I wanna use a Fuse Tap for a Backup Camera I bought for my Front Bumper i already have a backup Camera but wanna use 1 for my Front Bumper Also was thinking using 1 Fuse Tap for My Trailer Wiring harness bc I bought a hitch installed it on my car and The Wiring for the trailer lights.. Would a Fuse Tap work for it? I used the meter tested the one fuse on how much was putting out for back wiring harness for trailer well Dad did lol.. Said like a little over 10 Fuse but i have a couple more open spots.. Thanks loved this video

Glad to help. I need to get back to making more Electrical videos soon. I would have to see more about what the setup you are configuring is, but I would definitely be using a relayed setup for it. A fuse tap to power the relay's control side alone may not be bad. I absolutely would not use it for the full 20A circuit, as you already are aware.

So let me ask you this... I have 2 open slots in my fuse box. To check if they are working I would have to use a meter to find out? Also that would tell me if they are ACC or IGN based right? either way i can use that to power a relay? I want to use a toggle switch to turn off the compressor when not in use so i dont burn it out. Does this sound correct or am i lost?

louieC STUMP yes a meter or even a test light would be an effective way to check if those circuits are live. That would also allow you to check for ignition hot or battery hot. Wiring the relay to a switch is just fine. If it were me I'd still choose an ignition hot circuit so the switch couldn't short out and run the compressor when the vehicle isn't on. Long shot that it would happen but better safe than sorry if you can manage it.

Curt D yes that is a perfectly acceptable use of one in my eyes. I recommended that a few times to folks in the comments here.

That's the only way I use fuse taps! These new electrical systems are becoming more complex and monitored each year. Even then you still have to find the right fuse to tap into that's not monitored by the ECU. Also it's good idea to use a relay with a built in diode to prevent any jumps getting backfead into the factory system.

When I made this video I wasn't taking into account small loads like Dash Cams. On average they seem to pull 2A or less, so I can agree that is ok. I was more concerned about the larger things I see these used for.

HotRodHippie thank you

What do you think of using a fuse tap to connect to an unused slot in the fuse box (ignition switched) The fuse tap will power a smaller fuse box that powers 6 circuits each with up to 1 amp draw. The lower side of the fuse tap will be open.i.e. no fuse. 5 of the circuits will be controlled by a switch. Very rarely all 5 switches will be activated.

I do not but I'll look at doing one. This comes up often enough.

Thank you. I did a dedicated video explaining how Relays work, and in that video I explained how to wire one. Full video here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jtpgn6Zp0tCugn0.html Or you can find just the section about wiring a relay in a snippet I like to call "Quick Tips" here:kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iN1nlN2pt9itoJs.html

Usg a fuse tap?

A lot of folks have asked this since I posted this video. Dash cams and their relatively small loads were not a use case I was considering when I made this video. So yes, I largely feel fine about Fuse Taps used for those and other sub 2A loads. I was coming at it from more of a perspective of the classic car world I work in where people use them for 5, 10, 15A loads and that I have issue with.

@@HotRodHippie Thanks for the quick response!

Eduardo Elizondo the V1 pulls a small draw. Only about 300-400mA from the information I can find. So if you have an unused fuse location in your fusebox, then a fuse tap would do just fine. If you don't have an unused one, then I'd say pick one of your largest circuits and you will be ok to use the fuse tap on that. When I made this video I was thinking about loads that are more excessive than these modern add-ons like dash cams and radar detectors draw.

Finaly someone that understands it. You’re 100% right! If you have a fuse tap that is rated for max 40amps. And you put the fuse tap where originally a 15amp fuse was and connect the original fuse to the fuse tap. Then put a 20amp fuse to the fuse tap too to power something else. It is not dangerous at all. The only danger would be the wire that goes from the battery tot the fuse because that wire is designed to handle 15amps (original fuse) and not 35amps (original fuse + new fuse).

So if the danger in fuse taps isn’t in the fuse tap itself. It is perfectly safe when installed correctly. The problem when you use fuse taps is that you have to look if the cable from the battery to the fuse can handle both currents. If not i would not install a fuse tap because you can melt the wire from the battery to the fuse. But if the wire from the battery to the fuse can handle both currents fine then a fuse tap is perfectly safe.

@@mehmetaksoy6773 Thanks for confirming this. Would you know how common it would be in modern vehicles for the wiring before the fuse (battery side) to be sized specifically for a given circuit? My intuition would be that automakers often use parts in different vehicles, so it might make sense to size all of this wiring the same. Possibly less complicated to manufacture, also. OTOH, more material and more weight might be the deciding factor.

