fuses

been installing my 0 guage kit and the negative distro block was broke so went bought another, but all i could get was one with a built in voltmeter. now when wired in, the voltmeter doesnt work, i assume its due to the current flowing the wrong way through the voltmeter.

now ive got a fuse by the battery and then a fused 1 to 2 distro block, 4 awg to the amp (soon to be two hence the distro's), 4 awg to the neg distro block then the 0 guage to the bulkhead.

question - can i switch the distros round? can i put the voltmeter distro on the possitive side to use the voltmeter and put the fused distro on the neg or is this dangerous?

No, you have to have the fuses before the amps.

damnit! so i got a voltmeter that doesnt do nowt!

EDIT just thought, do i have to have a fused distro? could i not use the voltmeter one on the possitive and get a normal off the bay for the neg?

If you're stepping down in cable size, you'll need to fuse it.

yer i am stepping down from 0 to 4 guage. think im going to use the voltmeter distro with in line fuses after. dont really like the fused distro, really bulky and big

Personally I wouldn't - that short run from block to amp is essentially unprotected - it is protected by a fuse (the fuse on the 0awg) but the rating is way too high to offer any protection.

think youve missunderstood me chaos i mean put inline fuses after the voltmeter distro

so it runs

Battery>inline fuse>through car into boot>into voltmeter distro dropping gauge>straight into an inline fuse>amp

No, I meant the run from the block to the fuse You would still need a small run of only a couple of inches to go from block to fuse holder, but that (essentially unfused) run would still be there...you would have to put a fair few amps across it to make it over heat, but it's an unnecessary risk to take.

but its fused by the fuse at the battery!

Yes, but it would have an incorrectly rated fuse for that short cable run. It's a step down in gauge - it needs its own fuse.

ah i see! well thats crap! whoever designed that distro block needs a booting!