Christian McArdle wrote:

Have you seen one blow? Showers of sparks and intense white light. I would
prefer such pyrotechnics INSIDE the fuse cartridge, not showered over the
carpet/dry dusty cupboard.

Would have thought that is why boards like my rewireable wylex unit have
a cover that goes over all of the fuses....

--
Cheers,

John.

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Would have thought that is why boards like my rewireable wylex unit have
a cover that goes over all of the fuses....

I'm not sure I've seen one with the cover still present. Most people chuck
them away after changing the sodding fuse wire one too many times. My old
house was always blowing the 5A fuse wire. The circuit wasn't even
particularly highly loaded (150W of fluorescent max, no incandescent). I got
through 2 cards of the filth and only lived there a couple of years. I
suspect the rather odd construction of the fuse carrier pinched the fuse
wire and introduced a weak point. Either that or something to do with the
fluorescent tube fitting in the kitchen. Quite simply, I see no purpose for
a wire fuse carrier, when a cartridge fuse carrier is superior in every
respect. A simple ban on them would suffice, not that many are fitted these
days.

Christian.

Christian McArdle wrote:

Would have thought that is why boards like my rewireable wylex unit have
a cover that goes over all of the fuses....


I'm not sure I've seen one with the cover still present. Most people chuck
them away after changing the sodding fuse wire one too many times. My old

;-) yup - most I have seen would confirm that. I am still the proud
owner (and user!) of the one on my one though!

(although not for much longer - I will need more ways when I build the
loft conversion so I think it is time to swap it out for something a
little less "depricated".

house was always blowing the 5A fuse wire. The circuit wasn't even
particularly highly loaded (150W of fluorescent max, no incandescent). I got

Must admit to not needing to change any fuses for best part of ten years
- then I made the mistake of installing a light fitting with mains power
halogens. A couple of times a bulb has failed and taken out the
downstais lighting fuse. (Clomping one of the bulbs with the end of the
vacuum cleaner pipe the other week did neither any favours either ;-)

fluorescent tube fitting in the kitchen. Quite simply, I see no purpose for
a wire fuse carrier, when a cartridge fuse carrier is superior in every

except cost of replacement fuses

respect. A simple ban on them would suffice, not that many are fitted these
days.

Well they are depricated in the regs - so as you say it is unlikely that
many more will be fitted. No reason to rip out all the existing ones
until their natural end of life though.

--
Cheers,

John.

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except cost of replacement fuses

Well an HRC fuse costs under a quid, so it is pretty academic. The 5A
carrier for mine actually fitted standard plug fuses at around 10p each. I
don't know if this is because the 5A HRC fuse matches in size, or just the
carrier design. I never needed to change it, anyway.

Christian.

In article ,
Christian McArdle wrote:
I'm not sure I've seen one with the cover still present. Most people
chuck them away after changing the sodding fuse wire one too many times.

A re-wirable fuse doesn't blow without reason - and I've never had a bulb
blowing take one, unlike the common tales of MCBs tripping. If fuses are
constantly blowing the wiring installation is a mess and should be sorted
- regardless of how it's protected.

FWIW, I've had precisely two fuses blow in about 25 years - one for the
immersion when that rotted through, and one on a lighting circuit where I
increased the load beyond 5 amps.

--
*Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Christian McArdle wrote:

snip

respect. A simple ban on them would suffice, not that many are fitted
these
days.

Well they are depricated in the regs - so as you say it is unlikely that
many more will be fitted. No reason to rip out all the existing ones
until their natural end of life though.


More to the point, a ban on re wireable fuses at the same time as a ban on
unlicensed electrical work and a restriction on the supply of anything more
than standard 13 amp plugs would mean far more work for a few over priced
licensed electricians. Me cynical, no.....

In article ,
"Christian McArdle" writes:
except cost of replacement fuses

Well an HRC fuse costs under a quid, so it is pretty academic. The 5A
carrier for mine actually fitted standard plug fuses at around 10p each. I
don't know if this is because the 5A HRC fuse matches in size, or just the
carrier design. I never needed to change it, anyway.

I know they fit, but you must never use a BS1362 plugtop fuse
in a BS1631 Consumer Unit fuse carrier -- it doesn't have
sufficient current breaking capacity. If there was a short
circuit and you have a low impedance supply, a plugtop fuse
in a consumer unit could fail to safely interrupt the current.

--
Andrew Gabriel

A re-wirable fuse doesn't blow without reason - and I've never had a bulb
blowing take one, unlike the common tales of MCBs tripping.

Well, it never blew when I put the cartridge fuse carrier in. My suspicion
is that the weird kinked route that the fuse wire was required to take
resulted in it being almost impossible not to damage the fuse wire when
installing, probably reducing its capacity dramatically.

Christian.