Greetings all, Excellent discussion. I've had a number of responses ranging from "it really doesn't matter" to the highly technical (it's truly amazing how complicated fuses can be). As I expected, everyone seems to be more or less on the same page with this matter, and a few anecdotes were provided as well. thanks, -doug Douglas E. Powell Regulatory Compliance Engineer Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. Fort Collins, CO 80535 USA
From: POWELL, DOUG [mailto:doug.pow...@aei.com] Sent: Friday, May 23, 2003 4:57 PM To: EMC-PSTC (E-mail) Subject: Bad Fuse vs. Good Fuse Hello all, Recently, in my company, we've been discussing what exactly constitutes a good or bad fuse. In this industry we often hear that the trouble with a defective product was, "the fuse was bad." I occurred to me that the fuse is not bad, it performed exactly intended. In fact if the problem that caused the fuse to "operate" is still present, then the fuse is still good even though it is now an open circuit. The only time it can be a bad fuse is if it did not operate, resulting in shock or a fire. I have now have my ears tuned-in to this concept of a "bad fuse" and find it is commonly used all over the industry. In fact you can go to any number of websites that provide trouble shooting notes, and find instructions on how you can measure a bad fuse from a good fuse using an Ohm meter, photos included. And some of these instructions are from reputable manufacturers. Another term often used is "defective fuse", which in some way sounds more scientific, but is still fundamentally wrong. I recently saw a newspaper article that gave the explaination why electrical service was lost for over 100,000 people as a bad fuse. An investigation was under way to determine why the fuse went bad. This is a little like hearing the technologically uninitiated say "it must be a short somewhere", when the television set stops working. Maybe I am finicky, but this affects how companies view real product defects. When the "defect" is the bad fuse, then the real problem may be covered up. Often the answer is, increase the fuse size to prevent nuisance trips. The risk, of course, is that for every incremental increase in fuse value, you increase the risk of fire proportionally. Any thoughts or experiences? BTW - To all US citizens in the group, have a relaxing Memorial Day weekend. -doug Douglas E. Powell Regulatory Compliance Engineer Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. Fort Collins, CO 80535 USA _______________________________________________________________ This message, including any attachments, may contain information that is confidential and proprietary information of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. The dissemination, distribution, use or copying of this message or any of its attachments is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc.
