"larry moe 'n curly"

When I come across a burnt resistor, I usually replace it with one
rated for twice the wattage as the original, but I was told it's
sometimes bad to do that. Why? I'm not referring to fuse resistors
but ordinary carbon composition resistors.


** Carbon comp resistors are rare and almost obsolete these days - did you
mean carbon film ?

Most resistor burn ups are the result of misuse or OTHER failures in the
equipment, so no upgrade is needed

If a new resistor of the same size gets unusually hot, then an upgrade is
justified.

BTW

2 and 3 watt carbon comp resistors that run hot ( 100C or more ) gradually
fall in value and get even hotter, ie a vicious cycle exists until complete
failure occurs.

Replace them with a wire wound type.



..... Phil