RE: Radiator Fan Motor: Was Thanks - Now Long

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

> "as *CLOSE* to" the power source as possible
> ____^^^^^^^___
> 
> "as far away" as possible from the *LOAD* ("fan"), and even farther
> away from the ground/common/return.
> 
> _Ideally_ you "master fuse" everything at the battery/alternator,
> again at each major branch point (e.g., the fuse box). You want to
> protect all wiring runs, as well as the load devices. 
> 
While in general I would not dispute any of this, we are talking about a
circuit that is fused at 80 amps.  Given the failure mode leads to an
overcurrent situation in the circuit (rather than a short circuit) it really
doesn't matter where the fuse is located.  Breaking the wiring to insert a
fuse does have some associated risk as well ... most people don't have
access to the crimpers that are used for terminals of this size, and may not
even have a soldering iron with sufficient power to make a good connection.
If the installation is done poorly this will create another high resistance
connection (at 80 amps almost any resistance is high!) which increases the
likelihood of a fire at the point where the fuse is installed!

It sounds to me that Audi's solution is not that bad ... it does add
protection to the circuit in an easily installed and not likely to fail
manner, at the cost of not protecting the heavy gauge wire from the battery
from direct short circuits.  If someone that knows what they are doing
chooses to make a better solution that's fine, but exercise caution in doing
so ...

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)