Switching 10 A fuse with 30 A fuse??

ocelot

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2005
Location
Fairfax, VA
TDI
'96 Passat TDi
Hi everyone. I own a '96 Passat TDI wagon and today I tried pumping up a tire with an air compressor connected to the cig lighter. I plugged an inverter into the lighter and then plugged the air compressor into the inverter. One second after I turned it on, the fuse blew out. I replaced the fuse with a 30 A fuse, turned on the car and tried again. Everything worked fine. Is there any problem with doing this? I don't think there are any vital electronics that run through that fuse...
 

ocelot

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2005
Location
Fairfax, VA
TDI
'96 Passat TDi
Damn. Alright so I just switched it back with a 10 A. On the air compressor itself it says that it runs 3.3 A, why did it blow?
 
Last edited:

P2B

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Location
Toronto & Muskoka, Canada
TDI
2002 Jetta, 2003 Jetta, 2003 Jetta Wagon
I'm surprised the 30A fuse didn't blow.

You mentioned an inverter, so I'll assume your compressor draws 3.3A @ 120V - which means it draws 33A @12V, plus a bit more since the inverter is not 100% efficient.

Buy a 12V compressor if you want to pump up tires using battery power.

Simon
 

jck66

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 4, 2001
Location
Greenwich, CT, USA
TDI
12 Passat SE / 14 BMW 535d
I just blew this fuse in my 97 Passat over the weekend with my 12V compressor. The compressor got unhappy going over 60 psi (bike tires). IIRC it was 15A, not 10A.

And YES, there is a problem with replacing a 10A fuse with a 30A fuse!!!! Unless you like fire...
 
Top