anyone know about piggyback fuses?

[gottacalais]

Hi all, i just bought a piggyback fuse holder which plugs into your fuse block and gives you a lead from which you can run extra power, i plugged it into the 10amp bluetooth/wiper fuse but the rain sensing part of the wipers wouldn't work and i also lost my bluetooth, i tried another 10 amp fuse then the boot wouldn't open. I wired a cigarette lighter socket to the other end of this lead to run my gps from so it is not a big power draw. The fuses didn't blow and when i put them back to stock everything worked normal again.

My question is can you not piggyback the fuses in the passenger footwell? wondering if it upsets the compter in some way? where else can i get power from? Car is a 2007 Calais V.
This is what i bought http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300512083570
Thanks.

[peter b]

Might find that when the fuse is piggy backed might prevent the unit the fuse is actually for might not be getting full 12v be worth checking with a multimeter

[shaunv8]

Looking at the image in ebay, once you plugged the piggyback unit into the position where you just removed a fuse, diid you replace removed fuse into piggyback holder.

In the image it looks as though there is space for 2 fuses, one for the original accessory in which you plugged it into and onother for the accessory....

Just a thought :-)

[gottacalais]

Looking at the image in ebay, once you plugged the piggyback unit into the position where you just removed a fuse, diid you replace removed fuse into piggyback holder.

In the image it looks as though there is space for 2 fuses, one for the original accessory in which you plugged it into and onother for the accessory....

Just a thought :-)

yes i replaced the fuse i removed,as you said that fuse just plugs into the piggyback so it now has two fuses.

[peter b]

That puts them in a series circuit which will have a power loss.Say you had a 12v battery and wired a series of lights along that single wire you will find the first light to be bright and 2nd not so bright and so on. Suggest not using that unit and getting an auto elec to wire up a seond power outlet.

[VTSSDUDE]

As mentioned get a multi meter and check to see if there is still power when you have the piggy back plugged in. You just may have a faulty one.

[LSavvy]

That puts them in a series circuit which will have a power loss.Say you had a 12v battery and wired a series of lights along that single wire you will find the first light to be bright and 2nd not so bright and so on. Suggest not using that unit and getting an auto elec to wire up a seond power outlet.

It is in parallel not series.

With your example if two lights are wired in series and they are the same wattage, they will both half glow.

[lornjohn]

Have you rung ASL and spoken to them? They may have an easy fix?

[cashie]

That puts them in a series circuit which will have a power loss.Say you had a 12v battery and wired a series of lights along that single wire you will find the first light to be bright and 2nd not so bright and so on. Suggest not using that unit and getting an auto elec to wire up a seond power outlet.

No, it's in parallel. Should be no issues using one of these (if you are smart with current draw).

I would get the power from the cigarette liger plug.

[peter b]

well it appears to use the same circuit power and earth I can't imagine there not being a voltage drop. And the forementioned example I have personally done before and proven. And this can be futhermore proven between the lights as you can check power at first light then at the 2nd and so on. They don't record same voltage as between the lights there is voltage drop.

[LSavvy]

well it appears to use the same circuit power and earth I can't imagine there not being a voltage drop. And the forementioned example I have personally done before and proven. And this can be futhermore proven between the lights as you can check power at first light then at the 2nd and so on. They don't record same voltage as between the lights there is voltage drop.

You are still talking about a series circuit.

It does not use any earth at all, that is done on the other side of the loads.

If two fuses are placed in series for ex a 20A and a 5A, the circuit is only capable of carrying 5A as the 5A fuse will blow before the 20A and open the circuit.

These things use the posative supplied to the original fuse and maintain that circuit and from the posative side bridges to the additional fuse to run another circuit in PARALLEL.

The only voltage drop in these circuits will be that of the wiring, connectors etc.

Just think of any parker light circuit on a vehicle for ex the switch supplies 12V to all the globes in parallel and they each have their own earth, it does not go in one and out from the other side to the next lamp, in that case if one globe blew they will all go out as the circuit has been broken.

I think the OP would have a faulty piggy back thing.

Also these need to placed in the correct direction or the load will still be going through 1 fuse only. Apart from that i would not use one as you may overheat the original fuse holder if the new circuit draws a fair bit of current. GPS or phone charger should be ok, but an additional cig lighter or spot light could exceed the original wiring load.

[peter b]

You are still talking about a series circuit.

It does not use any earth at all, that is done on the other side of the loads.

If two fuses are placed in series for ex a 20A and a 5A, the circuit is only capable of carrying 5A as the 5A fuse will blow before the 20A and open the circuit.

These things use the posative supplied to the original fuse and maintain that circuit and from the posative side bridges to the additional fuse to run another circuit in PARALLEL.

The only voltage drop in these circuits will be that of the wiring, connectors etc.

Just think of any parker light circuit on a vehicle for ex the switch supplies 12V to all the globes in parallel and they each have their own earth, it does not go in one and out from the other side to the next lamp, in that case if one globe blew they will all go out as the circuit has been broken.

I think the OP would have a faulty piggy back thing.

Also these need to placed in the correct direction or the load will still be going through 1 fuse only. Apart from that i would not use one as you may overheat the original fuse holder if the new circuit draws a fair bit of current. GPS or phone charger should be ok, but an additional cig lighter or spot light could exceed the original wiring load.

I see a mistake I havent taken into account you would have to connect an earth wire to what you are connecting to it my mistake. This should actually work blonde moment. I would still recommend checking for power loss whether it be a the fuse holder and at the unit.
My apologies for the error this happens from not having to do all this anymore some things get a lil shady. Goes from being on the tools doing it to know being behind a desk doing something totally different

[cashie]

I see a mistake I havent taken into account you would have to connect an earth wire to what you are connecting to it my mistake. This should actually work blonde moment. I would still recommend checking for power loss whether it be a the fuse holder and at the unit.
My apologies for the error this happens from not having to do all this anymore some things get a lil shady. Goes from being on the tools doing it to know being behind a desk doing something totally different

No problems, we all share and learn around here... :goodjob:

[peter b]

Only way to prove is check with multimeter should see 12v at both fuses