Circuit breakers

If additional consumers of electricity are connected to any existing electrical circuit or a short circuit occurs as a result of a defect (this is nothing more than an exorbitant increase in current), then the electrical circuit is overloaded. If fuses were not included in the circuit, the wires would heat up or begin to glow, including the generator windings, the liquid in the battery could boil. They are connected very briefly: if the current exceeds a certain permissible level, then they simply interrupt it.



In order for the Vectra not to remain completely de-energized when a defect occurs, the fuses are distributed over different electrical circuits. Although the connections between the starter, battery and alternator are not guarded by fuses. If these parts fail, a glance at the fuse box will not help. But the rest of the electrical units have their own lock. The Vectra uses so-called flat fuses. Two flat connectors are inserted into the painted synthetic part, connected by fusible wire. With these fuses, there is no problem with corrosion because they have larger contact surfaces than older ceramic fuses.

Main fuses

Up to 6 main fuses protect a wide range of electrical circuits. Thanks to these main fuses, the risk of ignition of wires that are constantly energized is eliminated. The main fuses are located in a three-part fuse holder located in the engine compartment behind the battery. After the main fuses, the current flows to individual fuses in the car and from them to electricity consumers. If one of these fuses blows, the cause of the short circuit must be investigated.

Fuse replacement

If you need to replace the plug fuse, you can use the small plastic pliers that are attached to the fuse box.

If the new fuse blows immediately, find out if the fuse is too weak (see fuse table).

If this is not the case, use the fuse table to identify the connected electrical consumer and check it separately. An appropriate wiring diagram will help with this (next chapter).

In case of doubt, disconnect all consumers and then reconnect them one by one. The consumer is faulty, when connected, the fuse blows.

Fuse power

To differentiate the maximum allowable rated current (ampere) the identification colors of the synthetic part are used: red - 10 A; blue - 15 A; yellow - 20 A; white - 25 A; green - 30 A; orange - 40 A.