[DeTomaso] Pantera circuit to fuse missmatch?

[Ken Green]

Dave,
 
    The after market harness do not specifically match our needs and are expensive ($400 to $500).  Most of the wire in my 73 looks like new, and I think some creative circuit design can leverage what is there and make improvements.  If we have a good re-design for a fuse panel and how to connect it to existing wiring, I think it's something to consider doing as part of a major restoration.
 
    For example, I plan to mount the fuse/relay panel in the front trunk, and will add a short (2 foot?) cable to the original fuse block location, to connect to the wire running to the back of the car.  The wire to the nose will be shorter and I can just bring them into the front trunk.  I'm going to a volt meter, so some of the big wires goes away.  I also think I can live with a good 1 wire alternator and that gets rid of a lot of wire.  I plan to re-connect wires a circuit at a time starting with the headlights and headlight motor, and work my way back.  I think it will all work out, just be time consuming. 
 
   I guess we wouldn't do this stuff if we didn't enjoy it, it's not a money maker, LOL.
 
Ken


________________________________
From: Dave Londry <davel at emspace.com>
To: Ken Green <kenn_green at yahoo.com> 
Cc: B Hower <b.hower3400 at yahoo.com>; "detomaso at realbig.com" <detomaso at realbig.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 2:06 PM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Pantera circuit to fuse missmatch?

You're not tempted to put in a hot-rod harness?
dave

On 25/01/2012 12:36 PM, Ken Green wrote:
> Bud,
>  
>      Thanks for your input, Bob Timma had similar observations and mentioned that he split up some of the circuits in the fuse panels he built.  Does the Pantera Electronics fuse panel split up some of the circuits?
>  
>      The wire harness was laying on the floor of the 73 I'm putting back together when I bought it, and at least two of the wires going into the engine compartment were missing insulation where they entered connectors.  If they shorted, it could be a problem.  With 40 year old wiring that may have been played with more than once, it seems like a good idea to match the fuses to the circuits.
>  
> Ken
>  
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: B Hower<b.hower3400 at yahoo.com>
> To: kenn_green at yahoo.com; detomaso at realbig.com; MikeLDrew at aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 11:01 AM
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Pantera circuit to fuse missmatch?
>
> Guys,
>
> FWIW --  In the real world a fuse should be rated to protect the wire it feeds. A 14 awg copper wire should not be fused at 20 amps. And three 14 awg wires feeding three items through a single fuse doesn't allow you to increase amperage rating of the fuse. The rating of the fuse should match the smallest wire size it feeds. When the current rating of the wire is exceeded and the fuse doesn't blow is when fires are possible. Just my 2 cents.
>
> Bud #3400
>
>
>
>
>
> --- On Wed, 1/25/12, MikeLDrew at aol.com<MikeLDrew at aol.com>  wrote:
>
>> From: MikeLDrew at aol.com<MikeLDrew at aol.com>
>> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Pantera circuit to fuse missmatch?
>> To: kenn_green at yahoo.com, detomaso at realbig.com
>> Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 4:50 PM
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 1/24/12 22 14 9, kenn_green at yahoo.com writes:>  Looking at Bill's circuit diagrams on Pantera Place, some of the fuses>  appear to feed circuits with much lower current requirements.  Specifically,>  25 amp fuse 12 feeds the stop lamp switch and back-up lights.  If there is>  a short in either of these in the rear of the car, it seems like thing>  could get pretty hot before the fuse goes?  The headlight fuses are only 8 amp.>  >>>You're not paying attention to the top item that he lists.  Fuse 12 ALSO feeds a radiator fan, which is why the amperage rating is so high.Plus it feeds a bunch of other, smaller things.  Fuse 11 is only rated at 15A and it feeds the other fan, plus fewer, smaller things.  Since 25A fuses basically don't exist anymore, most people run 30A in both of those, I think.I can see your point though--ideally I would imagine that you would want high-amperage things with a high-amp fuse, and
>  low-amperage things with low-amperage fuses.  With the stock setup, a short in one of those low-amp systems could easily result in an electrical fire, while the fuse sits there doing nothing except continuing to feed the fire.Yet another good reason to rewire the fan circuits and give them their own dedicated fuses.  I must admit that while I have done that, I haven't then readdressed the stock fuses 11 and 12.  Logically, since the heavy load has been removed from those circuits, I should be able to step them way down, to either 8 or 16 amp fuses.  Good point!MikeP.S.  And then there are British cars to consider.  Many British sports cars in the 1950s and 1960s used only one or two fuses to power the entire car!_______________________________________________Detomaso Forum Managed by POCAArchive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/DeTomaso mailing
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