Skillet wrote:Hot dog, the driving lights! Thanks, that was also a future project of trying to figure out why they didn't work.
I think there is some "condition requirement"..... if I remember correctly it is that the high beams be on (?). So just in case you hadn't checked them that way and they may actually work...
Skillet wrote:For the Beverage Mate, I guess I could just keep the fuse out and secure the wires, right?
That's what I did, which is why in that photo there is no fuse in the "7.5 amp" slot. I now see where another Chinooker used that wire to supply a charging station in the console. I think that's a great idea, although a couple of things to keep in mind or check (at least for me) are one, to have a way to release the wire, as the console/doghouse often need to come off for mechanical work; and, two, to check the supply wire size, as I think usually cigarette lighter sockets are fused to 15 amps. The Beverage Mate wire may be fine for the higher fuse size, but I need to check the wire gauge to know for sure (they may simply have sized it down to do double duty protecting the wire and the Beverage Mate) (or it may be a wire that is too small for 15 amps) (I keep meaning to check that!).
OTOH, there are also the Chinook pre-wired "hot taps," and I notice they say they are 14 gauge, 7.5 amps. I guess they liked their 7.5 amps fuses! (And hey, everyone wasn't running the world off their cigarette lighter plugs back then.)
Looking at my handy dandy ampacity chart and assuming the worst (wires bundled and running in engine space [heat], 14 gauge --- if it is rated to 105ºC, which all of the other Chinook wiring I have looked at is --- then it can be fused up to 20.8 amps, so I would think it would be safe to fuse a bit higher than 7.5, unless there is some hidden reason otherwise (not that I can immediately think of one). But just saying, you know, check it out for yourself, etc. etc. I think I might just go up to 10 amp since I don't normally plug in more than 10 amps at once (or really more than 7.5, but it might be close.... maybe just leaving the 7.5 is fine unless/until one blows it a few times and may want to move up).
BTW, here are the ampacity charts I use. The first one is single wires, not bundled. Most (all) of the wiring I have found in the Chinook is rated to 105ºC, but a friend's rig has some 90ºC so I always check. When I put in new wire I used fine stranded/tinned marine type wire (generally Ancor), which is also 105ºC rated. The "engine room" column is separate because it's presumed the area is warmer. But the threshold isn't that high, so for any hot area, I usually just use the engine room figure.
The second chart is for bundles of up to three wires. You can see it degrades the ampacity (heat again - or lack of dissipation - I believe). I have a chart somewhere for larger bundles, and it REALLY starts to degrade the ratings. The main Chinook trunk lines running forward above each upper cabinet are bundles of like 15-20 wires (ugh for the rating, although they are tidy I will say and there is not a lot of space up there).