I was wondering if I need to put a fuse between the battery and each appliance in the circuit? If yes should I use a fuse box. Thanks

 

Hi pat,
Welcome to AAC.
What type of battery and what are the appliances?
E

 

Fuses protect wiring, and the power source, against a short at the load. In general they don't protect the load from destroying itself. So the decision to add a fuse depends on the details of the system.

 

It's an automatic chicken door, so it has 12v 10w solar panel, 12v 3Amp linear actuator and a 12v light sensor switch

 

Generally a fuse is to protect the wiring based upon the wire gauge or the appliance current, so that a short doesn't cause a fire.
The fuse generally does not otherwise protect an appliance from other damage.

 

It's an automatic chicken door, so it has 12v 10w solar panel, 12v 3Amp linear actuator and a 12v light sensor switch

Hi,
You must have Battery in circuit, 12V @10W will not give 12V at 3A
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Hi pat,
Welcome to AAC.
What type of battery and what are the appliances?
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It is 12v dc 7ah valve regulates lead acid

 

Hi,
You must have Battery in circuit, 12V @10W will not give 12V at 3A
E

Hi thanks for reply. What do you mean in circuit?

 

hi pat,
I assume your Solar panel charges a 12v battery which powers the linear actuator etc.?
Do you have a simple sketch of your project you could post?
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Hi thanks for reply. What do you mean in circuit?

It does power the 3amp actuator, but does it need a 3 amp fuse to protect the appliance, or am I confused?

 

hi pat,
I assume your Solar panel charges a 12v battery which powers the linear actuator etc.?
Do you have a simple sketch of your project you could post?
E

Yes that's correct.

 

hi pat,
I would always fuse the output of a lead acid or SLA battery.
Use a 5Amp fuse from say the battery positive terminal, as you have shown in your diagram
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Update: do you have a datasheet for the solar panel?

 

So will one 5 amp fuse will protect all the appliances? The solar panel doesn't have a data sheet unfortunately, it's says 12v 10w, is all on the back of it. I'm using Awg 22 wire that can use 7amps. Would that be correct as long as the appliances are less than 7amp?

 

hi pat,
Who designed the circuit, it looks very basic, have you built and tried it out?
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A 12V 10W panel puts out 0.83A maximum.

 

hi pat,
Who designed the circuit, it looks very basic, have you built and tried it out?
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Haven't built it yet. Just got parts. Basic is better isn't it?

 

A 12V 10W panel puts out 0.83A maximum.

Hi Bob, yes that's correct. What is the relevance?

 

Generally a fuse is to protect the wiring based upon the wire gauge or the appliance current, so that a short doesn't cause a fire.
The fuse generally does not otherwise protect an appliance from other damage.

Hi
Does that mean as I'm using wire rated for 7 amps I should use a single 5 or 10 amp fuse straight after the positive battery terminal which would prevent a short in the wiring and battery?

 

hi pat,
When I said basic, I don't see how you are controlling the charge of the battery by the solar panel?

What is the 'power antenna'?

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hi pat,
When I said basic, I don't see how you are controlling the charge of the battery by the solar panel?

What is the 'power antenna'?

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Hi eric
Will it need a solar charger in between the panel and the battery?