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I'm looking to add a 4awg cable from the battery up front to an anderson connector at the tail of the truck to provide additional power to my trailer. Normal power draw would be less than 50 amps. I have a dc breaker on the trailer for the incoming power, but figured I would add a fuse between the battery and cable.

Now for the part I'm unsure of. I was thinking of making a set of jumper cables to plug into the anderson connector too. Putting a fuse between battery and cable, on the truck side seems like it would just blow too easily if I tried to jump someone.

Should I just go without a fuse there since I'll have one on the trailer side? Or is a megafuse slow blow and would, say a 200amp fuse, support the brief burst from a jump?

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    A jump can be 400 to 600A, even more for some trucks.
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Jul 8, 2021 at 21:13
  • Welcome to Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair! I agree with Mike ... even 200A fuse seems mighty slim.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Commented Jul 8, 2021 at 21:28
  • Should I just go without a fuse then, and rely on the dc breaker on the trailer?
    – dave k
    Commented Jul 8, 2021 at 21:35
  • Just wasn't sure if it was a slow blow fuse, if it would last at that high of amperage for a brief burst
    – dave k
    Commented Jul 8, 2021 at 21:38
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    These days having a jump pack in the truck is easier. But, personally, I put a fuse on the battery-to-rear wiring - I just don't like having an un-fused wire. The total length of wire from the battery to the back, and then the back over to another vehicle makes for a lot of heating losses on the way.
    – Jon Custer
    Commented Jul 12, 2021 at 15:29

3 Answers 3

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Don't plug jumper cables to an Anderson connector.

Anderson connectors are usually rated for rather low amperage. The standard PowerPole connectors go up to 45 amperes, although they are intended for rather thin wires which really don't like 45 amperes. You can find for example Anderson SB50 connectors for 130 amperes and 16mm2 wiring.

16mm2 is about the smallest jumper cable you could do anything with, IF it is short. Your truck is probably so long that if you have 16mm2 wiring to the Anderson SB50 connector, then the SB50 connector, then additional jumper cables, the resistance would simply be too much. It would be only useful for rapid battery charging. It wouldn't be useful for anything else.

My advice is to add the fuse, and connect the jumper cables directly to battery terminals whenever you need to jump another car. Jumper cables and fuses don't really mix.

If you feel your jumper cables aren't long enough, then the solution is to buy thick and long cables. My cables are 50mm2 and 5 meters and have 100% copper clamps, not just copper coated steel.

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You could have a fuse for the truck .Check the tripping time specs for the fuse .You will find that short overloads will not blow it .I have not done this but think that a fuse of between say 200Amps and 400 Amps would be a starting point .

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You definitely need a fuse for the wire you are planning to run to the tail of the truck for the trailer connection. A 4AWG unfused cable attached to your battery is just a portable arc-welder with a surprise trigger.

The plug-in jump connector can be done, but you need specific parts and it shouldn't be the same as your trailer feed. The PowerPole connectors will become slag quickly and you want the shortest wire possible for the jumper cable plug.

Our safety trucks all had a plug like that rigged up (LeMons/Chump/Weekend warrior-type race cars never seem to have good batteries or alternators) and they worked OK, but they used about 12" of 0AWG welding cable to the grille-mounted connector.

The connectors used were similar to these high-power DC connectors (the pictured one is rated 350A)

enter image description here

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