ARB compressor wire melting?

Has anyone had issue with their ARB dual compressor wire melting? This is on the battery side of the wiring; there’s a ~6” long run of wiring from here to the battery.



Compressor does still function, but I don’t like seeing this.

 

Interesting that the wires would melt before the fuse blows. When did you originally buy?

 

October 2017; group buy on here.

Whatever came with it, I think 40?

 

Assuming the wire is big enough I would suspect a poor crimp inside the housing. Just needs a bit of resistance or arcing to make a lot of heat under load.

 

Not sure; it’s the ARB wiring harness the compressor came with.

 

Engine bay also. It’s going to be already hot before you even run it and temperature derates wire conductivity. Airing back up requires sustained use which will push it further. If it’s a bad crimp it’s not surprising they’re in the same spot, repetition can be that way. I’d cut out both fuse holders and replace them(cut the other side right up against the holders). You can get them with the terminals still loose (uncrimped) so that butt splices aren’t needed and use some #10 GXL wire on the battery side.

 

Like these:

YBDS Waterproof Sealed ATO ATC Fuse Holder Assembly Splice Existing Wire Kit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08TTS2RW3?ie=UTF8&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWw
make sure they accommodate #10-#12 wire. These are Pull to seat so you feed the wires through the seal and the housing BEFORE you crimp the terminals. There are alignment tabs on each terminal that determine orientation(look for the matching slot inside the housing). Rather than pulling on the wires you can preload a fuse and use that to push the terminals back into the housing after crimping. With the seal as strain relief I just solder them anyway.

 

I hate in-line fuse holders. I have had and seen them melt in applications where the fuse is appropriately sized to the wire and wire sized for the amp draw because of shitty manufacturing.The entire fuse was melted in place on a led bar harness I just removed.

I typically run terminals to a reputable fuse block or distro panel for everything major at this point.

 

Side note on this -- the quality of the fuse matters. No-name junk fuses from Amazon are frequently far, far out of specification.

Here's a deep-dive on it, including accurate fuse-blow threshold testing w/ bench power supply.

TL;DW: Higher-cost fuses from well-known brands like LittelFuse & Bussman are going to blow at the proper current levels, whereas lots of no-name cheap fuses won't blow until current levels far above their rating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nELwmfAOz_I

 

A friend of mine had his ARB Twin do this, and keep blowing fuses, too. He took it to ARB for it to get checked over and possibly rebuilt. It was a lost cause. The internals were corroded making it hard for the motor to power through, putting more strain on the system and such. If I had an extra ten minutes I could find the pics. His was probably a good 6-8 years old, and HEAVILY used.

 

The problem is that most fuse blocks are limited to 30A per circuit. That goes for both Blue Seas and Bussman panels. If you don’t want the inline holders then go to an ANL type with screw terminals instead but you may have difficulty finding one that’s sealed if that is also a requirement. In any case the fuse holders I linked allow you to control both the process and wire quality so you’re not stuck with premanufactured garbage.

 

Blue sea safety hubs allow you to run multiple anl/midi fuses and are water resistant. Or their single ANL holders. Just on the pricey side.

 

I considered that. I reached out to ARB USA on FB and they've created a ticket. Hopefully they're quick to respond. I have a bunch of 10ga wire from running my fridge lines and such, so that's what I'd prefer to work with.

I have a fuse block that runs relays to switches in the cab for most things, but this uses the factory ARB wiring harness. I figured the compressor would use enough power I shouldn't mess with it.

I did check, these are the stock 40a fuses.

Mine's definitely used, but hopefully not dead. Too expensive for that!

 

I figured you’d run it by ARB first but included my thoughts on a solution in the event you end up dealing with it yourself. Good luck with this.

 

I received a reply from ARB asking if I wired it per their diagram, I confirmed I did... waiting.

 

Amazing customer service.

 

Looks like more pictures are in order. “This will only happen if you fucked it up” is bs. It literally ignores even the possibility that there was a manufacturing defect. You might let them know the “ticket” is also open on TW and what's been said regarding possible causes.

 

Poor connection it can be as simple as loose plugs poor crimps.

It does not take much!!