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what amp fuse does the ebay fog lights use?
And can I use a higher fuse?

 
Rep Power: 291

no, not unless you put in bigger wires. replacing a fuse with a larger one is just begging to create an electrical fire. fuses are sized based on the wire size. putting a larger fuse in will allow more current to flow through the wire than it can handle. it will get hot and possibly catch fire. fuses are there to protect the system when there's a problem. if the fuse blew, you have a problem. for a fuse to blow, power has to get shorted to ground. it could be a wire or component that is shorting out.

 
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what size is the wiring?

 
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im not sure what size, but it came with a 30 amp fuse. I believe I am using 2 55watt bulbs.
and this is what happened after over a year


i replaced the in cabin harness (with a new fuse holder) with another one that my friend had around and everything works again, but I am also using a 30 amp fuse (smart glow - made in Mexico). But I do not know if this will happen again.

 
Rep Power: 291

30A fuse, you need 10ga wire. 2-55w bulbs need 9.16A. Call it 10A. 15A tops if the wires are big enough (14ga or bigger). if it came with a 30A fuse, then that's probably why things melted. the fuse needs to be small enough to protect the smallest wire in the whole circuit, not the supply. so even with a 10ga supply (if you had that) if any wire is 14ga or smaller, then you need 15A or 10A, not 30A. does that make sense? I'd put a 10A in there. if it blows right away, you probably have a short somewhere.

 
Rep Power: 259

can i try a 15 amp ? i have one laying around

so a 30 amp fuse has more chance of catching on fire than a 15 amp fuse? If my wires are more powerful than the 15 amp fuse then it'll just blow?

 
Rep Power: 291

you're not thinking of it quite right. you could put a 100A fuse on a 20ga wire. as long as you don't pull more amps than that wire can handle, then you're fine. but if a bulb blows, wire gets pinched and shorts to ground or something else to cause more current flow, that wire will heat up and catch fire long before the fuse blows. a 20ga wire may support 10A under the right conditions, but would probably catch fire by 20A. still got another 80A to go before the fuse would blow.

so what i'd suggest is look at the wire and find out what size it is. there should be writing somewhere on the power and ground wires. once you find that, then you can determine what fuse you need. if a 15A fuse blows with 2-55w halogen bulbs, then you have bigger problems. you have a short to ground somewhere either in a component or wire.

 
Rep Power: 259

i just checked all wires around and leading into the fuse box cover and there is no writing on any of them...

what exactly is a short to ground?

and if a 15A fuse doesnt blow, i can just use it and assume that the 30A was too much? If I do recall, one of my bulbs did burn out and I drove around with one bulb for quite some time.

 
Rep Power: 291

short to ground is when a power wire makes contact with bare metal or a ground. since there's no resistance from a component like a light bulb, then excessive amounts of current flow and things get hot and turn bad.....unless a properly sized fuse is there to protect the system. put the 15A in. if it blows, you've got an electrical problem in the wiring somewhere (assuming both lamps are good).

 
Rep Power: 259

i just placed a 15A fuse in there and it works fine.
Problem solved?

would water touching a ground cause a short?

 
Rep Power: 291

based on the melting in that pic, i'd pick up a 10A and see if it works. if so, that would be safer than the 15A.

 
Rep Power: 259

and if the 10A doesnt work and blows?
I'm leaving the fuse box sticking a little out so I can look at it easily if it ever melts again. thanks

 
Rep Power: 291

2-55w bulbs at 100% efficient need 9.167A. there's resistance in the wires, maybe in your grounds, so normally, you size your fuses or circuit breakers based on 125% of the full current load. so 110w would need 11.46A, so you'd pick a 15A or 12.5A (if you can find one.)

 
Rep Power: 259

thanks

 
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thanks

 
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looks like candy

 
Rep Power: 812

sorry for the off topic, but the same thing happened to my DRL module fuse and holder. its only a 7.5 amp fuse and the wire looks pretty thick, like at least 16 gauge, maybe 14. but the holder and fuse were totally melted. i was barely able to pull the melted fuse out (which still worked actually), and put a new one. the holder was badly damaged but still held the new fuse. i havent checked it recently and im not sure why it would melt like that. its powering the two front turn signals at 42w total.

 
Rep Power: 291

hard to say on some of these. any corrosion on the terminals will add resistance and thus add heat. or a loose connection can do it too. any connection i make in the engine bay, i put dielectric grease on it to prevent corrosion.