wrote in message
ups.com...
James Sweet wrote:

cut-out in series with the fuse. Is this adequate protection
without the
fuse?


Not really, it's best to replace the fuse, though how often does one
leave a
hairdryer running unnatended? Personally on my own unit I would
probably
just bypass it, but I would never sell or otherwise pass the dryer on
to
someone else or recommend that anyone else takes that route.



James Sweet:
Over the years I have always appreciated and respected your good
technical advice on this newsgroup as I am certain that others also
have found your advice of value;
HOWEVER
I am shocked at your admission that you personally would not bother
with a replacement thermal fuse and would just bypass it. You should
have ended your reply post with your first phrase "it's best to replace
it" .
Even though you indidcated that it would be your PERSONAL course of
action to bypass the thermal fuse, there will be those readers that
have so respected your previous good advice over the years that they
might follow your own personal BAD advice of bypassing an important OEM
safety device like a thermal fuse. I am shocked and surprised that you
would even consider this course of action and bad repair practice;
personal or otherwise. I am sure that I am not the only one who had
this reaction after seeing your BAD ADVICE reply post.
electricitym


Holy crap, calm down, I stated clearly NOT to do this, as in DO NOT TRY THIS
AT HOME but that *I* would probably (knowing full well it's not a
particularly great idea) do it on a hairdryer, nothing else I can think of,
but a hair dryer, something that's plugged in for only a few moments while
I'm using it. Not a coffee pot, not a heater, not anything wired into the
house, but a hairdryer. As the warning goes, I'm a "professional", don't try
this at home, if you do and it burns the place down, that's your own stupid
problem and you don't need my "advice" to do that. I know I have a heck of a
lot more dangerous items around my house than a hairdryer, modified or not,
it's simply low on the list. (and no, I have not personally ever bypassed a
thermal fuse in anything, never had one fail without the device being
destroyed beyond any point of repairing anyway)

That said, I've had several "protected" unmodified devices go up in smoke
before, a few that if I hadn't caught in time quite likely would have
started a fire, a couple cheap space heaters, an air purifier, and a
computer power supply all come to mind. After those I don't tend to trust
any electrical device particularly and no longer leave any heating
appliances running unattended.