idea y Fuse keep burning?

[Synthetic11]

Hi all,

I just replaced the foglight of my '00 Xterra w/ the aftermarket part. Since then i also replaced the fuse three times, it keeps burning. W/ the stock fog the original fuse was 15 and i'm still using the same amps. Do i need to change the amps from 15 to 20 or what should i do now to prevent this from happening again? Please can somebody give me some light on this problem. Thank you very much! I really appreciate your help.

Synthetic11

[OffroadX]

How many watts are the aftermarket fogs rated at? The stock wiring and fuse can handle a pair of 55W bulbs (vs. stock 35W) OK, but anything more and you're asking for trouble. Putting in a higher-rated fuse may fix your immediate problem, but when the wiring overheats and starts an electrical fire, you'll be kicking yourself for being so foolish.

[Synthetic11]

Originally Posted by OffroadX

How many watts are the aftermarket fogs rated at? The stock wiring and fuse can handle a pair of 55W bulbs (vs. stock 35W) OK, but anything more and you're asking for trouble. Putting in a higher-rated fuse may fix your immediate problem, but when the wiring overheats and starts an electrical fire, you'll be kicking yourself for being so foolish.

First off i wanna say thank u for ur reply. To b honest w/ u, i did not pay attention how many watts the aftermarket fog and i already throw the box away so for me knowing how many wattage is impossible. What i'm gonna do s to go back to the store and find out the wattage?

So u mean that i can use but no more than 55W bulbs correct? Please verify this 4 me. Thank u 4 being helpful 2 me! Have a good day my friend!

Synthetic11

[OffroadX]

Right, 55W is about as much as you would want to risk on the factory wiring.

[Synthetic11]

Thank u much!

[Synthetic11]

OffroadX,

I checked @ the store and it says on the box (2) 55 watts. If i can used as much as 55 watts bulb then why it keep burning the fuse? Any other idea my friend? Just need your help since you have more knowledge than i do. Thanks a lot!

[OffroadX]

No idea. Try upping the fuse by 5A and see if that fixes it. Otherwise, you would best get the wiring re-done before going any higher.

[wobly]

The reason your fuse keeps blowing is that it is overloaded. It's that simple. The overload could be from a short or too much amperage being pulled.

[Synthetic11]

Originally Posted by wobly

The reason your fuse keeps blowing is that it is overloaded. It's that simple. The overload could be from a short or too much amperage being pulled.

Hi there,

Honest question? What should i do to correct this problem? Change the fogs or replace the fuse to 20 amps like offroadx said? Pls. let me know, thank you very much! I really appreciate that you share your knowledge.

[wobly]

If you use a fuse that is rated higher than what was originally in there, you run the risk of burning up your wiring/vehicle/components. It is a risk. Will going from a 15 amp fuse to a 20 amp fuse cause a fire? Probably not, but that shouldn't be your first step. Step one is to find out what the draw is from the lights. Step two is to find out if there is a short somewhere like a wire that was stripped bare touching metal, a badly grounded housing or something else. Learn about Ohms and test your wires.

Here is a breakdown from another site;

Since the question asked is brief, I offer this; Voltage is the amount of stored electrical energy (potential) provided by an energy source and its units are given in Volts. Current is a unit of measure of an amount of energy charges passing through a given area for a specific time interval (Coulombs per second or Amperes). Resistance is the amount of work or energy used that impedes the current flow and usually expresses the loss of potential energy or drop through a passive linear device. Through Ohm's law we define this relationship with E (volts) = I (current) * R (ohms). This is simplistic, and basically refers to Direct Current (DC) Circuits, but I hope it helps. To put it in "Mechanical" terms,
Voltage=Pressure (Measured in Volts)
Current=Flow Rate (Measured in Amps)
Resistance=Resistance (Measured in Ohms)
Power=Power (Measured in Watts)
Assuming simple DC:
1Amp x 1Volt = 1Watt (P=IE)POWER is as easy as PIE
1Amp= 1Volt x 1Volt (E=IR)
All simple problems can be solved by these 2 Equations

Resistance in series is Additive R1+R2+R3...=Rtotal
Resistance in parallell is solved by
1/Rtotal=1/((1/R1)+(1/R2)+(1/R3)+...)
Therefore the sum of parallell resistances must be less than the lowest resistance

DC is Direct Current (Your car battery)
AC is Alternating Current (Your House)
Frequency (Measured in Hertz) is the cycles per second of AC Power, typically 60Hz in the US and 50Hz in Europe (Although some special applications like aircraft use 400Hz)

Some other notes, typical household voltages are 110-120 Volts AC (US) with 220-240 Volts AC being used for large appliances, 220-240 Volts is widely used in Europe
Most cars use 12V DC but older cars may use 6V Dc
A typical battery (AA,C,D) cell in the US is 1.5 Volts

Most US Houses have a 200 Amp Service

And finally 3 KiloWatts=4 HorsePower (Roughly, it's a thumb rule NOT an EXACT conversion)

Hope that Helps a Little

[XBBO]

I had the same problem but on a different fuse. I believe it was the fuse for the power mirrors. It kept blowing and I would replace it with the same rated fuse.(I think it was a 5A) This didn't help, so I replaced it with a 10A and haven't had a problem since.

I'd suggest going with a bigger fuse.