Fuses are used to break a circuit in the event of excessive current in order to prevent damage to appliances and wiring and potential fires. They are placed in the live wire and melt when too much current flows through. There are two main types: rewireable fuses which can be reused by rewiring the fuse carrier, and cartridge fuses which have glass envelopes that clearly show when blown. Fuses are used in home distribution boards, appliances, vehicles, electronics and throughout electrical distribution systems to protect components.

1. FUSE
Dr. I. Rathinamala
Assistant Professor in Physics
V. V. Vanniaperumal College for Women
Virudhunagar

2. What is Fuse?
Why do we need Fuse?
Placement of Fuse
Rewireable Fuse
Cartridge Fuse
Fuse

3. • A fuse is a small, thin conductor designed to melt and separate into
two pieces for the purpose of breaking a circuit in the event of
excessive current.
• A circuit breaker is a specially designed switch that automatically
opens to interrupt circuit current in the event of an overcurrent
condition.
What is Fuse?

4. Fuse

5. Fuse

6. Classification of Fuses

7. • Fuses are used for the prevention of home appliances from the short
circuit and damage by overload or high current etc.
• If we don’t use fuses, electrical faults occur in the wiring and it burns
the wire and electric appliances and may starts fire at home.
• The lives of television, computers, radios and other home appliances
may also put at risk.
• When the fuse goes, a sudden spark occurs which may lead to turning
your home into sudden darkness by disconnecting the power supply
which saves any further mishappenings.
Why do we need Fuse?

8. Placement of Fuse
 In electrical installations the fuses are always connected in
to the live wires and never into the neutral or earth wire
Fuse Element
 It is the part of a fuse designed to melt when an excessive
current flows into an electrical circuit
 It is made up of an alloy of tin and lead
Fuse Base
 The base of the fuse includes a fuse cap, which is packed
with the fuse ingredient by cartridge using an adapter ring.

9. • Rewireable or Kit – Kat Type Fuses are a type of Low Voltage (LV)
Fuses.
• It is a simple reusable fuse used in homes and offices. They consist of
a carrier and a socket.
• Rewireable Fuses consists of two main parts: a Fuse Base, which
contains the in and out terminal, and a Fuse Carrier, which holds the
Fuse Element. The Fuse Base is generally made up of Porcelain and
the Fuse Element is made up of Tinned Copper, Aluminium, Lead,
etc.
Rewirable Fuse

10. • When the fuse is blown, the carrier is taken out, rewired and put back
in the socket to resume normal operation. This is the main advantage
of Rewireable Fuses
Rewireable Fuse

11. Cartridge Fuse
 The fuse element is encased in a glass envelope that is terminated
by metal caps. The fuse is placed in an appropriate holder. Since
the glass envelope is clear, it is easy to visually determine if the
fuse is blown.
 There are many variants of this design, including slow blow fuse
and fast blow fuse. Slow blow fuses have a larger element that can
handle overcurrent for a relatively short period of time and are
unaffected by spikes in the appliance. Fast blow fuses react
instantly to current spikes.
 Some variants of this fuse are encased in ceramic to withstand
high temperatures.

12. Cartridge Fuse
 This type of design and construction will help in keeping the
arc with in the container at the event of blown fuse.
 Cartridge Type Fuses are a very important category of fuses
that are used in almost all types of applications like Low
Voltage (LV), High Voltage (HV) and miniature fuses.

13. Fuses are used in
• home distribution boards, general electrical appliances, and devices.
• gaming consoles and all automobiles such as car, trucks and other
vehicles.
• laptops, cell phones, printers, scanners, portable electronics, hard disk
drives.
• LCD monitors, battery packs, etc.
• In the electrical distribution system, we will find fuses in capacitors,
transformers, power converters, motor starters, power transformers.
Usage