150 Amp Fuse

[MStout]

I recently blew my 50 amp fuse, which wasnt an ANL. So I went and bought an ANL fuseholder and 150 amp fuses thinking they will be better...but Im not sure. If a surge of more than 50 blew that fuse, than this could be a surge anywhere from 50 to 150. Its the first time this has happened, so Im guessing that was bad. I just need to know if its a good idea to use these...thanks.

[PaulD]

the fuse is to protect the car, not the amp ........ so the fuse or circuit breaker should actually be sized to the car battery/ alernator. Trust me, if you short out a 4 Ga power wire or larger, it WILL blow a 150 amp fuse.

[sr20de4evr]

Like Paul said, the fuse in the power wire is to protect the car. You just want a fuse large enough where the normal current draw from the amp won't blow it, and small enough where the wire will still be able to blow it if it happens to short out (IE: don't put a 300 amp fuse on 8ga wire).

What size amp do you have? It's possible that it was just running normally when it blew the fuse, and the fuse was just too small.

[MStout]

Its a MTX 1501D. It should be giving both my subs 550 watts RMS.

[MStout]

Ok...I put it in and when I turned on the car...it immediately dropped my RPMs from normal state to below what it usually idles at...and I had no sound coming from the subs so it scared me and I shut it off. I looked at the fuse now and its discolored...this isnt good is it?

[DJ Brady]

if it drug the RPMs down, it DEFINATELY put an immediate draw on the alternator...
That could be a dead short, but like Paul said, it SHOULD pop the fuse immediately... you should have someone fairly knowledged check your system out.

[MStout]

It didnt...the amp warns about possible 150 amp draws but I think my alternator is only 80 in my Neon. Thats why I mean I dont think my alternator would blow a 150 amp fuse...and thats why it freaks me out in case it ever needed to blow.

[sr20de4evr]

It sounds like you have a short, maybe not a dead short (if it was a dead short the fuse would be blown), but atleast a partial one. Maybe something sharp cut through the wire insulation but it's painted so it's not making perfect contact, I'm not sure. Don't worry about the fuse not being able to blow, just because your alt can only support 80 amps, that doesn't mean anything. Your alt isn't the only source of electrical power you know, the battery can push out hundreds and hundreds of amps if the demand is placed on it. It can easily blow a 150 amp fuse if there's a dead short in the wire.

[MStout]

I will cut to the chase...I didnt have the RCAs plugged into the receiver...and now I think Im fucked. Oh yea..not to mention my fucking sub started on fire. Im not very happy right now... know Im fucking stupid but I need to know what is dead. My amp light still comes on but I dont want to turn it on anymore to see if it has sound to the other sub, if that one is even ok. Straight answers please...anything helps. Thanks.

[Navy I.C.]

i'm thinking, don't worry about the rca cables, their voltage is too low to be starting fires all the way on your subs.
if there was a short between the amp and battery, the battery's fuse would go first, (your battery is fused right).
if you had a short in the amps internal circuitry, the amp fuses would go.
what's left is the speakers. so now the questions are...what's the I/O ratings of your amp/speaker,
how were they wired, and was your subs exposed to foreign debris (coins, jewelry, etc...)
a short on any part of the signal flow can cause a fire, but you said the fire happened on your speakers,
and they're at the tail end of a multi-fused, isolated circuit. so that's where you should start.

[MStout]

Everything was fine...I blew a 60 amp fuse but bought a 150 because thats what the amp called for...as far as I know. I hooked it up all the same and forgot to plug the RCAs into the back of my CD player since I had unplugged them after my fuse blew because the sound seemed better. Thats what I mean...thats what did it right there. My amp also has always made a high pitch ringing noise...and it still does and the LED is on, but it makes a faint crackling noise, but I dont think its a sparking type sound. I touched the speaker wires on a small 2 inch speaker to see if it had current and it popped the speaker...so Im guessing its still sending current but I dont trust the amp now. I took the other sub that didnt burn out and the tensels are gold instead of silver now and one of the cooling vents above the magnet is discolored...so I know its blown. It stinks too. What kind of subs does RE or ED have that are in the 600 rms area and are 15"?