Mike Reed
pfm Member
Well, there y'go! A few years later and NAC A5 would've done an even better job !!!
Think they were fuse-boxes in '85, not C.U.s From wire to MCB must've been one of the biggest advances in domestic mains.
Another mains fuse hits the streets
- Thread starter Cyclopse
- Start date
Think they were fuse-boxes in '85, not C.U.s From wire to MCB must've been one of the biggest advances in domestic mains.
Barrymagrec
pfm Member
I think they`ve been consumer units since all the fuses (now MCBs) and the main switch were combined into a single unit., probably back in the fifties.
You mean apart from removing all interim protection and connecting your stereo directly to certain death?
paulfromcamden
Baffled
All perfectly safe so long as you switch it on with a broom handle and stand well back.
That you know of.
Mike Reed
pfm Member
You may be right as I don't know the origin of the term consumer unit, which was entirely different, of course.. Everybody, it seemed, called it fuse box back then.
agnes
Agnes
What I cannot understand is what one luxury fuse manufacturer describes as congestion.
Apparently the super fuse in the mains plug allows elections to gallop out of the mains socket, and through the mains plug without hindrance, and in a state of carefree bliss.
What happens when the same happy electrons arrive inside the hifi unit and come across a "normal" fuse on, say, the power board?
Aren't these hitherto free spirited elections going to get congested! So what was the advantage of the super fuse - other than to mislead unsuspecting electrons? They will reach the audio circuitry thoroughly confused and bad tempered and no doubt take it out on the audio presentation....
Just sayin'.....
Donuk
Apparently the super fuse in the mains plug allows elections to gallop out of the mains socket, and through the mains plug without hindrance, and in a state of carefree bliss.
What happens when the same happy electrons arrive inside the hifi unit and come across a "normal" fuse on, say, the power board?
Aren't these hitherto free spirited elections going to get congested! So what was the advantage of the super fuse - other than to mislead unsuspecting electrons? They will reach the audio circuitry thoroughly confused and bad tempered and no doubt take it out on the audio presentation....
Just sayin'.....
Donuk
Mike Reed
pfm Member
I've no idea what these comments mean, as a ring main must have individual plug fuse protection but a radial only needs its own MCB. The two formats are entirely different, and to add an unnecessary fuse to a radial is pointless providing the MCB (or RCBO) is rated for the mains lead(s) A fuse is a fuse is a fuse. However, I may have misinterpreted the above remarks. Blanking case fuses is an entirely separate affair, if that's what you mean.
I think your domestic electric shower and some hobs/ovens need radials, which have the appropriate MCB at the consumer end but not, from memory, at the user end, though I could be wrong there.
Mike Reed
pfm Member
I have no idea what super fuses comprise, but I guess it can only be materials with greater conductivity and which are made to closer tolerances than common or garden ones. If the path of electricity meets less resistance, the impedance is lower. I'm no boffin (quite the reverse) but this seems perfectly rational to me, and impedance is important in achieving dynamics/s.q./whatever. Mind you, I s'pose this must also have a bearing on the fuse holder, which is never mentioned.
Mike Reed
pfm Member
According to my wife, I'm constantly blowing one, Alex. The straightfrustrians of aging limiting my ambitions. Wire people making a fuss about fuses? (He says, just realising the thread title !).
Actually, my local dealer friend bought one of those (Synergistic Research?) expensive fuses and thought it did make a beneficial difference, but he's on ring mains like most others, so probably sth in it. Think your plug pins and sockets would have to be pretty spotless to gain any benefit though. A plug's easy to clean but a socket??????
No, that is correct but the shower has no accessible cable at the shower end and a cooker uses 10mm cable which, although not buried in the wall, is not accessible in normal use. Any captive fixed appliance cable which is accessible, like a towel rail or urn, must have a fused outlet.
The fuses in plugs are there because the cable is accessible and should be rated to reflect the current capacity of the cable and draw of the product. The smallest fuse which will do the job should be fitted, so a 13a fuse in a table lamp is a PAT test fail.
So the socket has 32a behind it but the fuse then drops that potential down to 10, 5, 3a or whatever to limit the danger you may be exposed to and the risk of fire should the cable be compromised. It could be the difference between a sting and death. And of course it's not just you you're taking the risk with should you circumvent this safety protocol. You never know what can happen. We had a rabbit chew through a mains flex! Thankfully the item was not switched on at the wall, bunny lived. I remember an electrician going to jail because a child took a dangerous cable out of his bag, plugged it in and was killed. Why risk it to make your stereo sound fractionally better?
martin clark
pinko bodger
oh- that's already been-done by others, by others
.. yep then a standard fuse. which is a wise move, since it will carry whatever accreditation needed. Just dressed in Gucci, and upsold as Veblen goods.
Such things, are abs Bollox, all the way through.
.. yep then a standard fuse. which is a wise move, since it will carry whatever accreditation needed. Just dressed in Gucci, and upsold as Veblen goods.
Such things, are abs Bollox, all the way through.
menameisengine
Active Member
Won't you nedd to rewire ya system all the way back to the sub station
allthingsanalog
pfm Member
Sinergistic Research Orange fuse.
Label peeled off - Bussmann logo still visible
Black stuff, Graphene apparently
Original 13A print
Inside
Genuine Bussmann fuse for 50p for comparison
allthingsanalog
pfm Member
I have a separate Radial for my hifi, goes back to a 13a MCB. The Hifi is the only thing on the circuit so is the effectively the same as the rest of the world. Fuse is only there to protect the cable as the equipment has its own case fuses. It's all hidden away and never going to messed about with by anyone else, my round pin extension block I made sounds good to me. In actual fact it was a recommendation once in the hifi press many years ago. My kit isn’t on when I’m not at home and been like that for almost a year with no issues. Given the low current draw, theres no reason I couldn’t go with a lower amperage on the MCB.
At the end of the day, any DIY electrical project whether is be a home made amplifier or fitting a UK plug could be classed as potentially dangerous.
I certainly trust it over the cheap stuff on eBay and Amazon that is supplied with lethal mains plugs, fake fuses, sheathed earth pins and copper coated aluminium IEC cables rated for about 3 amps but labeled 10a.
I mainly made it as an experiment as no fuse in the plug has to better than the most expensive fuse in existence, although Phil from Cheshire audio apparently had a customer who thought an SR fuse sounded better than no fuse which can’t be possible.