BelgianKnight depends on the load. Many of them are very small amperage draws, which I would consider acceptable. Your camera should list somewhere what it draws. If it's 2A or less I'd consider it. If not I'd look for an accessory circuit. Really if your fuse box has an extra accessory circuit, that is your better option anyway.

thanks for the great video. so i can use any empty fuse slot if its an ACC for a dash cam? would i plug an add a fuse into that empty slot and just put 1 fuse in the top of it so i still have fuse coverage? thanks

@@HotRodHippie i have a set of LED strip lights, and I bought an add-a-fuse to run it with but on watching your video, you only explain the 1 circuit, at least that's the way it sounds, and not the fact that you are running 2 circuits, and that any add-ons should use smaller fuses than the original, as well as the claim that they are only rated for 10amp and under loads... that said, I'm new to add-a-fuses, and only know this much through extensive research on KZfaq, and other places...one thing I found on KZfaq to be a problem, is that the instructions tell you how to add it, but never how to properly ground the add-on device to the frame (preferably) next to the fuse box... so that is my question, how do i, and where is the best place to ground your cameras, lights, and what have you, when using an add-a-fuse, in my case, on a 2004 buick regal??? Or any car for that matter... maybe you could do a video on it, and possibly fuses as well, as my car has no fuses labeled radio, it's always radio, combined with other things that I'm afraid to splice an extra circuit into... i never thought it would be so hard to find the proper fuse to piggyback... i do have an accessory lighting fuse im going to try, but it's so hard when everything is on a time delay for the interior lights... stays on a few seconds after opening and closing the doors i mean... its hard to measure the absence of volts when you have a fuse box panel located between the end of the dash and the door, and need the door closed to turn the circuit off... at least i think thats how that works, as I'm still figuring things out...

yeah should have mentioned their first choice for tap should always be to tap into accessory fuses

@@welcometoreality3450 I agree, but for a guy that doesn't recommend them, its to be expected... i still am amazed that I can find a lot of videos dealing with add-a-fuse circuits, but they expect that someone who knows nothing about taps, know the proper place, and proper connection type for the ground wire... i do like this guy's down to earth explanations though, so, overall it's a good video... **edit** I did get my LED lights hooked up, but I think I somehow fried my color change module so I have to hook it up directly, which does work... and, I have used my lights with the included cigarette lighter before, so i know i f'd it up, as opposed to from the factory... not sure if hooking up backwards will do it, but i bet it did...

Correct that's a low power draw situation. Just guessing there but I feel confident in saying so.

Yes that is a perfect use for them.

They are good for doing that yes. Relay control circuits should generally only pull 2A or less. I’d start with a 2.5A fuse. Wired properly that should work fine and not be an issue to any of the existing circuits as I was describing here.

jesse hayes do you mean the ground side of the control circuits for the relays themselves? If so, that is no problem. Control sides of most relays pull very littler amperage. Something like .1-.2A. So 4 relays are below a 1A draw. I'd just use whatever size wire allows you to easily wire the configuration. For 1A even over a decent distance something like 20 or 18ga would be fine. But most relays have heavier wire than that on the sockets. So whatever works for you to cleanly wire it should be fine.

Bradley Thompson thank you. I'll make sure to get back to the electrical videos in the near future. 👍👍

This is just a guess as I've only looked briefly at the battery, but I would figure on just the battery load. So 2A should be fine, just pick a decently sized fuse to piggyback on with the tap. Say a 15 Amp or higher I'd say. That way even if it pulls the full 2A you are less likely to overload anything.

Diego Hidalgo if you want the lights on any time your key is on, then yes that sounds like how I'd do it. If it was me I'd put a switch on the accessory power to the relay so you could disable them if you just don't want them on sometimes.

Is there any risk or damaging the relays if doing so?

Yes the fuse tap would be a good way to control a relay if you lack easier Key Hot signals. 👍👍

Doc. FunkBlack on an Empty fuse slot I wouldn’t be opposed to using them for even maybe a 5 or 10 Amp load. When I made this I was more thinking about the use cases I commonly came across where people were “misusing” them for larger load devices. Backup cameras have gained a lot of popularity since then and they only draw 1-2A on average and are generally safe to use. I wasn’t thinking of that use case in this script. I really need to make a 2020 update video to this one and clarify the discussion.

Yea, relays are a good use case for add-a-fuses as they don't draw much load at all. I didn't consider that use case enough when I made this.

Completely acceptable use case. I should have said that in the video. 👍👍

It depends on the power draw. They seem to come in 3 Watt or 6Watt versions. Either of those should be fine to use with a Fuse Tap as they draw less than 1 Amp. Those are oddball smaller power draws than I was thinking of when I made this video.

I’m looking to get one with a bigger light engine that has more options for twinkle effects. Obviously they have higher watts, what’s the most ideal install for this model?

