I've endured random electrical faults from my fuse box for some time - it's a 1984 Ninety so uses round glass fuses in 'clip' holders, and they've gone rusty over the last twenty years. Quite often I have to wiggle a fuse to get a good contact and bring both headlights on - which is fine when starting off, but going from full beam to one dip headlight and it isn't attractive to dive into the footwell to resolve the problem when there's an oncoming car... I've also found problems buying the correct fuses, since everything Halfords etc sell seem to be slightly too long to fit.

Following thoughts on here previously I bought some blade fuse holders from VWP, their FBB8U @ £3.95 ea, and here's my step by step guide on fitting them.


The old wiring was a mess, with an assortment of fuses in the wrong ratings, some mains-plug fuses and a couple (ahem) of blown ones wrapped in tinfoil.


I pulled the big bracket out and trimmed a little of the strengthening rib across the bottom to clear the new fuse boxes...


Holes are added to take the mounting screws (although one was too close to the edge and became a slot - no matter), so next is the heart-stopping moment of snipping into the main loom. It's this stage that has put me off the whole process for two years or more.



I transferred the wires across one by one to the new fuse boxes, methodically and slowly. I didn't label any of the wires, just kept them in order and moved them one at a time.


And here's the installed creation. In Blue Peter style I'd labelled each slot while the backing plate was on the bench, and this method gives me space for a few spare fuses at the bottom.

If I'd thought ahead I'd transfer the wires for the other four fuses onto the spaces at the bottom of the new board, but I've got no idea what they do (although evidently only the top two do anything noticeable because they're the ones that had fuses in them - any ideas?). It was also a good opportunity to tidy up the wiring for the stereo which has hung loose in the footwell for the last eight years

one of the small 2 fuse is for the rear screen heater & rear wash/wipe. no idea why you have 2 of these small fuese boxes.

Nice neat job

I have the glass fuses on mine and although the wiring it in good condition, the fuses can cause loads of probs
May follow your lead one day..........few other things "1st"

Nige

If you're doing any form of competition, or just like an easy life, it's worth considering the "Automatic indicating glow fuses" also from VWP (or RS).
When they blow, they light up, which obviously can save you a load of time pulling each fuse and checking it looking for a problem.

Also especially useful for things where you might not realise the fuse has blown until too late - such as the 'leccy fans - but obviously not so good if you put the black cover back over the top! Saved my engine once, when the fans stalled hitting water at speed and blew the fuse - paid for the themselves in one hit.

(The warning lamp has a limited life, so dont expect it to remind you that you blew that fuse two weeks ago, but they are good for a couple of hours.)

If you're really bored the alternative to TSD's suggestion is to buy a load of 12v 3mm LED's from RS and solder them directly to the fuse holder. You do need to check polarity though.

One thought, Range Rovers have 2 small fuse boxes under each seat, think they hold 8 or 10 fuses, and have a plastic cover on them to keep the dirt out as well -pretty sure they could be used just as you have done there.

Very nice neat job though

Funky light-up fuses sound like fun - do they directly replace the blades?

Fridge - how would I do the same with and LED? In series it'd only light if the fuse was working, and in parallel it'd suddenly see the full (over)current and go pop.

I did think about wiring an ignition feed and an LED to one of the spare slots to make a built-in fuse tester, but I didn't quite get round to it. One of those 'maybe next time' ideas.

Glow fuses:


The LED's are across the fuse in parallel, you can either use a normal LED with series resistor or a 12v one with built-in resistor, either way the resistor limits the current that can flow to a few mA.

Indicating fuses are 50p + vat at RS. Link You'd need to be upgrading a whole fleet of RR 38a before that even sounded like it was worth the effort

Edit : forgot to say, having used both, the RS ones are much higher quality than the VWP ones as well as cheaper - not that it matters much in something thats designed to melt!

@Turbocharger - the 'glow' blade fuses just directly replace the ordinary ones.