Putting a main fuses in

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Duffman

Why not just protect the + feed from rub thru and not have to add a fuse?

Agreed. Fix the problem rather then treat the symptom.

[Capt. Debbie]

Agreed.

The more complicated your electrical system - the more problems later. In line fuses fail, develop bad connections and haunt you.

Chafe protection as suggested. A battery kill switch will help. The only thing always on should be the bilge pump with 16/18 guage wire. Often the small guage wire is a fuse itself.

Never fuse a starter. The normal start current going into the starter is so high that you main fuse at 80 amps or so, will do nothing for you. Just about ever other wire on the boat will burn up without blowing it that monster. Main breaker your accessories- they sell a 40 amp main breaker and it will work fine for you. And can be reset it unlike a throw away and replace it fuse.

BTW you can not use an amp clamp on DC as suggested. It's for AC only.

And if rewire - you use boat/auto wire. The right type of wire ... It's strands are much more finer and are flexable unlike household copper wiring. Stiff wire breaks bouncing around. Look at your jumper cables and you will see.

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Agreed. Fix the problem rather then treat the symptom.

[Bass_Appeal]

I dont have a fuse but a 45 amp breaker coming out off of the battery on/off switch....that should be enough to trip and break the connection ,

[Walleyed]

Originally Posted by Capt. Frank

BTW you can not use an amp clamp on DC as suggested. It's for AC only.

Not to start an argument, but I have a Fluke 325 that quite happily measures up to 400A DC current.

There are several clamp style AC/DC meters out there.

[Duffman]

Originally Posted by Capt. Frank

BTW you can not use an amp clamp on DC as suggested. It's for AC only.

???? Um..... No.