Car systems rarely are that sensitive, at least not the systems we are primarily dealing with. However I fully get how an Arduino or similar electronics would be sensitive in that way. Without seeing more of what you are putting together, I would say Yes use a diode to prevent that back feeding. It is a "Better Safe Than Sorry" situation and running diodes won't hurt anything, only prevent possible issue. Thank you for the kind words also. 👍👍

Yes. Those cameras pull less power than I was considering when I made this video. 👍

@@HotRodHippie Thank you for you reply on an old video!

Fair point. I should do a dedicated relays video breaking down uses for them and how to wire them. Thanks for the input.

Dash cams are an exception. They generally pull 1A or less in power. As such they are fine to run off a fuse tap.

Power LEDs should be ok, they are low power enough. As for whether they will work with the key out, I cannot say. It depends on whether the Radio fuse is Key Hot or Battery voltage. I simply cannot say, maybe I could look it up if I knew the car, but no guarantees.

@@HotRodHippie I already did it tbh I'm trying to figure out which fuse I should tap into they do stay on is that good or bad? I want to make sure I tap into it right u said key hot good I believe would I tap into the fogs? Its gmc yukon denali 05 sport v8 6.L really need help thanks

I would check with the manufacturer of the amp to determine its actual draw but it should be a minimal load and fine to use a tap for. I'd say anything less than 1A is fine. More may well be fine as well but I personally just prefer to use that as a rule of thumb that is "better safe than sorry". To my knowledge remote circuits on amps are 1A or less.

libinls I would not expect that to be necessary at all. Folks are probably thinking of the actual fog lights themselves, not the strip lights like you are talking about. I can't say for sure what they will draw though. What brand are the bezels?

HotRodHippie Thank you so much for getting back to me. You have no idea how much ur help means to me. This is the exact product. Unfortunately they don't tell you anything aside from the 12V. m.ebay.com/itm/FOR-15-17-SUBARU-WRX-STI-PAIR-OE-BUMPER-FOG-LIGHT-BEZEL-COVERS-W-LED-DRL-STRIP-/401403396844?txnId=717737948027

You are right I can't find anything. Even the one company I found that sells a wiring kit to install those doesn't list what siZe fuses they use. I can't believe those will pull more than. 2-5A but that is a shot in the dark guess. I think I'd feel safe using a fuse tap with those. Though if it was me I'd probably splice into the headlight wiring closer to the fog light and just do a neat solder job with heatshrink and sleeping.

HotRodHippie thanks Alan! I would've spliced into it as well. But, I'm trying to do a setup like a toggle switch. So it only turns on for shows and stuff from inside the cabin. I hate electric and I was hoping I could really do this. I might just end up doing the generic switch setup with the 12v. And pray it don't burn out. Lol

Adding a supplemental fuseblock would be a good idea if you know you will need additional power in the future. I would wire up a relay to key power. So when you turn on the car your supplemental fuses get power through the relay. You can use that supplemental panel to supply power to your line lock switch. Something like this panel is what I'm picturing: amzn.to/2SDzKeB

Small Leds are a small load so you will likely be fine. However i can't say for sure without seeing a diagram but I kind of doubt the reverse fuse only gets power when in reverse. More likely that fuse has power always and a switch elsewhere sends power to the reverse lights.

I'm going to need more information. What's the vehicle and what does that circuit do? I can think of how to manage that with a few circuit styles but not without knowing how yours actually is laid out. A fuse tap wouldn't be my recommendation to do it though.

Power without any interference. Some more sensitive wiring systems like Fuel Injection ECMs can pickup signal interference (noise) when sharing a power source with other circuits. That's why they require you to wire them directly to a battery without exception. Also pulling power from a fuse box or similar source usually results in a voltage drop of some kind due to the wiring and the number of circuits pulling Power. Going battery direct for "Clean" power helps go eliminate this somewhat. Again more sensitive systems need as consistent of a power source as they can get. Also things like say headlights, you don't want them voltage dropping everytime you turn on the radio or the electric fan kicks on. Which I have seen when older cars get a little tired.

It would be much easier to just fix the cars heating system. And safer.

I fully understand that. My concern lies on the feed side of the fuse circuit. That does see the increased load of the two circuits. In some fuse boxes they are actual wires. In others they are buss bars. Either way their is a potential to overload the feed side. I've seen it happen where the terminal on the feed side straight up burns out because it's feeding more of a load than the manufacturer ever intended it to do. These can be useful but as with most things people often abuse them. If you are powering a tiny load like a relay, then they are fine. But if you are powering some fog lights, that's a problem. In my experience people who use them often don't even know what a relay is, so they are often misusing these Thus why I tied the two devices together in this video. I appreciate your attempt at correcting me and you are not wrong from your perspective. You just misunderstood what I was saying.

Yes. That is a good use for a fuse tap. Signal a relay with the fuse tapped circuit to control a larger load like fog light. 👍

Thanks for your help.🇵🇱🇺🇸