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Hi Valin,
I think you might have noticed my Legacy's instrument panel at the
Fredericksburg fly-in. I have only two circuit breakers, one for
the field circuit for each alternator. The breakers are part of the
circuits to shut off the alternators if voltage exceeds limits. Everything
else is protected by fuses, nearly all are automotive "ATO" type fuses.
When I designed the panel, I tried to design the wire sizes and fuse sizes
to eliminate nuisance tripping. (I don't remember the last time I replaced
a fuse in my car.) Therefore, if a fuse blows, I will assume that there is
a fault and I won't reset it in flight. So even if I had breakers, I
wouldn't attempt to reset one if it tripped. Since I won't replace a fuse
in flight, I put the fuse blocks on the avionics shelf, not accessible in
flight. I also attempted to design my panel so that no single failure will
create an emergency, which allows me the confidence to make the fuses not
accessible in flight.
Fuses are cheaper, lighter, and easier to wire than circuit breakers.
I use fuseblocks like the ones here:
They make very neat, robust wiring.
By the way, what is the reason for using breakers for high current devices
like the hydraulic pump if other circuits are protected by
fuses? Fuses are working fine for me.
Best,
Dennis
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