The fuse and power wire thread says:

" If your drilling a hole in your firewall. Please do yourself a favor and use a gromet so your car does not look like this."

then shows the picture of the burnt car...I dont get it. Yes I get what he is saying but if you install your fuses correctly, you will not have a problem like that at all even if ur wire doe short on the firewall

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by imadigitalgod &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> The fuse and power wire thread says:

" If your drilling a hole in your firewall. Please do yourself a favor and use a gromet so your car does not look like this."

then shows the picture of the burnt car...I dont get it. Yes I get what he is saying but if you install your fuses correctly, you will not have a problem like that at all even if ur wire doe short on the firewall </TD></TR></TABLE>

not true. an electrical arc is still very dangerous and depending on the conditions could act as a source of ignition

 

but the car shown has the rear burnt up, the firewall is in the front of the car?

no doubt that shorting can cause ignition, im just saying that the firewall short had nothing to do with that fire in the picture


Modified by imadigitalgod at 1:38 AM 6/9/2007

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by imadigitalgod &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">no doubt that shorting can cause ignition, im just saying that the firewall short had nothing to do with that fire in the picture
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh no?? When a wire shorts in the front, the whole wire heats up... Maybe there was a textbook or old love letter in the trunk on the power wire to the amp, and when the insulation burned off from the short in the front of the car, it ignited the paper...

 

the whole wire would not heat up like that if they had a properly installed fuse right at the battery terminal if it shorted at the firewall.

if no fuse was used, yes it would happen

 

Basically what you're saying is that since there's a fuse you don't need a grommet because the fuse will protect you when the insulation on the wire inevitably fails?

That is so fundamentally wrong that I wont bother addressing it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by suspendedHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Basically what you're saying is that since there's a fuse you don't need a grommet because the fuse will protect you when the insulation on the wire inevitably fails?

That is so fundamentally wrong that I wont bother addressing it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

that is not at all what iam saying, people who dont use gromets are dumbshits.

the fire caused in the trunk of the car is NOT caused by failed usage of a gromet, it is caused by not installing a fuse in the proper location; which is right where the wire conntects to the battery.

Bottom line: No im not saying not using a gromet is ok because a fuse will protect it. According to the picture, if a short was at the firewall (as described in the thread)and a fuse was used in the proper location, it wouldnt have caused a fire in the rear of the vehicle.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C_EJ8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
When a wire shorts in the front, the whole wire heats up... Maybe there was a textbook or old love letter in the trunk on the power wire to the amp, and when the insulation burned off from the short in the front of the car, it ignited the paper...</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

i find that hard to believe when the fuse blows almost instantly, the heat created wouldnt have enough time to heat up the whole wire in the car to the extent of atleast 451 F to start to burn paper or whatever else is in the trunk.

 

Just because a fuse blows doesn't mean it breaks the circuit. A massive surge could essentially break then melt the fuse together/arc across the break. This would then be the very thing that probably happened to that car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wdesigns &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just because a fuse blows doesn't mean it breaks the circuit. A massive surge could essentially break then melt the fuse together/arc across the break. This would then be the very thing that probably happened to that car.

</TD></TR></TABLE>WHAT????

This tread is just stupid, the point was to make sure that people install a grommet in the firewall when drilling a hole for power wires, with or without a fuse, [although a fuse should always be used]
No a fuse does not instantly blow, it will not blow until the load exceeds the fuses rating, a minor short may not exceed the amps rating but can produce enough heat to cause a fire.
If you do not believe me, open your car door, wait 5min. now remove the dome light bulb using just your fingers, now that's a load on maybe a 10A fuse, now think about a power line with a 100-200 amp fuse on it.
Just because there is a fuse on a line does not mean you can't have a problem with it. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Just because there is a fuse on a line does not mean you can't have a problem with it. 94</TD></TR></TABLE>

True story... Brake lights on my '88 Prelude did not function. I investigated, and found a completely melted bulb housing and associated wiring... Lo and behold, the brake light fuse was still good...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">WHAT????

This tread is just stupid, </TD></TR></TABLE>

Also a true story.

 

Sorry for the confussion. that car had a cheesy cheap circuit breaker in it. The wire melted all the way from the firewall to the trunk. If happened that the trunk went up and not the whole car. There are burn marks all the way to the fire wall. There was no damage to the front of the car except for the exploded battery. The only cause I could find was that there was no gromet used and there was sharp edges around the hole were the power wire went thru. And on the engine side you could see fragments of metal stuck into the power wire were it was sliding back and forth thru the hole. Insurance deemed the car salvage and was sold. I installed a new corrected sound system in the owners new truck. I can't explain why it did not melt the power wire under the hood. I think that the wire heated up and traveled to the back because it was under the carpet. It was 1/0 gauge. It melted the distro block and the cap melted and caught fire. There was to much damage in the trunk to even tell. It was a melted pile of wires and amps and basket of subs. The pics was used as this what could happen.

Ps. I did not do the install. I sold him all the equipment and his friend did it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wrx-killer-Sti eater &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ps. I did not do the install. I sold him all the equipment and his friend did it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

well his install, his fault

personally i wouldnt ever use a circuit breaker in my car, i have even read that ti is a bad idea because sometimes it can connect back and start the short all over again.

i personally use fuses only, especially since they shouldnt blow unless there is an install problem