Somebody wrote: > The key concept her is, > fuses protect wires.
A basic misconception about circuit protective devices (AKA: Fuse or Circuit Breaker) The only function of a Circuit Protective Device is to protect the INSULATION around the wire, not the Wire itself. It is an important concept and describes the thrust of electrical codes. A Circuit Protective Device does NOT protect a load, that is the job of an overload relay, but ONLY the insulation protecting the wiring. Consider the following: 1) A #14 AWG bare wire hung in open air. The current that bare conductor can carry is basically limited to just less than the amount required to melt the wire. 2) Same #14 AWG wire covered with 105C insulation. The current that this insulated conductor can carry is now defined by the insulation covering the wire.(Less than 20A) Basic stuff, but often misunderstood, Lew _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
