On Tue, 24 Apr 2018 21:57:46 +0100, Jimmy Wilkinson Knife wrote:

They are pretty **** actually. I had a kettle running at 2400W (10
amps) on a 5A plug fuse which lasted for 3 months of using it several
times a day before it blew. And a colleague had 2 tumble driers and 2
washing machines running on a 4 way power strip, which melted the strip
into a soggy mess and didn't blow the 13A fuse. Makes you wonder why we
have them at all. Surely they can design them to take triple load for 5
seconds (to allow for motors starting), then blow if it's over the
rating after that? Simply the temperature of the wire should reach a
certain point? But all we seem to have is "fast blow" which won't allow
for motors and "slow blow" which is in plug fuses and doesn't blow other
than a dead short.


I'm inclined to agree. Hardly anyone other than sparkies is aware that
any given mains fuse will pass a great deal more than its rated value for
a surprisingly long time during which much melting or even a fire could
possibly start. Such fuses are great for protecting against dead shorts,
but not much beyond that.



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