"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article 949Ye.76228$Sj1.28811@okepread04,
wrote:
AoE 2nd suggests using "a slow-blow fuse with rating 50%-100% greater
than worst-case current drain of the instrument."

Great. Thanks. Just what I was looking for. Couldn't find this in the
couple of text books I looked at.

Just to be clear, AoE == "Art of Electronics", 2nd edition.
http://www.artofelectronics.com/ It has the usual textbook stuff but
also lots of practical advice like the above. There is rumored to be a
3rd edition in the works; you can harass one of the authors (Mr. Hill)
about it on sci.electronics.design .

I'm pretty sure that "anti-surge" is rightpondian for "slow-blow".

Yes, IIRC anti-surge and slow-blow are the same. And even time delay?

I'm less sure of "time delay" being the same thing. To me, a "time
delay" fuse is a big (10 A for me, 5 A for you) mains fuse that gets
used on things like motors and air conditioners that draw high initial
current. It's the same idea as a small "slow-blow" fuse in electronics,
but I think the delay time is longer. All fuses have curves that show
how long they take to blow at what percent of their ratings; these are
usually in the manufacturer's catalogs (notably: Bussman and Littelfuse).

Matt Roberds