Littlefuse - FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit Adapter Review

I was having some car problems a few months ago and needed a way to test a circuit in the car. At the auto parts store, I found the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter, which is actually a little gizmo that is used to add another electrical circuit to a car. However, it worked perfectly for my testing and it may come in handy the next time I have to install a car stereo.

I paid about $4.50 for the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter.

What it is

The Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter takes a single fused circuit and splits it into two circuits. On one side, it has two blades that mimic the blades of a modern automotive fuse. On the other side, it has two sets of slots for two fuses. To use it, you have to pull a fuse from the car's fuse box and push the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter into the now-empty fuse slot. Then take the fuse that you removed and install it on the other side of the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter.

There remains another fuse slot on that side that can be used to power an accessory, such as a car stereo, radar detector, or just about anything else that draws up to 10 Amps. The new accessory connects to a pigtail of wire that extends from the side of the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter.

See the pictures on the right to get a better idea of how the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter works. The fuse adapter comes with four fuses, rated 3, 5, 7.5 and 10 Amps.

Using it

As I said, I used the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter to do some testing. I needed to know the voltage on certain circuits in a car. The Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter made it easy to pull the fuse, then use the wire pigtail to attach a voltmeter for testing. Once the testing was done, I pulled the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter from the car's fusebox and re-installed the original fuse. No one will ever know I did any testing and no wires needed to be cut or spliced.

Using the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter was simple: I just pulled a fuse, installed the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter in place of the fuse and did my testing. The device fit perfectly and it was easy to install and remove.

The only possible drawback is that the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter is rated up to only 10 Amps for the added accessory circuit. That's probably fine for a simple car stereo but it is not enough for any size of amplifier or subwoofer system. The Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter probably does not have enough capacity to handle a siren or other heavy-duty power drawing device.

Summary

The Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter is a very handy little gizmo that will add a new fused circuit to a car with a minimum of fuss. It's well built and easy to install. I only wish it was good up to 15 or even 20 Amps. Then it would be perfect.

However, it's still useful and I recommend the Littlefuse FHA200BP Add-A-Circuit adapter.