Strange wires glued to fuses in Fuse Box #3 -- what are they?

[VifferFun]

I was in my 2015 P85DL trying to reset a fuse for my rear doors and took a peak inside Fuse Box #3 out of curiosity. I found it odd that there are two wires (speaker wire?) that seem to be glued to fuses F74 and F77:

• F74 = (20A) 12V drive rail (cabin)
• F77 = (25A) Stability control

Since the wires are just glued to the plastic part of the fuse, I don't understand what these wires could be doing. I'm the second owner of the car, but I bought it from my neighbour so I know its history. The only aftermarket modification to the car is the installation of front and rear dashcams (BlackVue). Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[NickleNiceness]

I'd guess - dashcam power

 

[VifferFun]

Thanks! But if they are for power, shouldn't they be connected to something? Since their glued to the plastic portion of the fuses, I'm not sure what purpose they serve?

 

[electricar]

They definitely look aftermarket to me so if the dash cam was the only mod, I agree with NickleNiceness, they are probably related to it. Maybe the dash cam was removed but the wires remained because there was no reason to remove them and they were glued to the fuse so they wouldn't get lost in case someone wanted to reuse them.

 

[5170304]

Thanks! But if they are for power, shouldn't they be connected to something? Since their glued to the plastic portion of the fuses, I'm not sure what purpose they serve?

I can't see the back side of the fuse. Did you actually pull the fuse out and look at the connection? I suspect the spade part of those connectors is bent down at a 90 degree angle and pushed into fuse holder beside the fuse. I have never seen it done this way before and don't think its a good idea. If they are on the wrong side of the fuse it would create a power wire without fuse protection which could lead to a meltdown/fire if there is a short.

 

[VifferFun]

I can't see the back side of the fuse. Did you actually pull the fuse out and look at the connection? I suspect the spade part of those connectors is bent down at a 90 degree angle and pushed into fuse holder beside the fuse. I have never seen it done this way before and don't think its a good idea. If they are on the wrong side of the fuse it would create a power wire without fuse protection which could lead to a meltdown/fire if there is a short.

Thanks, you're correct -- I didn't notice earlier that the spade part of the connectors are bent down at 90 degrees and pushed into the fuse holders like you described. I didn't pull the fuses for fear of messing something up. Is there a way to tell if they are on the "correct" side of the fuses? This is almost certainly added for the dashcams (which are still installed in the car and functioning fine). Thanks!

 

[Huachipato]

They are probably just pulling power from there and grounding closer to where ever the device was installed.

 

[Zishan]

Unplug'em and let's see what happens!


Or you can be boring, and ask your neighbor that sold it to you....but what's the fun in that.

 

[Darmie]

you may find the difference between the two fuses is one is all time power and one is only on power when car is in on mode.

 

[Darmie]

You would think they would install something like this to be more professional.

https://www.autozone.com/electrical...d-accessories/bussmann-atm-fuse-tap/32416_0_0

 

[5170304]

Thanks, you're correct -- I didn't notice earlier that the spade part of the connectors are bent down at 90 degrees and pushed into the fuse holders like you described. I didn't pull the fuses for fear of messing something up. Is there a way to tell if they are on the "correct" side of the fuses? This is almost certainly added for the dashcams (which are still installed in the car and functioning fine). Thanks!

View attachment 448373 View attachment 448374

If you pull the fuses you can test the fuse block with a multimeter and figure out which side of the fuse is the powered side and which side is the load side. They could have fuses on those wires closer to the dashcam which would fuse everything from that point on but would still leave the wires from the fuse block to the fuse on the dashcam without fuses. A short from the wire chafing on a sharp metal edge would result in the wire melting down. I know that is an edge case but it is possible. You could buy a fuse holder that goes into a wire and attach it right by the fuse block to eliminate most of this problem.
Another solution would be to find out from others on here how you would normally power accessories on a Tesla. I haven't done that on mine but surely there is an appropriate method to attach these wires to a power source.

 

[5170304]

You would think they would install something like this to be more professional.

https://www.autozone.com/electrical...d-accessories/bussmann-atm-fuse-tap/32416_0_0

This would be an easy solution to your problem.

 

[MP3Mike]

This would be an easy solution to your problem.

It might be too late now. A fuse by itself might not make good contact and be intermittent now that the terminals have been bent out by having an extra spade jammed in to them.

 

[5170304]

It might be too late now. A fuse by itself might not make good contact and be intermittent now that the terminals have been bent out by having an extra spade jammed in to them.

True. A small needle nose pliers might be able to reach in and repair that but I'm not sure.

 

[electricar]

It seems unlikely that you could jam an additional spade terminal into the fuse socket so the aftermarket terminals are probably just shoved in enough to make contact and the fuse block is probably ok. There is a chance that they on the wrong side of the fuse as 5170304 pointed out because the extra draw from the dash cam might blow the fuse. This poor work looks something a stereo store that is the home home HOME of the $1.00 install would do. This does need to be corrected and I would get the piece recommended by Darmie and if the fuse doesn't blow call it good.

 

[Saxgod]

Probably shouldn't mess with it since the initial thought was they were glued to the top of the fuses.

No offense meant but definitely stay within your lane when it comes to expensive cars, fuses and electricity.

 

[electricar]

Workmanship this poor wouldn't allow for extra effort of gluing them

 

[Silicon Desert]

I was in my 2015 P85DL trying to reset a fuse for my rear doors and took a peak inside Fuse Box #3 out of curiosity. I found it odd that there are two wires (speaker wire?) that seem to be glued to fuses F74 and F77:

• F74 = (20A) 12V drive rail (cabin)
• F77 = (25A) Stability control

Since the wires are just glued to the plastic part of the fuse, I don't understand what these wires could be doing. I'm the second owner of the car, but I bought it from my neighbour so I know its history. The only aftermarket modification to the car is the installation of front and rear dashcams (BlackVue). Any ideas? Thanks!

View attachment 448354 View attachment 448355

Oh that's easy. The wife is preparing to bomb your car