Fusible Links

[scott2000]

My truck has some electrical issues. I had one fusible link melt and just put some similar gauge wire as the fuse wire was. I have some teflon hookup wire and can get it pretty easily in different sizes.

Are automotive fusible link wires some kind of special construction?

I know the jacket has to withstand melting of the conductor but, is the conductor construction something different than normal hook up wire? I did notice the burned link wire didn't seem to have many strands and the strands seemed pretty big..... almost like thhn......or something....

I think I'll need to address different wires throughout my truck and wasn't sure if I should just buy something from the store or make my own........

Thanks!!!

 

[JohnRoberts]

Do you feel lucky... well do you???  ;D ;D ;D

A while back I had some fuse drama with a modest hifi amp so rolled my own fuse from a single wire strand pulled from a piece of stranded wire until a real fuse showed up. Eventually I found a clipped component lead rolling around loose on the PCB shorting out some PS components.  That component lead was far more amps than the fuse. 

You can look up single conductor fuse current from AWG tables, and it turns out my single smallest strand of copper wire I could find to tack across the body of the blown fuse was something like 6 amps or more.

I would be apprehensive about playing fast and loose with fuses. So do what I say, not what I do.  8)

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

Car fires can result in bad outcomes... fusible links are fuses...

JR