That would suck... though I would wonder how the EBC had any power if the truck/accessory line had no juice. My amp (phoenix gold) circuits are open unless there is a +12V to the accessory line...the only shorts would have to be there, or the big guage fella going to the battery...both of which are fused.

Sorry to hear it burned out though.

Daniel

 

Thanks for the words of sympathy. I have a meeting with the insurance company's regional adjuster & my agent set for tuesday I'll let ya'll know how it turns out. I'm going to buy a new 2002 L next weekend either way. If they choose not to total the 01 & offer an unfair settlement I'll let my lawyers & the insurance company handle it. Either way I've decided to buy a new 2002 L next weekend.

 

The accessory line is basically used to power a relay type circuit within the Amp. The 4 Gauge was always powered to the Amp, the remote turn on (or accessory) wasn't though. If there is a significant amount of draw by that external bass control, then it is possible that if there was a small short then the 60 Amp fuse wouldn't necessarily burn out. I had something similar happen in my old truck (as far as fuses not popping). I had 2 Gauge from the battery, fused at the battery with a distribution block at the back branched off using four 8 ga wires. Needless to say, the insulation on one of the wires got chafed and grounded out. Let me tell you, when that soft rubber insulation on the wire burns, it friggin' stinks! The main fuse never blew. I can't remember what amperage it was.

 

Are you sure the wire to the amp is #4? This size of wire is capable of carrying closer to eighty amps with no problems. The overcurrent protection (read fuse) you had installed was more than adequate to protect even a #6 wire. The fuse should have opened long before the wire heated up. This is assuming that the fuse was placed as close as possible to the source (read battery) and not the amp it's self. Anyways sorry about your loss and hope everything works out for you.

 

I agree with SVT. Are you sure there wasn't some kind of distribution block? I don't see any reason to run 4Ga to a single amp.

 

Yes, the wire is 4 gauge & there is no distribution block. This wire was installed @ my request 11 months ago when the amp was installed. The plan was to upgrade to a 4x75 watt amp for the door & rear quarter panel replacement speakers & to upgrade the sub amp to a 600+ watt amp in the future. Ironically the reason I insisted on 4 gauge wire was to prevent electrical overloading due to inadequate wire size. The wiring that presumably caused the fire was of a smaller guage in the EBC circuitry in a circumstance like MisterP spoke of.

 

From all appearances I'll be settling with the Insurance Co. for 18K & keeping the L. I've been offered 12K for my 2001 L from the body shop but I'm going to take a few days & consider my options. Thanks for all your responses.

 

I love my L; but, if I had the opportunity to throw down 30k+ on a Z06. I wouldn't hesitate for an instant!

 

i have a ionizer in my L and it takes out every smell in the truck. it was smoked in with the windows slightly cracked and about an hour later it had no smell. i had something similiar happen in a previous truck where my power wire shorted out and burned the carpet. i had to replace the whole carpet and sprayed "frebreeze" in truck for a week or two and it went away.

 

Glad to hear everything worked out for you (18K+12K=30K) Have you picked out your new color yet?

 

The Z06 package is excellent of course, but I much prefer the coupe body over the hardtop. And, I presently have a 2000 Millenium Yellow C5 6 speed coupe, so the Z06 isn't that tempting to me.

 

As much as I love the black L, I'm too old (45) & TOO busy to keep it as I'd like to. So I'll be buying a silver 2002 L this weekend.

 

As mod crazy as I am, I'll probably go with a coupe if I ever get around to buying one. Thanks to the Z06, you can use the word sleeper and 'Vette in the same sentence.

 

The EBC is a Potentiometer.

The voltage that goes through that is very Minimal, Its nuts that someone would say the EBC control would cause that.

I think you should pull your interior out and Start figuring out what happend, Was your amp Fused up front? or was it fused in the rear.

Im in the car audio Business and Something sounds strange to me about the whole thing, Espically to blame the Ebc.

 

The entire interior is out now, the 4 gauge wire was fused 6 inches from the battery. The wiring to the EBC was shorted to the passenger seat frame & burned "naked" from there to the amp. While I'm in agreement with you, the EBC is a potentiometer, I have 2 questions you may be able to answer. Is the EBC circuit fused inside the amp? Does the EBC wiring have a direct connection to the "positive" 12V circuit inside the amp even when the amp is off, that is with no signal on the blue accessory wire feeder from the radio? If the EBC wiring has no direct 12V connection in the amp your scenario is indeed correct, no doubt. If however the EBC wiring has a direct feed through the amp to the 12V 4 gauge power source & shorted out against the seat frame, as small as they are, these wires could carry sufficient current & heat to have ignited the carpeting. The small size of the EBC wiring actually was the problem, they carried enough current to overheat & start the fire yet were not large enough to generate a 60 amp load to open the fuse. While the fuse did eventually open, noone knows how long it took.While I claim no expertise in car stereo work, I have an extensive electrical background with home, auto & industrial applications. thank you for your time & response.