What size fuse

[Greengas]

I'm hooking up my trolling motor with a quick connect plug. The recommendation is to install an in line fuse. My question is what size? The motor is a Minn Kota endura Max with 55lb of thrust. The web site says it can draw up to 50amp. Should I get a 50 amp fuse or a 60? My thought is to stay simple and regardless of the size just wire in an AGU holder making sure it has the same 8 gauge wire as what I am using. I will also put the tubing you heat up over all connections. Am I on track or out in space somewhere?

Thanks in advance for the education.

 

[rgranger]

If you click on the "Members" tab at the top of this page, you can navigate to Main Sail's page and he has a section called Musings with Main Sail... and he has written an article specifically on sizing fuses.

 

[walt]

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

According to this table in the link above, the maximum current for "chassis wiring" which is similar to what you have is 73 amps for 8 gauge wire. The fuse needs to blow at a lower current than the wire is rated for. So the max current fuse you can use is 73 amps. You dont have a lot of margin between your operating current and the max size fuse you can use. If 60 amps doesnt false blow, it should be fine.

 

[Head Sail]

It's my understanding that fuses are sized to protect the wire. But the wire has to be sized to carry the load. You didn't say how long the wire was. The shorter the wire, the higher the load. Do a google search for wire sizes and fuse according to the wire length and gauge.

 

[Charles Erwin]

Maximum 80 amps outside motor room. 68 inside.

 

[Greengas]

Update: got with electrical folks and the people who make the motor. Made sure i had the correct gauge wire for the length of the run and all the numbers matched. Purchased a 50amp inline AGU fuse holder and fuse. I will put it all together next week and run it on my test bench (ok, its really my woodworking bench) before deploying it to the boat. I really appreciate all the help I get from the folks on this forum. Thanks for the continuing education.

 

[rgranger]

Greengas... I like your you forum handle...

Many years ago, I restored a Coronado 23 and named it the Delta Gee, which was (... in the language of Thermodynamics) a play on something called Gibb's Free energy. And delta means "a change off". So my boats name was quite literally ... "A change in free energy".

The Mac 25 is a fast boat. I used to own the baby sister (A Mac V22-2). I had many a grand adventure on that boat.

Fair winds,

r

 

[Greengas]

Greengas... I like your you forum handle...

Many years ago, I restored a Coronado 23 and named it the Delta Gee, which was (... in the language of Thermodynamics) a play on something called Gibb's Free energy. And delta means "a change off". So my boats name was quite literally ... "A change in free energy".

The Mac 25 is a fast boat. I used to own the baby sister (A Mac V22-2). I had many a grand adventure on that boat.

Fair winds,

r

Thanks for the kind words. As for the handle, it's actually my last name my dad used to say that the name was originally Pinkoil but we changed it because that was too feminine. In reality, it was a gift to us from the good folks at customs and immigration way back at the turn of the last century. They could not understand my grandfather so they just gave him a new last name. From what I understand, that was quite common back then. Again thanks, your post made me smile and thats a great way to start a day.