FYI I have a switch installed in the same place. My bet is previous owner had a DVD player installed in the center console (put stock back in before he sold to you). Use that switch as an ebrake over-ride. Flip it and it will let you watch DVD's in the front seat.

You don't even wanna see the stuff I've found on my car after getting into it

And that transmitter looks like the GPS reciever for a double din (original theory). Sometimes they're a pain to get out. My guess is he just left it in there.

 

Not to add insult to injury but that 2nd to last image w/ the 4 screws and grounding wire.... haha, my god...

Anyhoo best of luck sorting all of that out. Restarting fresh sounds good, piecing out components that may still be worthy of keeping...

 

I've never used a circuit breaker, but I have seen wires cut by the firewall. Happened to my brother-in-law. He did have a proper fuse installed that functioned as designed and shorted before the wire could weld itself to the firewall though. His was especially poorly installed, as it ran under the carpet and would get shifted back and forth whenever the passenger moved their feet too much.

 

what kind of jibberish is this?

That CB is protecting the wire between it and the battery. The key is to have the wire and CB sized properly so that the CB trips before the wire burns up.

 

Ah, that makes sense...I could see it happening then. I think with the vibration from the vehicle alone though, it would take some time (years?) to wear through the insulating jacket of most power wire. No arguing the obvious point that this is the wrong way to run a power wire to begin with though!

 

How can a circuit breaker protect the wire BEFORE it? It can't. If the wire shorts out between the battery and the circuit breaker the breaker will never trip. The wire will arc until either the battery melts or the copper wires melts. That is why the standards is to have your protective device absolutely no further from the battery then 18".

 

Fuses are better suited for short circuits. Any tap off the battery should be protected by a Fuse first. CB can be downstream and protects from over current.

 

There is nothing wrong with using a circuit breaker first. Both a fuse and a circuit breaker protect from shorts and over currents. They are basically the same thing, with the exception that the circuit breaker is resettable. Typically, breakers open up at a higher percentage of rated load, but that varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.

As long as your protection device is under 300A the time for a fuse or breaker to open under a direct short should be virtually identical.

Nether a fuse nor a breaker will protect the wire before it though.

 

Again. A circuit breaker will protect the wire upstream during an Over Current condition. Over current, where you try to draw 20amps through a 15amp circuit for an extended time.

Agreed that during a short the protection must be upstream of the short where upstream means the direction towards the current producing device.