ANL fuse holder - beware, polemic question :)

Recently I bought a ANL fuse holder, basically a piece of plastic, with 2 bolts and a cover.
A marine holder is sold up here between 20 to 50 bucks depending on brand and shop, less down in US but still.
So looking at it I was thinking that it is nothing much more than 2 bolts holding the fuse...
So my question: What about a waterproof plastic junction box that can be bought for 5 bucks at home depot and 2 bolts (of correct size to make this? What justifies the price?

L

I would like to see a picture of the junction box you have in mind. The Blue Seas ANL fuse holders aren't waterproof ,nor do they need to be. They have a snap cover that protects the electrical lugs ,let you see if the fuse is blown & allows for a fairly easy replacement.
Here's a picture of one of the several places I'm using the fuse holders on our personal boat. More expensive than a home depot box? Yes, but they look more professional IMO and are easy to work with.

boomerang said:

I would like to see a picture of the junction box you have in mind. The Blue Seas ANL fuse holders aren't waterproof ,nor do they need to be. They have a snap cover that protects the electrical lugs ,let you see if the fuse is blown & allows for a fairly easy replacement.
Here's a picture of one of the several places I'm using the fuse holders on our personal boat. More expensive than a home depot box? Yes, but they look more professional IMO and are easy to work with.

Click to expand...

I mean this type of enclosure, you can find these in any format with clear cover or not.



By waterproof I meant a protective enclosure.

L

It won't be watertight once you drill holes for the wires, unless you install glands for each wire...

You are correct, these fuse holders are nothing more than a piece of plastic and two bolts. Amazon sells these things for about $7 US, so I don't think you would save much by making your own.

Greetings,
As a general comment, I've found pretty well anything specifically labeled "marine", "medical", or "special" etc. carries a higher price than should be reasonably charged. Go figure eh?

No reason why you couldn't make your own, I have made my own bus bars...

Lou; a "fuseholder" adds stability to the fuse. If you instead, bolt two large cables to the fuse directly, and lay that in a box, there is then additional stress applied to the fuse itself. I would not consider doing that in a shock and vib loaded environment, like a boat.

Loaded, a fuse element gets hot. If this fuse finds itself banging around in the box, you may get issues.

Lou_tribal said:

Recently I bought a ANL fuse holder, basically a piece of plastic, with 2 bolts and a cover.
A marine holder is sold up here between 20 to 50 bucks depending on brand and shop, less down in US but still.
So looking at it I was thinking that it is nothing much more than 2 bolts holding the fuse...
So my question: What about a waterproof plastic junction box that can be bought for 5 bucks at home depot and 2 bolts (of correct size to make this? What justifies the price?

L

Click to expand...

The two bolts ( studs ) are spaced and held fixed to accept a certain type of fuse thus making a fuse change easier & quicker. FYI, a plastic box that can accommodate that size of fuse and the cable needed to terminate will be a bit more than 5 bucks ...... and then you got the 4 cover screws to deal with .... :lol: sometimes you just got to walk away ....... fb

ANL fuse holder - beware, polemic question ?

You are sort of right, but not completely I think. I have the pictured fuse holder in post #2, and had a connection that was a little cockeyed because the cable terminal was just slightly too large and would not allow it to lay perfectly flat, nor was that easy to see. Worked fine until a season ago, about 3 years or so when oxidation built enough. Then I found the connection smoking, as it carries up to 200 amps dc when charging. The “plastic” base did not melt, but the cheap plastic snap on cover did. On whole, the device did its job. After using a grinder to fix the oversized wire lug, it fit squarely on the screw terminals and the resistance of the thing was fine and temps returned to normal.

You can make just about any terminal connection yourself, but don’t underestimate these off the shelf items. They are typically made with the appropriate materials, support, etc. In my failure state I would have melted right through the alternative plastic box shown above. Either would have been fine if the original connection had not been cocked up, but terminal construction should consider both. I think the real terminal has features the alternate does not.

Drill a tiny hole in the snap on cover above each lug so you can diagnose power issues quickly with your VOM probes.