Fuse Taps

[Garybegood]

I just purchased my first Dash Cam and will soon be installing it. I plan to hardwire it using the Add-A-Circuit fuse tap (Piggyback fuse holder). I am new to these fuse taps and I have one concern which I haven't seen addressed. The amperage rating of the fuse tap itself. Mine is rated for 10A. This means for both fuse slots. In other words, with a 10A rated tap, you SHOULD NOT plug into it any fuse greater than 10A. If you were to tap a larger amperage circuit and install the 20A or 30A host fuse into the holder, you might have a meltdown. The metal conductors insert molded into the fuse holder may not handle the current. Most of the fuse taps I've seen are only rated for 10A.

The other concern I have is the quality of the fuse tap. I purchased a quality brand product, Littelfuse. If you buy a look alike from an unknown source, you can't be sure of the quality or the real amp rating. A lot of what you will find, like on Amazon, is copycat product made in China of sub quality that has probably never been tested.

 

[Ralph2]

Your dash cam will not come close to drawing anything close to 10A, and the location you are likely to tap into is also (likely) to be way less than 10 amps.. so nothing to worry about. The orientation of the fuse tap is important and there is much discussion on which way it "best" One way all the power goes through both fuses, the other way each fuse is independent. Not all fuse taps will fit properly, I had to file the shoulder of the plastic on mine down a tad to allow it to seat properly.