Why NOT to use a paperclip in place of a fuse

D

dakrause

New member
I was in upstate Maine on a Saturday night and was stopped by police for the lack of tail lights. I replaced the fuse, but five minutes later got stopped for the same thing (cops there seem to be hyper-vigilant on Saturday nights). I was close to my destination for the night and had no more spare fuses, so I inserted a paperclip in its place.

Fifteen minutes later I got stopped again. As I was talking to the cop, I smelled smoke. I opened the hood and flames leapt out from the fusebox, causing the cop to jump and start running away. I was able to blow out the flames, and saw that the culprit was the paperclip that had become red hot, then melted and lit the plastic fuse box cover.

I later found that the cause of the blown fuse was the aftermarket trailer light harness(I bought the car used), which had lost the insulation and caused a short circuit by rubbing against the frame.

After fixing and replacing the parts that were not working, the relays and fuses have worked like a charm. That was over nine years ago. This year my 4Runner passed 250K miles and is going stronger than ever!

5Fd0vIC.jpg
 
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Not to sound rude, but why did you think bypassing the safety on the circuit (by inserting the paperclip which will not open at the required amperage incase of a short) when you obviously had a dead short somewhere was a good idea even temporarily?

I just want to understand the logic because many people seem to think that using a paperclip, soldering the fuse, or just sticking higher amp fuses until they stop blowing is acceptable. But as you found out, the very real and likely result it's your vehicle burning down.
 
On behalf of OP (whom I do not know), I'd say the following:

1). He appears to be writing this courteous warning for us all, and

2). He had been pulled over twice for the same infraction, so it's possible he was inclined to be done with the harassment, and

3). His reference to his '97 now passing 250k inspection may indicate this happened some time ago when we were all younger and less wise. But I am guessing on this one and may be wrong.

Either way, lesson learned and shared. Glad all ok.

Did you also know you can stack pennies in the old time house fuse boxes if you don't have a spare fuse?
 
MeefZah said:
The cops lawfully stopping him for legal and safety reasons constitute harassment, in your mind?
Click to expand...

Considering how many vehicles I see drive past police with lights out, bumpers barely hanging on, tires wobbling, and other unsafe things and how they don't immediately pull those people over; coupled with the fact that I got cited for no front plate on my beat-up '97 S10 Blazer (at the end of the month) within about a month or two of owning it, yet went about 5yrs without one officer even glancing my way in my fairly clean '04 4Runner with no front plate. I would consider that harassment if it's more than once in the span of an hour; partucularly if it's only for the light. A few LEO I know have admitted that it's mostly there to give them legal grounds to pull a vehicle over and search for probable cause than anything about a single bulb being out.
 
Wow. That looks messy. Glad you are okay. That could have gotten out of hand. Soooo, which bay was the paperclip in? Everything is so fried I can't tell.
 
BlackWorksInc said:
Considering how many vehicles I see drive past police with lights out, bumpers barely hanging on, tires wobbling, and other unsafe things and how they don't immediately pull those people over; coupled with the fact that I got cited for no front plate on my beat-up '97 S10 Blazer (at the end of the month) within about a month or two of owning it, yet went about 5yrs without one officer even glancing my way in my fairly clean '04 4Runner with no front plate. I would consider that harassment if it's more than once in the span of an hour; partucularly if it's only for the light. A few LEO I know have admitted that it's mostly there to give them legal grounds to pull a vehicle over and search for probable cause than anything about a single bulb being out.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm
 
So does that mean you should also stop jamming pennies in my old-timey home fuse box when they keep blowing out?

I'm asking for a friend.
 
Personally, I rather have a cop stop me and tell me my tail lights are out than have some drunk run up my rear end at 90 mph. It was Satirday night right? But, of course if you happen to drive drunk then you probably wouldn't.
 
BlackWorksInc said:
Considering how many vehicles I see drive past police with lights out, bumpers barely hanging on, tires wobbling, and other unsafe things and how they don't immediately pull those people over; coupled with the fact that I got cited for no front plate on my beat-up '97 S10 Blazer (at the end of the month) within about a month or two of owning it, yet went about 5yrs without one officer even glancing my way in my fairly clean '04 4Runner with no front plate. I would consider that harassment if it's more than once in the span of an hour; particularly if it's only for the light. A few LEO I know have admitted that it's mostly there to give them legal grounds to pull a vehicle over and search for probable cause than anything about a single bulb being out.
Click to expand...

This x100000 :iagree:
 
IF a second cop pulls you over for the same infraction within minutes of a first cop pulling you over, I assume you say, "Yes sir, I was just pulled over and ticketed/warned by Officer Smith." That seems like all that would be needed for O2 to say, "Ok, on your way, but fix it ASAP."

The fact that he felt the need to paper clip the circuit caused me to think this wasn't how it went down. Maybe it did. But something caused him to make a bad decision.

I assure you, I don't need to go to any length to prove my pro-law enforcement pedegree.

And no, while I have seen pennies in the fuse box, I was making a sarcastic joke. Sorry.
 
Why did I use a paperclip in place of a fuse? I had never blown a car fuse and did not fully appreciate the dangers involved, it was a Saturday night in the middle of nowhere Maine, it was mid-February deep-freeze and I was with a girlfriend who did not do well in the cold and we were half an hour from our destination. At that precise instant, I chose to try to get us to our destination so that I could troubleshoot the next morning. If the third cop had not stopped us, we would probably have had a full-fledged 4Runner BBQ.

None of the three cops ticketed me and it seemed clear that, as BlackWorksInc mentioned, on that Saturday night the cops were using any reason to stop cars and check for signs of drinking.

The third cop was particularly nice since he, after returning to my now-extinguished but dead-in-the-water car, was kind enough to help me push it a nearby gas station and even drove us(without handcuffs) in the back of his cruiser to a nearby hotel.

Here is a picture of my 4Runner from this last October:

WHW0i7q.jpg
 
CO-Cygnus said:
So does that mean you should also stop jamming pennies in my old-timey home fuse box when they keep blowing out?

I'm asking for a friend.
Click to expand...

It gets more exciting when you shove a .22 LR round in place of a fuse in an older vehicle.

Bob22222 said:
Personally, I rather have a cop stop me and tell me my tail lights are out than have some drunk run up my rear end at 90 mph. It was Satirday night right? But, of course if you happen to drive drunk then you probably wouldn't.
Click to expand...

My thought as well. I've been in the OP's shoes before though, minus the fire.
 
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