fuse assembly/fusible link heat question

[dwbiggs]

My buddy has a 66 Bird and he recently noticed that with his headlights on his fuse assembly (fusible link), mounted right behind the battery on the inner fender, is heating up pretty good. If he switches on the high beams it gets very hot. He switched over to halogen headlights...could this be the problem? If so, does he need to put a resistor in the circuit?

Thanks!

[scumdog]

I'll have a look at the fusible link on my '66, however I can't use high-beam for very long (a minute or less) before the lights cut out, I believe I have a faulty headlight switch which is causing the problem.

[steve66]

If the fusible link has become resistive over time it may heat up depending how much current you are drawing through it. Might be best to replace it and see what happens.

Try this before you replace it. Take a DC volt meter, duplicate the problem and see if you are getting a voltage drop across the fusible link. I'm not sure what a normal drop should be there but it should not be much, less than a volt or so would be my guess. If you have more than that I would try replacing the link and see if there is any difference.

I dont think that adding resistance is good because that will just make things weak after the resistor. If the halogen bulbs draw more current than you just need to make sure that the wiring and the fusible link are rated to handle that current.

Steve66