Aftermarket CD receiver and sparking fuse

[Autolycus]

Hey all,

I’ve installed many receivers in the past, but I’ve never had a sparking fuse! I removed the fuse so I wouldn’t drain my battery while my door was open during the removal of the bezel and checking of my new radio wiring harness. Once the job was done, I forgot the fuse was removed. I started inserting the fuse and I heard a crack and small sparks come out. Before installing the receiver, I triple checked my connections, which were good and I checked the old harness for any problems. Both were good before I finalized the job. I doubt this means much, but I did have the CD receiver hooked up to my battery beforehand for testing…

So, while I doubt it – is it normal for a fuse to spark during re-installation after a new receiver is placed into the circuit?

Any help would be great. Thanks!

Topic

[dave]

this type of behavior is normal for any circuit that is under load. next time turn the key off and there will be no load on your radio circuit, which should only be hot in ACC and RUN.

[Autolycus]

Thanks for replying! I didn’t have the key turned, nor inserted at anytime during my instillation. I figured it was semi-normal for the fuse slot (controls the dome lights, door switches, and radio). The slot itself, I believe, is hot (read 12v) most of the time. That’s normal, no? Should I just disconnect the NEG battery terminal, reconnect the fuse, and reconnect the NEG terminal?

[Autolycus]

After measuring the circuit, along with others, I found that I was happy with the evidence and inserted the fuse back without disconnecting the NEG battery terminal. I found no short or grounding issue, so I figured I could safely install the fuse again. I heard very, very small crackle – but it wasn’t anything to be worried about. Tested the CD receiver with the engine on, visually checked the circuit/fuse and I was happy with it.

[KZ 259]

yeah when working with audio installs, you gotta always disconnect the negative terminal, even when it comes to something as simple as installing a satellite radio antenna

[Autolycus]

Yep, this is for sure. I did disconnect the negative terminal before installation, but I forgot about the removal of the fuse after I reconnected the negative side. So yeah, oops on my part…

[college man]

When ever doing any kind of work.Always a good idea
to disconnect the negative cable.

[EricTheCarGuy]

Honestly it sounds like you have it hooked up to a circuit that’s hot all the time as the dome light and other circuits you mentioned are hot all the time. Only one power wire should go to the unit that’s hot all the time and that’s for the clock circuit, not the one for primary power to the unit. The actually radio should only be hooked up to key hot input. I usually look for a spade connector in the fuse box that’s hot when the key is turned on. Manufacturers put these things there for that very reason. I can’t stand seeing things that are powered by wrapping a wire around a fuse and shoving it in the fuse box. Very unprofessional in my opinion, it can also damage the electrical connection at the fuse box causing issues with the items on the circuit the fuse powers. Yep, seen that a time or 2.

[Author]

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