Headlight switch retro fit

[Pep48]

I'm thinking of retro fitting the headlight switch on my '48 from using a glass buss fuse to using a 30 Amp self resetting circuit breaker.

Most modern era cars utilized a breaker as a safety measure to provide enough time (after self-resetting) to drive the car to a safe place.

 

In a traditional fuse box with exposed fuses, retro fitting is easy, but the stock fuse is inside of a twist-lock holder. I'm trying to figure out how to delete the glass fuse and tap into the circuit with a circuit breaker.

 

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Sam Buchanan]

Insert a copper slug in place of the fuse?? Similar to the ol' penny in the fuse box that burned down a few houses....... 

[Dave72dt]

Same size self resetting circuit breaker as the current fuse as spec'd and then a higher amp fuse in the twist lock holder.    If the car calls for a 20 amp fuse, use a 20 amp breaker and a 25 or 30 in the twist lock, as an example.   Modern lights often separate high and low beam  circuits with their own fuse.

[Dan Hiebert]

Reads like you want to replace that twist lock buss fuse with a circuit breaker.  I'm assuming someone makes an inline circuit breaker, in which case I would just remove the buss fuse holder altogether (cut the wires) and splice in that breaker in the same place.  What is suggested above will certainly work, but that just adds another potential point of failure to that circuit. 

[desoto1939]

the fuse in the older cars was not an add on fuse but was contained in a metal fuse holder that was part of the switch assembly and the fuse was in a metal cylinder that twisted into the switch.

 

could use a dummy fuse as suggested.

 

Rich hartung