Inline fuses for small wiring - ABYC compliant?

[AaronD]

Is it sound practice and ABYC approved to downsize a wiring run with an inline fuse?

E.g. I have a couple buses (in different locations in the cabin) on a 15A breaker, with the main runs from the breaker in 12 or 14 AWG (so far so good). I wanted to connect my handheld VHF charger to that bus, but the VHF charger's wire is tiny (22 AWG, IIRC - definitely too small for a 15A service). I added a small sub-bus at that location, connected with an inline 2A fuse (blade fuse in an inline holder).

So I have full 15A power to the main bus, and the (small) charger wire is protected from the 15A current. Seemed reasonable to me, but then it occurred to me that perhaps I should ask if that's approved procedure, or if there's a risk I don't know about.

A similar design might apply to LED lights with tiny connector wiring, etc.

 

[dlochner]

Fusing is always done to protect the wiring. So, what you are doing is logically sound and is the way I wire most of my electronics. One good sized wire to a bus protected by a circuit breaker and then inline fuses to each of the devices from the bus.

Rather than lots of little inline fuses, it might be neater to use a fuse block. Something like this from Blue Sea.

ST Blade Fuse Block - 12 Circuits with Negative Bus and Cover - Blue Sea Systems

Compact ATO® / ATC® fuse block consolidates branch circuits and eliminates the tangle of in-line fuses for electronics and other appliances.

www.bluesea.com