Orientation of Add-a-Tap on Fuse 3 and Fuse 6 (Accessory / Ignition Only Power) [Spoiler: It's All Good]

[TheWizziard]

Looks like Pin 4 of C2280D into the BCM or out C2280E pin 41..

Edit: It appears connector C200 under the left side of the dashboard has a wire that loops back on the connector (Pin 53 and Pin 41) almost explicitly for the purpose of tapping/interlocking the start signal?

Thanks. This worked great. I tapped into the wire coming out of Pin 4 of C2280D. This was convent as I also tapped into fuse 1 & 2 for this and another project and the fuse panel is right next to connector C2280D.

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[Snowbird]

I believe you should be covered by 15 ft. That's what I used. You could use stranded 18ga (edit: with a 5amp fuse) -- the power draw from the mirror is so incredibly tiny. You could consider 16ga if you think you might use a 7.5amp fuse to support a high resolution dashcam with multiple cameras (front/rear/inside). Radar detector also maybe? You might as well use 16ga, stranded. The cost difference is negligible really, and there is plenty of room to hide a 2- or 3-conductor 16ga cable in the A-Pillar and behind headliner if I recall correctly.

EDIT: To clarify, the proper thing to do is to use wire that corresponds to your fuse. The fuse protects the wire. For example, if you use a 20amp fuse with 18ga wire it has the potential to literally melt the wire sheathing without blowing the fuse. Your 'tap fuse' that you add on to the circuit fuse should not exceed the original circuit fuse amp rating. It's ok for your tap fuse to be less than the circuit fuse, just not greater.

If you use
5 amp fuse: 18ga.
7.5 amp fuse: 16ga. I think.

You can also use a larger wire gauge on a smaller amperage. 16ga wire with 5 amp fuse is fine.

Do you think that using a double fuse tap

I believe you should be covered by 15 ft. That's what I used. You could use stranded 18ga (edit: with a 5amp fuse) -- the power draw from the mirror is so incredibly tiny. You could consider 16ga if you think you might use a 7.5amp fuse to support a high resolution dashcam with multiple cameras (front/rear/inside). Radar detector also maybe? You might as well use 16ga, stranded. The cost difference is negligible really, and there is plenty of room to hide a 2- or 3-conductor 16ga cable in the A-Pillar and behind headliner if I recall correctly.

EDIT: To clarify, the proper thing to do is to use wire that corresponds to your fuse. The fuse protects the wire. For example, if you use a 20amp fuse with 18ga wire it has the potential to literally melt the wire sheathing without blowing the fuse. Your 'tap fuse' that you add on to the circuit fuse should not exceed the original circuit fuse amp rating. It's ok for your tap fuse to be less than the circuit fuse, just not greater.

If you use
5 amp fuse: 18ga.
7.5 amp fuse: 16ga. I think.

You can also use a larger wire gauge on a smaller amperage. 16ga wire with 5 amp fuse is fine.

Do you think using a double fuse tap with 10 amp fuses on #3 fuse would be OK? I want to run power to add heated seat pads for both front seats on my 23 XL Hybrid. This is the fuse tap I was looking at using.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07919WK9N?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[clavicus]

Do you think that using a double fuse tap

Do you think using a double fuse tap with 10 amp fuses on #3 fuse would be OK? I want to run power to add heated seat pads for both front seats on my 23 XL Hybrid. This is the fuse tap I was looking at using.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07919WK9N?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

That really depends on the amperage draw of each/both of the heat pads. My intuition is that those will be drawing way more than 5 amps each at 12v, but I'm not familiar with such products so I don't actually know.

EDIT:
Ok lets assume each pad only uses 4 amps max. So the fuse tap would work, the 5amp fuses on each tap line would be independent of the 10 amp original fuse.

BUT: Someone with more knowledge of the wiring of vehicle fuse panels may want to weigh in about how a 10amp fuse is wired behind the panel -- can the wire supplying the load for the #3 slot 10amp fuse safely carry 20 amps total?

 

[Snowbird]

That really depends on the amperage draw of each/both of the heat pads. My intuition is that those will be drawing way more than 5 amps each at 12v, but I'm not familiar with such products so I don't actually know.

Thanks. These are the ones I ordered. I think they might come with an in line 10 amp fuse for each set but I have not received them yet so I can not be sure.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKW3W9M5/ref=cm_sw_r_api_i_BC42Y5XHEBBTTJNEWKW6_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[clavicus]

Thanks. These are the ones I ordered. I think they might come with an in line 10 amp fuse for each set but I have not received them yet so I can not be sure.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKW3W9M5/ref=cm_sw_r_api_i_BC42Y5XHEBBTTJNEWKW6_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I edited too late, here's another thought:

Lets assume each pad only uses like 4-5 amps max. So the fuse tap would work, the 5amp fuses on each tap line would be independent of the 10 amp original fuse.

BUT: Someone with more knowledge of the wiring of vehicle fuse panels may want to weigh in about how a 10amp fuse is wired behind the panel -- can the wire supplying the load for the #3 slot 10amp fuse safely carry 20 amps total?

 

[Snowbird]

This is the thread that gave me the idea to do this project.
https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/heated-seat-install.25964/

The op used a piggy back fuse in #6 for one seat due to the issue of not being able to get a regular fuse tap in that spot. He also used #3 for the other seat.

I may go this route but was thinking the double fuse tap would be easier.

 

[clavicus]

This is the thread that gave me the idea to do this project.
https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/heated-seat-install.25964/

The op used a piggy back fuse in #6 for one seat due to the issue of not being able to get a regular fuse tap in that spot. He also used #3 for the other seat.

I may go this route but was thinking the double fuse tap would be easier.

That's cool I hadn't seen that post, looks like a good project. I think you still might want to clarify with someone more experience if the double-tap option is a safe bet since that's getting a little beyond my confidence level, I only feel confident in the really simple use cases of adding a dashcam or something like that with low load.

 

[Samcat13]

Dumb question. why are there 3 post on the fuse. I only know of a line in and one out

 

[BlueSpec1]

Dumb question. why are there 3 post on the fuse. I only know of a line in and one out

Micro3, the middle is +12V source, the outer are fused. So there's Single & Dual Micro3 Fuse Taps.

Dual:

 

[Samcat13]

Micro3, the middle is +12V source, the outer are fused. So there's Single & Dual Micro3 Fuse Taps.

Dual:

Thank you very much

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