Fuses - just one or both?

[Savage]

So I finally figured out why my base station was dropping power (after having a defective power cable/fuse connection).  Apparently there's a good amount of voltage being lost between my power supply and the Kenwood TK-8360 and when transmitting, it will eventually just shut it off.  Maybe it's the inline glass fuses, the connections, not sure I've narrowed it down to loss in these cables after trying different cables.

 

I'm going to make new cables and use different/better inline fuse holders so the question is, do I need one on both red and black wires or can I put one just on the red side?  I ask because that's all that's on the female 12volt cigarette lighter style cable I have so figure it might only be needed on the one wire.

 

Thanks

[SteveC7010]

Fuse the hot lead very close to the power supply.

 

If the radio is cutting during transmit, the most likely cause would be inadequate wire size. Size chart attached.

[Lscott]

So I finally figured out why my base station was dropping power (after having a defective power cable/fuse connection).  Apparently there's a good amount of voltage being lost between my power supply and the Kenwood TK-8360 and when transmitting, it will eventually just shut it off.  Maybe it's the inline glass fuses, the connections, not sure I've narrowed it down to loss in these cables after trying different cables.

 

I'm going to make new cables and use different/better inline fuse holders so the question is, do I need one on both red and black wires or can I put one just on the red side?  I ask because that's all that's on the female 12volt cigarette lighter style cable I have so figure it might only be needed on the one wire.

 

Thanks

Have a look at this site for mobile wiring recommendations. While the topic is mobile Ham gear the same exact recommendations apply for GMRS radios.

 

http://www.k0bg.com/wiring.html

[1URFE57]

How many amps is your power supply? do you have enough amperage for your 45watts TK8360.

[Jones]

....I ask because that's all that's on the female 12volt cigarette lighter style cable I have...

 

 

 

If you are trying to run a 45 Watt radio on a cigarette lighter plug, then there's your first problem.

 

[Savage]

How many amps is your power supply? do you have enough amperage for your 45watts TK8360.

 

PSU is 12 or 13 amps.

 

If you are trying to run a 45 Watt radio on a cigarette lighter plug, then there's your first problem.

 

 

It's hard wired.

 

I removed the fuses that came with the wires I got with the radio, rewired it using a different type of inline fuse holder and it seems to be working fine now.

[Jones]

I find a lot of the plastic inline "spring loaded" fuse holders, or even worse, the "clam-shell" type fuse holders that come with radios are inferior.  I also am not a fan of glass cartridge style fuses.  When they go bad, or get lossy, I replace them with inline ATO/ATC style blade fuse holders.  They are more modern, easy to find, and make much better contact with less loss.

 

In my shack, none of my radios have fuse holders inline.  They are all individually wired to a marine type fuse block, loaded with ATO/ATC type fuses of the appropriate size for each radio...

Pink (4 Amp) for my CB

Brown (7.5 Amp) for one of my UHF rigs

Red (10 Amp) for my other UHF rig

Blue (15 Amp) for my VHF radio, and

Clear (25 Amp) for my HF rig.

 

I have also put a similar setup in my work van.

 

But hey, if you only have one radio, they do make single inline ATO/ATC fuse holders with wire sizes varying from 8 to 18 Gauge.

[Jones]

...oh, and to answer your original question... You only need to fuse the positive wire on your base station. Adding a fuse to the negative only increases the resistance loss. 

 

The only reason to put a fuse in the negative lead is if you are going to hook a radio directly to a car's battery.  (which is a bad idea) If the car loses its body ground, that negative wire fuse will prevent your engine's starter from finding ground via your antenna, back to the battery through your radio's negative wire.

 

There are other discussions on this site about why NOT to hook up your radio straight to the battery on your car.

[wayoverthere]

On a side note, I wanted a spare harness for a t-type connector (easty transfer of my "base" radio...looked over what dxengineering listed, and picked one for a radio with similar or higher power rating (ft-2900r). unlike the Amazon cheapo, this one has blade type fuse holders...good stuff.