Problem with converter fuse panel

Maybe I can explain it better.

Case 1 Normal, no load
Fuse: Good
Load: None
Circuit voltage: 12v
Voltage across fuse holder: 0v
Light: Off

Case 2 Normal, load on
Fuse: Good
Circuit voltage: 12v
Voltage across fuse holder: 0v
Light: Off

Case 3 Fuse blown or missing, short circuit
Fuse: not functional
Circuit voltage: 0v
Voltage across fuse holder: 12v
Light: On

Case 4 Fuse blown or missing, no short or load
Fuse: not functional
Circuit voltage: 12v
Voltage across fuse holder: 0v
Light: Off

Case 5 Fuse blown or missing, some load
Fuse: not functional
Circuit voltage: undetermined, depends on load
Voltage across fuse holder: undetermined
Light: Undetermined, on for large load, dim or off for small load

This all assumes LED and series resistor wired in parallel with fuse holder.

Hope this explains how this would work.

yankee camper wrote:
Just my $0.02 worth.

Your wiring theory (if I'm understanding it correctly) would have 12v present through the fused circuit whether a fuse was functional or not. That can't be correct.
My intuition tells me that there is a sensor and/or relay that provides power to the indicator lamps.



x2
Not true. If you don't have a functional fuse in place, and you have no load on the circuit, The circuit is floating, except for the LED and series resistor across the fuse which would charge the floating wire up to 12v.

It would be much like using a multimeter with only one lead connected to the 12v supply. With the other lead floating the multimeter would not read 12v.

I don't see how you can have 12v on the circuit side of the fuse socket when it is shorted to ground.

you have to have a load on the fuse in question. I know for sure on my Wfco panel, I had a couple of unused spots with no fuses and no lights on, I have since used 1 or 2 of these. No speculation here. :)

Just my $0.02 worth.Your wiring theory (if I'm understanding it correctly) would have 12v present through the fused circuit whether a fuse was functional or not. That can't be correct.
My intuition tells me that there is a sensor and/or relay that provides power to the indicator lamps.



x2

westend wrote:

tenbear wrote:
I don't have a converter with lights that come on when a fuse blows. Does anyone know how the light is wired?

I suspect the light is simply wired across the fuse and when a fuse blows due to a short, then 12v is present across the blown fuse. If you just pull the fuse with no short or heavy load in the circuit, or remove the short after the fuse blows (as the OP did), there is no voltage across the fuse socket and the light would not light.

To check it out you could pull the fuse, recreate the short, and see if the light comes on.

Don't forget to remove the short before plugging the fuse back in. :S

Just my $0.02 worth.

Your wiring theory (if I'm understanding it correctly) would have 12v present through the fused circuit whether a fuse was functional or not. That can't be correct.
My intuition tells me that there is a sensor and/or relay that provides power to the indicator lamps.

The circuit with the blown fuse would have 12v present on the powered side of the fuse but would have a ground on the circuit side of the fuse, That's what caused the fuse to blow. Thus there would be 12v across the fuse socket. Normally there would be 12v on both sides of the fuse since there is a wire (fuse) between the two connections to the fuse.

I suspect that the 2 circuits that the lights did work on have a load on them. Maybe one was running the refrig and the other the CO and propane alarms???

tenbear wrote:
I don't have a converter with lights that come on when a fuse blows. Does anyone know how the light is wired?

I suspect the light is simply wired across the fuse and when a fuse blows due to a short, then 12v is present across the blown fuse. If you just pull the fuse with no short or heavy load in the circuit, or remove the short after the fuse blows (as the OP did), there is no voltage across the fuse socket and the light would not light.

To check it out you could pull the fuse, recreate the short, and see if the light comes on.

Don't forget to remove the short before plugging the fuse back in. :S

Just my $0.02 worth.

Your wiring theory (if I'm understanding it correctly) would have 12v present through the fused circuit whether a fuse was functional or not. That can't be correct.
My intuition tells me that there is a sensor and/or relay that provides power to the indicator lamps.

I don't have a converter, or fuse panel, with lights that come on when a fuse blows. Does anyone know how the light is wired?

I suspect the light is simply wired across the fuse and when a fuse blows due to a short, then 12v is present across the blown fuse. If you just pull the fuse with no short or heavy load in the circuit, or remove the short after the fuse blows (as the OP did), there is no voltage across the fuse socket and the light would not light.

To check it out you could pull the fuse, recreate the short, and see if the light comes on.

Don't forget to remove the short before plugging the fuse back in. :S

Just my $0.02 worth.

Gale Hawkins wrote:
That is a strange one and is the converter I plan to use if our old OEM Magnetek ever dies.

In my case if that happened I would not be happy but I would not put any effort into trying to fix that cool feature because all of these years I have never had it. :)

Ya kind of what I was thinking too, but it sure makes things a lot easier and I've gotten used to it working properly.

That is a strange one and is the converter I plan to use if our old OEM Magnetek ever dies.

In my case if that happened I would not be happy but I would not put any effort into trying to fix that cool feature because all of these years I have never had it. :)