Wiring/electrical question in race car wiring

Rusty Davenport · 05-09-2011, 10:15 AM

I have had race cars for some time and I don't think I have ever seen an electrical breaker used in the wiring of any car.........I have always seen relays especially in the operation of fans and water pumps but never the use of a breaker.....are they just not necessary or what is the explanation ???

Terry Cain · 05-09-2011, 11:29 AM

Breaker is basically the same thing as a fuse, just able to reset it.

buzzinhalfdozen · 05-09-2011, 02:21 PM

Most breakers can be overloaded by more before they trip, for instance used on a cooling fan which may have a very high amp draw at startup but goes down considerably after it "spools up". I've used auto reset breakers in several application like that. Joe

magnumv8 · 05-09-2011, 08:44 PM

A relay is an electrical switch, it allows you to turn on and off a high current circuit with a low current control.....that is why you normally control an electric fuel pump, water pump etc. with a relay that is controlled by either the ignition on a carb setup or the ECU in an EFI set up......you normally would fuse these circuits because you wouldn't want an auto reset breaker on them....if for some reason you would get a short in the electrical system the auto reset breaker would keep resetting until something fried.....you can install a manual reset breaker which does act like a fuse and can be reset to see if there is still a short or just a temporary spike which popped it.....what is nice are the resettable breakers that go in place of a fuse in your fuse block....

D L Rambo....

05-09-2011, 10:15 AM	#1
Rusty Davenport Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nashville N.C. Posts: 505 Likes: 4 Liked 100 Times in 26 Posts	Wiring/electrical question in race car wiring I have had race cars for some time and I don't think I have ever seen an electrical breaker used in the wiring of any car.........I have always seen relays especially in the operation of fans and water pumps but never the use of a breaker.....are they just not necessary or what is the explanation ???

05-09-2011, 11:29 AM	#2
Terry Cain Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Georgetown, Indiana (close to Louisville, KY) Posts: 773 Likes: 530 Liked 228 Times in 105 Posts	Re: Wiring/electrical question in race car wiring Breaker is basically the same thing as a fuse, just able to reset it. __________________ Terry Cain ???? STK tcain19689585@gmail.com

05-09-2011, 02:21 PM	#3
buzzinhalfdozen Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bellevue Ohio Posts: 984 Likes: 0 Liked 11 Times in 8 Posts	Re: Wiring/electrical question in race car wiring Most breakers can be overloaded by more before they trip, for instance used on a cooling fan which may have a very high amp draw at startup but goes down considerably after it "spools up". I've used auto reset breakers in several application like that. Joe __________________ Joe Buchanan SS/BX 3117

05-09-2011, 08:44 PM	#4
magnumv8 Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Coraopolis, Pa. Posts: 172 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Wiring/electrical question in race car wiring A relay is an electrical switch, it allows you to turn on and off a high current circuit with a low current control.....that is why you normally control an electric fuel pump, water pump etc. with a relay that is controlled by either the ignition on a carb setup or the ECU in an EFI set up......you normally would fuse these circuits because you wouldn't want an auto reset breaker on them....if for some reason you would get a short in the electrical system the auto reset breaker would keep resetting until something fried.....you can install a manual reset breaker which does act like a fuse and can be reset to see if there is still a short or just a temporary spike which popped it.....what is nice are the resettable breakers that go in place of a fuse in your fuse block.... D L Rambo....