I believe I actually witnessed this first hand a few weeks ago. The only potential difference is it may not have been IPO's kit (I should have asked), but man, it was melted completely.

 

[Raises hand]
[/hand]

Yes, that would be the pumpkin with the burnt fuse, and no, it was not IPO, it was dynamic racing. Fair is fair, I can honestly say that everything I have purchased from IPO was at least as good as from any other shop.

If it had gotten worse than just scortching/melting the plastic, I guess I would change the description of the car from "new tucker orange", to "burnt orange"

 

yes. those ATO style inline fuse holders just cant handle the constant current the pump draws. i use an inline fuse holder on mine but its an 8 ga. maxi fuse.

 

Would a circuit breaker to replace the fuse be a feasible/sensible idea then? I know I use them for my car audio installs as I have seen issues with blade style fuses in the past. Things like melting, softening and the fuse popping out or loose, cover coming off and causing arching.

In addition the circuit breakers make it easier to work on (at least car audio) I would assume you would still take the battery out for fuel work, but in my audio when I work on it I just hit the button to trip the circuit. Again not recommending that idea for fuel work, could be a good kill switch if you only run hotwire.

 

Just making sure...this isn't IPS is it? I just bought the IPS Motorsport hot wire kit cause my old one from DR (back in 2000) keep melting the fuse and shutting me off. I kept a bag of 30a fuses in the arm rest

 

no. IPO. import power online.


i still dont understand these "kits". how hard is it to take a length of wire, install a fuse, hook up a relay, and put it in the car. no reason or need for a kit.

 

People are lazy, it's like half the random shit on the market that can be made by visiting Radio Shack, Home Depot and Napa.

 

99MODVR4, you're taking what I said far too out of context/literally. I FULLY understand what you mean by not having time.

 

That's cool...appreciate you saying so. There are just too many people on here who DO condemn you if you aren't 100% dedicated like they are..

 

First time have seen this issue.
In the interest of safety if someone has an IPO or 3SX kit contact us at info@3SXPerformance.com with your name and mailing address and we'll send out a cylinder style connector with fuse to you at no charge so you can update styles just in case. We'll get some on order today and should be able to ship next week.

Update: For those sending an email requesting a fuse holder we are saving addresses and email responses until items ship. When they ship we will send an email letting you know they are on the way to you. Please don't resend requests after sending initial email as it makes it more difficult to make sure the proper ones are shipped. Thanks

 

First time have seen this issue.
In the interest of safety if someone has an IPO or 3SX kit contact us at info@3SXPerformance.com with your name and mailing address and we'll send out a cylinder style connector with fuse to you at no charge so you can update styles just in case. We'll get some on order today and should be able to ship next week.

Talk about stepping up.....THAT is customer service.

 

I had the same issue with the Ipsmotorsports hotwire Kit.

I ended up just running a 4gauge wire from the battery to the trunk.
I have an AGU fuse holder under the hood, with a 30amp fuse.
In the trunk I have the 4gauge wire going to an AGU Fused Distribution block which has 2 8gauge outputs. I then have a 10gauge wire running from the fused distributino block to my relay for the pump...works great.

 

Yeah my IPO hot wire fuse holder burned out a while back and cause an open circuit. The car died of course. Luckly it was just a few hundred yards from home.

 

good looking out steve.

we are having a similar problem with a fuel system (a certain 1200hp system) that keeps melting the single bosch relay controlling 2 high output fuel pumps.

my guess is the creator of this fuel system in question wouldnt back it up like you are. kudos

 

thats why i dont use "kits"

i have the AAM system and dual 30A relays for it (may go to 3 if needed). im not sure how it was supplied as far as power goes but i re did it to my liking.

 

Shit, so the relay in the GT-PRO 1200hp system is faulty?! anything else I should know about the gtpro system?

 

For high power systems and dual pumps we use two fues holders and two relays in parallel to make sure there will be no problem.

