The Cellar - Automotive Fuse Warning

I ran into this on the SSR Forum.

Quote:

We have now had two vehicles come into our department with extensive wiring harness damage.
Both of these vehicles had a replacement 15 amp fuse instead of the GM fuse.
The fuse does NOT “pop” causing the wiring harness to catch fire.

The fuse has a clear, hard plastic blue body with the amperage stamped into the top there is no white paint on the fuse. There are no identifying marks on the fuse to tell who is making it. The fuse is distributed by Harbor Freight, attached is a picture of the box of fuses.

Your dealers should look out to make sure that suspect wiring problems are not caused by these defective aftermarket fuses. The 15 amp fuse on this particular truck did not “pop” even at 50 amps. The fuse in the second picture still tests “good” even after a direct short across the battery. We tested six of these fuses and none of them pop.

Now these came from Harbor freight, but they could be lurking anywhere. Buy brand names, American made if possible, unless you don't care if they don't work... when you're trapped in the wreck.