Inline Fuse keeps blowing to my NVS - Why??

I have a pair of NVS 1010's on my tower and the PPI 4125 amp pushing them. I have an inline fuse like this.... http://www.cartoys.com/cartoys/showdetl.cfm/Product_ID/55715/ with an 80 amp fuse in it. it keeps blowing. i started off with a 60, and that didnt work. the 80 will run for a while, but ends up blowing.

think a 100 amp ANL fuse like this will work?

http://www.cartoys.com/Default.cfm/p/ANL100_ANL_Fuse

i dont know if i have something wired wrong or not. the first 80 amp fuse blew when i started the boat and the volume was only at 4. the next one blew while i had the volume at 13 and i had already ridden all day with my volume at 15 with no problems. any suggestions?

matt ~ the ANL 100 amp fuse is the one to use.

First off if you blew a fuse at low volume and put a bigger one in and that blew then there is something wrong, you should not keep putting larger fuses in. This is only coveing up a problem. Chenk and make sure that something is not grounding out.

I run a 100 amp fuse, so far so good.

I've got 1010's as well. I'm running three total amps pushing apporx 1800 watts RMS total. I have one 150 amp fuse.

Look for a short in your system power wiring, these fuses should not be blowing.

Dont forget as the voltage drops, like when you pull back the throttle or sit with the engine off, your current goes up. This may be why your fuse blew after running all day at as higher level or just that the fuse had enough after being at its limit all day??
Adam you know your equipment isnt 100% efficient right, so that being said you probably will blow that fuse if and when you try to run all the amps near their top end together...bring a spare fuse.

What AWG power wire are you using? If too small, may be choking power (voltage), causing current draw (amperage) to go up. Check all connections, should be solid & tight. Avoid crimp type connections.

Owner/installation manual for the PPI amp should have recommended AWG for power wire, and fuse size.

(Message edited by socalwakepunk on May 31, 2005)

i will see what i can find, but i am not the best with this stuff, so i might have to take it to someone who knows a bit more on how to find the short.

bob - thats exactly what happened. i started the boat back up, started to put it in reverse and it blew.

Captain - i dont remember right now but its either 2 or 4 guage wire. i will have to go home and check. what type of connections do you suggest?

At a minimum that amp would take a 84 amp fuse, going up to the nearest would be 100. You can always buy a circiut breaker, that way you don't have to keep replacing fuses. waytec wire has no label breakers for about $20-30, they are the same as Stinger and etc. have.

Stupid question....You do have that fuse block between the amp and the battery don't you? The way you describe the speakers and then discribe the amp and then go to say you have an inline fuse, makes it sound like it is between the amp and the speakers.

Also, saying the volume is at 13 means nothing. Though I know that 13 is pretty low, so on a side note I would have to say you have the gain of the amp way too high. When I do installs, I usually take the loudest music recording I will be listening too and will turn the volume control on my deck all the way up. Most CD players today it will be clean all the way up using the RCA outs. Then I set my amp gains to drive the speakers to the max level I can hear is clean. That way I will pretty much always have clean sound and I never have to leave instructions to people to only turn it to this or that number.

rod - sorry for making it sound confusing but yes, i do have the inline fuse between the battery and amps. i figured the "13" and "4" doesnt mean anything but i was trying to somewhat compare those 2 numbers to each other.

i will try a 100 ANL fuse and see how that does. think i should go ahead and put something bigger than a 100 in there? a 125 or a 150? i will also check the gains and see if that helps.

thanks for the help so far.

I would check and see what fuse your amp manufacture suggests and do go above it. If you put to large of a fuse and you have some shorting issue you could expose your amp to blow instead of the fuse.

ooops meant dont go above recommended fuse size

2/4 AWG is probably fine (unless it's like 100' run). Solder / gold plated terminals.

For the PPI PCX 4125 you should be a bit careful. Reading the manual,you should find the section that states concern about operation at low voltage.
As stated above, low voltage can increase current draw and blow fuses....that's a good thing. The bad side of that is that too high a fuse value and you risk your amp. I know first hand with a PCX 4125 by letting the smoke out accidently running on only 1 battery when normal was 3.
I would also add that although Ckt Breakers are convenient, extra care should be given to determine appropriate value. This is due to the fact that Ckt Brkrs do no respond as fast as fuses to surges in current.
Case in point, a 140 amp breaker did not protect my PCX 4125 with low voltage.
Finally, current is as follows:
Volts x Amps = Watts
Algebraic manipulation would then say that
Amps = Watts/Volts
Therefore, simply put if you have a PCX at 1,000 watts and 12 volts, you will draw some 83.3 amps. That's not taking into consideration the near 50% efficiency of most amplifiers.
After all of that, I'd use and do use, a 100 amp fuse like suggested by AntBug.
good luck Matt.

really hate to tell you this...

but there is a "chance" your 50 amp (estimated) alternator/electrical "may not" cut it...if you are running large sub amp AND the large ppi for the tower speakers AND maybe another amp for the boat speakers.. you might want to check your electrical draw (this can be checked by the stereo shop)

if you are running 1000 watts, would suggest 0 gauge wire for the positive and the negative runs (no matter the length is)..also a minimum of a couple blue top batteries might also help..

in regards to fuses...would suggest a 200 amp resetable relay..

Hi Clubmyke,
I've been reading this a lot, standard alternators won't keep up with 3 amps. So far I have had 2 amps and 2 batterys running off the std mercruiser alternator and never had a problem, in fact with my current setup we can run for 3-4 hrs without having any trouble starting the boat. I'm about to add a third amp and 4 more in boat speakers, mostly to fill out the sound and increase SQ rather than make it louder. How much difference with the third amp make?

All my stuff is entry level crunch V4300, V1800 & about to add a V4200. 0 gauge to block (about 2 foot) & 1 guage to amps (1 foot each). Pushing all pioneer 6x9's x4, 6&1/2s x6, 12" sealed, 10" ported.

(Message edited by ralph on June 01, 2005)

darren,

not all amps are created equal...some can easily pull 60 - 80 amps when bumping (i have run big zapco's and kicker zr series only to ruin my alternator's...these amps can suck some serious juice....) just check your voltage when running your system (ideal is 13v-14v).. if you are running 11v-12v then you are not getting full wattage.

i think this is the reason why regulated power supplies and class d has been really successful the last 5 years..

would suggest taking your boat to the shop and having them check your alternator to see how many amps your system is pulling... then going from there..

Thanks Mike.