 

IPS kit
This is what happened to my hotwire kit using the blade style fuse holder...wonderful

Higher Res Pics:
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w279/jwetzler/Battery/

It melted itsself together and kept running...
<img src="http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w279/jwetzler/Battery/Hotwire_Fuse.jpg" width=550 height=400>

Ruined my Optima too:
<img src="http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w279/jwetzler/Battery/battery_melted.jpg" width=550 height=400>

 

Um....I hope you meant the IPO kit, not the IPS.
That's what happened to my DR 'kit', so I bought the IPS one (I called and they said they've never had one melt) which is being installed as we speak...

 

^^ Holy shit!

 

I've been using the IPO kit for well over two years now and haven't had this issue. To the people that have had melted fuse holders, what fuel pumps are you running?

 

Supra Fuel Pump..According to what I've read, they are more voltage dependant than Stock, and Walboro.

 

Supra here as well

 

Interesting. I've had the IPO kit on for at least a year and a half with a Walbro and I haven't had an issue.

I'll definitely keep it in mind though. And Steve, that's awesome that you guys are stepping up and willing to fix it. That's cool as hell

 

IPO kit/Supra pump here. Melted the fuse holder too.

 

Am I just imagining it, or is there a pattern developing of fried fuses using supra pumps?

 

its a pattern of fried cheapo inline fuse holders and supra pumps. good fuse holder=no melting.

 

maybe i should start building hotwire kits correctly.

 

If you would have about a year ago you would have got my cash.:beer:

I would start making them, but I don't have extra time.

 

Anybody had this problem with a Walbro 255 pump?

Granted my battery is 2 inches away from my fuel pump... and the hotwire cable is only 7 or 8 inches long. I haven't had this problem since I had it installed, which has been over a year.

Do you think it's because of the extreme temperatures the fuse holder can experience in the engine bay? Maybe that's why sound system wiring "kits" come with the plastic cylinder type fuse holders... they can probably take much more heat than the cheap inline ones. Then again... i melted one of those last summer... lol

 

you will be able to smell the plastic burning before anyone else would...lol

 

Mine was the Supra pump as well. I don't think it is caused by engine bay temperature, as mine was located near the air filter (in between the battery and air filter). So it should have been getting quite a bit of air flow to keep it cool. I used the inline fuse holder for over two years (lower miles only in the summer). I will try to post up pictures of my fuse holder. It was only melted internally and not externally, so you will have to pull your fuse to inspect the holder properly!

In general, I would not recommend using these inline fuse holders with any type of upgraded fuel pump. It may be limited to just the Supra pump, but in my opinion, it is not worth the risk when a better style fuse holder is only $10. This is also likely not limited to IPO kits. There are probably only a few manufacturers of these style fuse holders, so I would suspect that other kits are affected.

I congratulate IPO/3SX for stepping up to correct this issue. That is excellent customer service. Too bad I already replaced mine this past weekend.

Please spread word of this thread to local groups and local web boards.

Brad

 

slagehammer wrote:

Do you think it's because of the extreme temperatures the fuse holder can experience in the engine bay?

Nope. It's probably got something to do with the crimp connection, or lack thereof, between the wires and the terminals of the fuseholder. Classic way to start an electrical fire is a bad connection. The connection has either high resistance, or if loose it may even create a small arc, and it heats up and melts.

I also have an IPO kit (that I bought from another board member who didn't use it) and I'm in the middle of installing it now. Guess I'll go out and get a new fuseholder for it.

Paul T

 

Nope. It's probably got something to do with the crimp connection

Nope, the heat from mine was centered on the center part of the blades, actually melting the fuse into the blade connectors... it did not seem to be more towards the bottom or sides of the female side of the blades where you would expect the crimp connection for the wires.

 

I pieced the parts together myself and the stupid inline fuse was the most expensive component but in retrospect, it looks like I made a good decision. It's really an easy mod to do.

Good thread and good job by 3SX to step up immediately and handle this.