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how much for a fuse,

I once bypassed the fuses in the mains plugs and soldered a brass bar into a short extension lead, which was f-in hard to do by the way, and it sounded better. I only used it for a few days, as I found the notion of not burning my house down appealing.

You're not alone in this, (esp.,i.m.e.( if you're a Naim user.;)). Not sure about the extension lead bit, though. I assume you did this on a ring main. Way back when, Naim friends did this 'experiment', firstly with 10A blanks, then solid (fiiled) fuses. This might have been on dedicated radial systems, though (can't remember) but the difference in s.q. (mainly dynamics) was clear.
 
Quite, as per mine. Mind you, the thread is about fuses, not dedicated radial circuits etc. Our ring main system requires fuses; radial systems for domestic supply in the States and just so many other countries don't employ fuses, except possibly in different/unusual applications; surely there's no need to duplicate protection.

The fuse, mcb or rcbo is there to protect the specific circuit, to ensure that excess current in the case of a short circuit doesn't melt the insulation or wires. The fuse in the plug is to protect the flexible cable connected to the equipment.

They are not protecting the same thing, hence not duplicated.

They also have different tripping characteristics and are not interchangeable.
 
You're not alone in this, (esp.,i.m.e.( if you're a Naim user.;)). Not sure about the extension lead bit, though. I assume you did this on a ring main. Way back when, Naim friends did this 'experiment', firstly with 10A blanks, then solid (fiiled) fuses. This might have been on dedicated radial systems, though (can't remember) but the difference in s.q. (mainly dynamics) was clear.

You have forgotten the caveat Mike, shall I find it again for you ?
 
The fuse in the plug is to protect the flexible cable connected to the equipment.

They are not protecting the same thing, hence not duplicated.
You have forgotten the caveat Mike, shall I find it again for you ?

Point taken, Ian, though in the case of radial circuits, the hifi lead is still theoretically vulnerable, but (presumably) covered by the appropriate MCB.

Not sure about the caveat, Ian, except that my experience is well over a decade old now, and reg's change. I'm also not at all sure that valved kit benefits from this attention to mains supply either, but that's another topic.
 
In general, I agree, but I make an exception for illegal behaviour that endangers the safety of others.
Which is likely to be a mixture of fact and opinion. Not all 'foo' fuses are dangerous. Indeed, one criticism of them is that many are actually no different to ordinary fuses. And even those which might be argued to be different/dangerous are mostly found in use cases where the risk of the danger being realised is slight to negligible (unlikely any internal short would cause a current surge which would start a fire in a cable before other protection kicked in, eg equipment fuses, mains breakers; unlikely to be left unsupervised; and so-on).
 
You are not required to have fused plugs in the UK , BS 546 plugs and sockets are still allowed and they have no fuses.

A big piece of why the UK has fused plugs (to protect the device power cords) is because we use ring mains. If you have dedicated lines into a dedicated consumer unit. With properly rated safety devices in the consumer unit that has to mitigate the risk to the device power cords.

This is how they run in the US , I'm not aware that they are experiencing significant risks to US consumers. Would be interesting to see and compare data from US and UK insurance companies.
 
We have discussed this before.
In France (and possibly the rest of Europe) there are no fuses at all now, so that means no fuse box.
Fuses are considered obsolete.
Their presence in devices (when necessary) is safe enough.
The kettle has no fuse.
 
If a piece of electrical equipment has a fuse, it should be assumed it is required for safe operation. Tampering with any safety device is foolish and dangerous. Just don't do it. Plug fuses are a uniquely British thing, but that is beside the point. Many items have a fuse at the mains inlet regardless of where they are sold. If not, they are (hopefully) designed so as to be inherently safe (or there's a hidden fuse somewhere inside).

Using non-certified fuses is no less stupid than replacing the brake fluid in a car with something that might, as far as anyone knows, freeze in cold weather, turning a safe vehicle into a murder/suicide machine.
 
While you are allowed to have plugs without fuses it's only where they are designed that way. Using a none certified part on your house mains will likely invalidate your house insurance and its illegal to sell none certified electrical parts for consumer use.

I'd imagine this thread is treading close to the AUP
 
So you can replace all your plugs with fuseless ones and that's OK but you can't wire directly into a dedicated modern consumer unit ?
 
You are not required to have fused plugs in the UK , BS 546 plugs and sockets are still allowed and they have no fuses.

Didn't know that. I know that there were 'foo' round-pin plugs (no fuses) being sold/experimented with back in the eighties (?) but I'm surprised nonetheless.

In France (and possibly the rest of Europe) there are no fuses at all now, so that means no fuse box.
Fuses are considered obsolete.

By 'fuse box', you presumably mean consumer units as well. Just for clarity, the mains enters the dwelling unprotected (i.e. by main fuse) and goes to a totally unprotected junction box and thereby to individual radials? If so, I'm amazed, as where IS the protection?

Using a none certified part on your house mains will likely invalidate your house insurance and its illegal to sell none certified electrical parts for consumer use.

I'd imagine this thread is treading close to the AUP

A NON- certified part in your vehicle in the way of an adaptation would technically invalidate one's insurance (unless ratified), so it's not surprising, Simon. I don't see anything remotely problematic in this thread, esp. comparing similarly controversial mains threads both recently and prior to that. I for one seem to be on a learning curve (see my comments directly above) so this thread has educational value, methinks. at least for me (pending replies ;))

As a wire fuse has limited components (wire and caps), I can only guess that the wire filament can be made out of a better conductor and the end caps similarly, so I question just how much improvement they can bring compared to simply polishing up the existing and cleaning contacts. I've never had one and have never been remotely interested in one, but I can imagine these are tempting if only by their simplicity of installation. Let's face it, the plug itself is likely to be a pretty crude affair with tarnishing pins anyway. let alone the less accessible socket.
 
aftermarket fuses, when used properly, are not more dangerous than the ones coming from the buckets at your hardware store .. - so let’s clear that. The rest is much like anything we discuss around here only much easier to joke about, clearly tempting ... and I admit to trying some not so expensive ones and have a few remaining here and there .. don’t ask me to remember where exactly though, as I really am not so sure:). In any case I think they are the right ones to use and it might be more dangerous to find them than leave them there - of course, I am sure they make a difference!:)
 
At least we're not arguing about the benefits of installing a separate earthing rod in a box of earth or connected to the hifi mains circuit and sunk in the ground outside, that'd be a really stupid thing to do
 
The fuseless plugs are not experimental they have been around for a long long time they predate the modern square pin plugs and sockets.
 


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