30 Amp Circut Breaker Question?

Question

Will a 30 amp household circut breaker work in a car with DC Current?

Answer 1

It should work, though I've never tried using an AC breaker in a DC application. Regardless, I'd recommend using an automotive "blade" fuse, just because they're small, light-weight, designed for DC systems, and they're dirt cheap. Of course, all this is assuming that the rest of your system can handle up to 15A .Elecricians will

tell you that DC breakers are made for a reason and the two are not interchangeable. Since I am both - I can tell you the difference is safety and current interrupting capability (one in the same).

A quick source explaining the difference, and why you should choose the added expense of a DC breaker is:

http://www.mrsharkey.com/busbarn/electri...

Remember, a fuse is still cheaper, replaceable, and can be safe if used within it's voltage rating.

and  30Amps is too much for your car even if you have fitted all the extra things in your car.

Answer 2

Yes

Answer 3

I don't recommend it at all.  Circuit breakers are a little different than fuses.  A fuse is primarily used to protect a device from further damage due to a malfunction.  Power is immediately interrupted so that repair can be initiated with minimal damage possible.  For equipment that uses heavier motors which experience a short-term surge, slow-blow fuses are used that don't burn out until the excess current exceeds a certain time.  Under normal operation, the excess will pass and normal operation will continue.  Anything beyond the time limit is abnormal and the fuse will blow in order to avoid fire or other additional damage.

The same would be the case with a circuit breaker.  Circuit breakers don't normally trip immediately as household wiring can often experience momentary surges that are actually normal.  Such surges are things like the air conditioning turning on, the refrigerator motor kicking in, furnace blower, etc.

By the time a circuit breaker would react in your car's wiring, additional damage to the malfunctioning equipment could occur that would have been avoided by using proper fuses, not to mention possible damage to the vehicle wiring itself.