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hi everyone  jeff cote here at the pacific yacht hq  all right so we've got a fellow boater  asking us a question  so brad asks jeff you say fuse the  alternator at the battery  if that fuse blows won't it toast the  alternator  i'm installing a blue c circuit battery  switch and an acr  the alternator is 55 amps with an  internal regulator  brad brad that is a phenomenal question  honestly uh great question  and it's a dilemma that we face every  day right  alternators especially if your  alternator is directly connected to a  battery  which in most of our cases won't happen  because generally the alternator is  directly connected  to the starter solenoid but if you've  decided to take an upgrade  or and wire your alternator directly to  an engine battery or house battery and  there's merits to both depending  that alternator circuit needs to be  fused at the battery  so what happens if the fuse blows well  if the fuse blows yes and your  alternator is working you will lose your  alternator  meaning lose not physically lose but  your altar will blow up but why did the  fuse blow in the first place  the fuse is there to protect the wire  from an accidental short  and you've got to remember alternators  are this sort of  dangerous device you know it's a device  that has 12 volts  and has also got zero volts right then  most alternators are  either grounded or grounded through the  case and it's possible that  the alternator positive post breaks i've  seen that happen  and the cable falls onto the alternator  case and causes a dead short  and so the fuse is there to protect the  wire and so yeah you might lose your  alternator but if the fuse was in there  you have lost your boat  and so it's a question of not worrying  about losing your alternator it's a  question of being happy to have  saved your boat and not having caused a  fire on your boat  if the fuse on your alternator blows  you've got to really ask yourself how  the hell did that happen because the  wire should be enough amperage  to handle easily the loads coming from  the alternator  the fuse should be rated at least 1.25  the maximum  output of the alternator and so if it  blew that means that you had a serious  event happen on that wire and you got to  be curious and you got to look for it  and yes your alternator might blow but  who cares because ultimately you save  for  a fire on board your boat so fusing is  not only for the appliance it's also for  the wire  and it's there for our safety on those  super critical super important  a big fan of fusing every single circuit  on a boat  except the starter circuit and an  alternator is not a starter  hence it should also be fused so that's  a great question for  thanks for watching this video if you've  got further questions that we didn't  answer  please ask them below or go on our  website and fill up one of the forms and lastly if you  haven't subscribed to  our channel please do so that way you'll  get the regular contents and in closing  thanks for watching  you