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Thread: Fuse Ratings |
    
Bronze Member Username: Decker
Post Number: 48
Registered: Jun-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - 11:37 pm: |
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Hi, I'm wondering what a fuse rating means. Does this mean that the amplifier can't take more than this rating, or that it needs at least this many amps, or does it mean something different? |
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Silver Member Username: Byrumjr
Post Number: 134
Registered: Jan-05
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| Posted on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - 02:51 pm: |
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Amp fuse rating means that the amplifier can't take more than this rated fuse for a long time. If your amp has a 30-amp fuse than it will pull around 20 to 28 amps. This might help you.
http://www.bcae1.com/fuses.htm |
Bronze Member Username: Decker
Post Number: 49
Registered: Jun-04
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| Posted on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - 09:51 pm: |
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This may seem a bit weird, but theoretically:
Say I have a battery charger than can output a charge of 30 amps at 12 volts. If I was to attach a fuse to this and hook an amp to it, would this be essentially the same as a car battery with a 30A fuse on it? Why or why not? What are the problems with this? Would the amp 'suck' as much as it needs (20 to 28A), or would the charger 'push' as much as it can into the amp (30A)? |
Gold Member Username: Carguy
Post Number: 2065
Registered: Nov-04
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| Posted on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - 11:00 pm: |
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First of all, are you really a doctor?
It is not the same. A 30A charger will put out 30A max, where as a battery will put out a lot more than 30A.
Think of charger as a water pipe that is 3" wide and battery as 30" wide pipe with a control valve.
Now if you needed to fill a swimming pool, which do you think will get the job done faster?
Talk about using a weird comparison... ha ha. |
Silver Member Username: Byrumjr
Post Number: 137
Registered: Jan-05
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| Posted on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - 11:09 pm: |
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Don’t take my word for it I am not sure. But if the battery charger put out 12 volts DC it should work. If your amp has a 30amp fuse then it needs less than 30 amps to work. I just take a car battery and test my amps because you need to hook a head unit up also. Maybe someone has done this and can help you more. |
Bronze Member Username: Decker
Post Number: 50
Registered: Jun-04
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| Posted on Thursday, March 24, 2005 - 02:06 am: |
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Isaac, are you saying that the battery chargers basically lie? That when it says 30 amp charge rate, that it can't actually do that?
Can a simple multimeter be used to test the amps of the battery charger? |
Gold Member Username: Carguy
Post Number: 2066
Registered: Nov-04
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| Posted on Thursday, March 24, 2005 - 09:50 am: |
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No Dr Adam, what I am saying is that, a 30A charger will give you 30A, no more, where as battery will give you 30A and much more, till it runs out of current.
You can use the 30A charger to power car audio at home, but you might want to attach a capacitor to smooth out voltage spikes, if not you might hear AC noise.
Also note, some of these cheap chargers have duty cycle, meaning they can't be on all the time. So check the manual.
Yes you can use DMM to check the charger's current. |
Bronze Member Username: Decker
Post Number: 51
Registered: Jun-04
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| Posted on Thursday, March 24, 2005 - 06:14 pm: |
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So does an amp suck up as much amperage as it needs, or does the charger push out as much as it can?
For example, if I have an amp with a fuse of 25A and my charger has a charge rate of 30A, will it consistently blow the fuse, or will the extra amps just go back through the circuit (of the wall outlet)? |
Gold Member Username: Carguy
Post Number: 2079
Registered: Nov-04
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| Posted on Thursday, March 24, 2005 - 06:58 pm: |
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A bit of both. Amp will draw as much as it's required. The charger/power supply will give as much as needed till it hits 30A.
A fuse will only blow if the current draw is greater than it's size. So for your example, the 25A amp will work since it's less than or equal to the charger's max 30A.
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Bronze Member Username: Decker
Post Number: 52
Registered: Jun-04
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| Posted on Friday, March 25, 2005 - 06:24 pm: |
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Oh, that's exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. Thanks, Isaac! |
