Add a fuse

This is a really basic question. Can someone tell me if the link below for an add a fuse will work in 2nd gen Tacomas, please? I know our fuses in the driver's side kick panel and under the hood are the mini-fuse, like this,

$6 (60 Pcs) MCIGICM Low Profile Mini Fuse, 7A 10A 15A 20A 25A 30A ATM-LP Low Profile Fuse Assortment, 6 Values x 10 Pack

https://www.amazon.com/MCIGICM-ATM-...gid=pla-885616462542&ref=&adgrpid=95673152084

this looks correct, right?

$10 Recoil FT3-10 10 Pack 12V Car Add-a-Circuit Fuse Tap Adapter ACN Blade Fuse/Low Profile Mini Fuse with 10pcs 10A and 20A Fuses

https://www.amazon.com/Recoil-Circu...ofile+mini+blade+fuse+tap,aps,86&sr=8-1-spons

Getting prepared to wire up my seat heaters.
thanks

 

That looks like the correct ones.
Mini Low-Profile

Also, there is a correct and incorrect way to install a Add-A-Fuse.
https://www.124spider.org/threads/add-a-fuse-the-right-and-wrong-way-to-use-them.33420/

 

personally, i'd highly recommend intentionally installing any add-a-fuse in the method that he denotes as the 'wrong' way.

the issue with the add-a-fuse is that it's double-loading the original fuseblock slot. so if you have a 10A original fuse, and add a 10A accessory, that fuse slot now carries the potential for a 20A load.

most fuse blocks use wires to connect to the back side of each slot. there is a definite potential to create a load larger than the original wire can support, which would pose a fire risk.

there's the argument that "if it's installed 'backwards' that the original fuse will blow". that's actually a really good indicator that the circuit is being overloaded beyond it's design limits, and poses a fire risk.

and finally, there could be the argument that "fuses are just there to protect the wiring and vehicle from burning down in the event of a short circuit fault in either the wiring or the new aftermarket powered device". it's a fair assessment, but then there's the question of "what's protecting the wiring that was originally sized for a 10A load ahead of the add-a-fuse?"

 

Bus is single load rated. Load is off each wire. Don’t overload the bus, nor the load and you’re good.

 

I personally don’t like using Add-A-Fuses.
I’d much prefer a single independent wire with its own fuse.
Relays are my preferred method, you can use the Add-A-Fuse to command the relay.
I guess comes down to how much work you want to put into it?

 

Don’t use an add-a-fuse with seat heaters. You can use one to trigger a relay, but don’t actually power the heaters from it

 

Thank you for all the replies. My thoughts were to use add a fuse for the 12v switched and illumination connection. I have a dedicated 60 amp fused homerun from the battery to behind the rear seats to power my two amps(4way for doors and 2way as mono for sub) with each split/protected by a 30 amp fuse. It was a dual amp install kit. Anyway. Figured I could tap into each 30 amp fused connection for each 12v battery connection I need for the seat heaters (drivers and passenger seat). Each 12v battery connection requires min. 20 amp fused circuit, plus has its own fuse inline that wire as well.
Hope I explained that all correctly

 

Well if each amp needs a 30 amp fuse, and each seat heater needs a 20 amp fuse, you’re now potentially putting 100 amps of draw on a 60 amp circuit.

 

Yes, I’ve been thinking of that too. The 30 amp fuses are what came in the dual amp wiring kit.
It’s why I’m baby stepping all this

 

Looking into relay install too, anyone else have links to share.
Found this one, #119
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/heated-seat-wiring-help.459283/page-6

 

the amp kit doesn't know what amps you installed on it. what fuses are on the amps themselves?

 

The kicker 2-way that I’m using in mono to feed the sub only requires a 25 amp fuse and the USA amp that is feeding the door speakers has two built in 20 amp fuses. Stupid me, never realized the discrepancy

 

ok, that makes more sense. what size wire is coming from the battery before the distribution block, and what size main fuse by the battery is installed?

 

Main fuse is 60 amp, I don’t know the wire gauge but it is large. I’ll have to see if the gauge is written on the sheathing come Monday-Tuesday

 

4 gauge

 

i see. looks like your amp wiring is properly sized for the amps you have.

i would definitely run a new power wire for the seats. while i can understand you're likely not running the amps at full tilt all the time, so they're not using the full 20-30A each, they are likely closer to representing 40-70% of the power wires capacity at different times. generally, we always want wire to be not used past 85% capacity. i think you could safely run 1 seat heater off the amp kit as long as the amps aren't going full tilt, but not 2. and once you've got to run 1 wire for 1 seat heater, adding 2 seat heaters to that wire isn't that much more of a stretch.

the other concern here is going to be the resistive load of the seat heaters. resistive loads can sometimes cause audible distortion in the form of hums or pops when sharing power with audio devices. so again, for that reason, i'd suggest running a new power wire. this would allow the battery to filter some of the audio issues, and leave you with clean power for your amps, and a warm butt!

 

Is 16 gauge wire good for the constant hot 12v connection from the battery? I’m not in front of the seat heater kit but I recall those wires being some crazy large gauge wires.

 

20 amps should be 12gauge wire minimum, 10 gauge wouldn't hurt.

16ga is not large enough.

 

Thanks for that