Quick Search
Categories
- 3 Prong Plugs
- 3-way switches
- A Short Video
- A Shorted Chandelier
- Abbreviations
- AFCI Breakers
- BBB Reliability Report
- Biography
- Contingency Fund
- Customer References
- Discounts
- Emergency Calls Are Always Welcome Here 24/7 Including W/E & Hollidays
- Fire Protection Systems with Addressable Pull Stations
- FPE Problems
- Fuses
- GFI and saving lives
- Grounding Myths
- Guarantee
- History
- Holes & Incisions
- How a GFI Works.
- It's the watts that kill you.
- Knob & Tube Wire
- License
- My Personal Biography
- Old Houses
- Permit Requirements
- Plaster Patching
- Pricing Structure
- Quality Assurance Letter
- Sample Bid Medium
- Shorthand Abbreviations
- Sitemap
- Smoke Alarms
- Surge Protection
- Tips
- Trouble Kitchen plug sparks
- Warranty
- What to Expect
- Why choose to pay just a little bit more?
- Xtra FAQ 1
- Xtra FAQ 2
- Yellow Pages
- More...
- Service Areas
Recent Blogs
Fuses
Are fuses really better than breakers?
Some old-time electricians will tell you fuses are better than circuit breakers but I disagree. They say that fuses will trip easier than a circuit breaker. This may be true but that is not always the best thing. Fuses get old and wear out through age. A fuse is built with a small thin strip of metal that will heat up and melt if the circuit it is protecting is overloaded. If a 15-amp fuse is on a circuit that from time to time draws 14.5 amps the metal strip will be heated almost to the melting point. Later when there is less current the metal will cool. Over the years the fuse strip will loose it’s strength and may fail prematurely even though it is not overloaded at that time.
Another problem is smaller fuses 15 amps, 20 amps, 25 amps and 30 amps all fit in the same size fuse holder. Using a 30-amp fuse on a circuit designed for 15 amps can easily be a problem. This will allow the 15-amp wire to carry twice as much current as it was designed to safely handle. Even worse someone could put a penny behind the old style fuse-holder and totally defeat the over current protection. Obviously this is not good. One should either change to circuit breakers or . . .
There is a work around. Fuses adapters called type-S fuses have a one-way thread that screws into a 30 amp fuse holder to reduce the thread size so it will only accept the proper size fuse. (Photo needed)
If you have these non tamp (non tamper-able fuses and one blows out you may need to shine a flashlight into the fuse holder hole to see what color code is inside the base. 15 amp fuses are blue and 20 amp fuses are orange color. Only the proper size and color fuse will fit.
Copyright 2009 John A. Peters
