Breaker or Fuse for Blue Sea 5026 Fuse Box

[cj80cruiser]

Blue Sea Common Sourced ST Blade Fuse Block - 12 Circuits w/Cover Negative Bus - Gander Mountain

Getting the item above which is rated at 100 amps. Which is preferred 100 amp breaker or 100 amp fuse?

I would think the breaker since I wouldn't have to purchase a fuse if it tripped and I could easily shut power off when needed without disconnecting from the battery.

The only drawback would be that breakers sometimes fail where as a fuse is probably more reliable.

Any thoughts?

I've looked at a few cable gauge charts (crutchfield) but according to this particular one I should be running 8 gauge (7 feet or less) from the battery to the fuse box. Google showed a couple members of different forums running 4 gauge. Is that overkill or should I go with the 4 gauge?

 

[Singtoe]

I vote 1oo amp breaker. for all the reasons you gave.

 

[cj80cruiser]

Any thoughts on the 4 gauge or 8 gauge question?

 

[zooroadbaja]

I ran 4 gauge with a Bussmann 100 amp breaker, can be found on Amazon for $25. You could always run a fuse between the breaker and the battery, so if the breaker fails the fuse will blow.

 

[blueblur1984]

I had that same fuse block on my old scout. A great unit and tough to boot. Are you using this to replace your old fuse block or running new accessories to it? Either way I'd recommend checking out some of the custom wiring set ups on binderplanet.com. A lot of it is older tech, but anything involving a fuse block is from the ground up so it should be fairly easy to follow.

 

[JWaldz]

I'm actually interested in where you're going to put it all.. I've had these parts for over a year now and have yet to tackle the job. I did so much electrical wiring at work the last thing I wanted to do was come home and do more of it, so I put it off. Now I'm just putting it off cus I haven't decided where I want to put it lol. I've seen multiple people put it in their engine bay on top of the fuse box lid, but I'm not a fan of that.

 

[cj80cruiser]

I'm actually interested in where you're going to put it all.. I've had these parts for over a year now and have yet to tackle the job. I did so much electrical wiring at work the last thing I wanted to do was come home and do more of it, so I put it off. Now I'm just putting it off cus I haven't decided where I want to put it lol. I've seen multiple people put it in their engine bay on top of the fuse box lid, but I'm not a fan of that.

I'm wanting to put the fuse box near my switches in the cab so I can easily connect things up. Not sure if I'm going to find a spot.

 

[JWaldz]

I'm wanting to put the fuse box near my switches in the cab so I can easily connect things up. Not sure if I'm going to find a spot.

There are only a few places I found that seemed to work with putting it inside the truck and not having to do too much work. Like putting it in the very back of the truck. One was against the firewall on the driver side. This would keep wires close to the opening through the firewall however to run multiple bigger gauge wires along with all the other wires you'll probably have re-routed to the inside of the truck you'll need to drill a new hole. Kind of a pita to get to when working on it though as it's a tight space under there. The second option was to mount everything on a plate under the driver side seat. This would require removing the seat and paneling to run wire as well as probably drilling a new whole for bigger gauge wire for initial install. I don't know if there is enough room for it though. I figured if there is, it would be smart to put it on some tracks to be able to slide/pull it out from the back whenever you want to add new accessories or need to work on it. That way you don't have to remove the seat again. I'd also consider running a couple lines of pull string on the initial install to make it easier when you add new wires. The last was under the back seat somewhere. Same concept as the others, just easier to get to but lifting the seat up. I dunno, I'm rambling.. Just ideas at this point