The fuse is one of the most important parts of the electronic circuit to this day. It was designed as a safety measure and helps protect the device from overflow of the current. It includes a metal wire inside the fuse which limits the passage of excessive current by melting the wire whenever the limits stretch the capability of the electrical device.
Fuse is used in all electrical devices as a safety and prevention mechanism whilst also allowing to keep any fire hazard issues at bay. Its use has been one of the revelations for the overall industry and household as it has helped reduce all the previous incidents of fire and hazards to a minimum. However, there are a few areas where the fuse still lacks and can deter at points. We here take a look at both aspects of fuse in detail below. Read along.
Advantages of Fuse
1. Effective solution for protection
The entire invention of the fuse was based on providing a simple and effective way of protecting against fire hazards life overcurrent, heating, and short circuit. Since a lot of households and commercial users mentioned the fires caused due to the outbreak of the overcurrent and heating, the fuse acts as a barrier that breaks the circuit and reduces the chances of fires and breakage. The fuse functions as the breakage of the circuit which stops the overload and switches off the device. This way, the device and the household both are safe.
2. Economical and Easy to handle and change
Imagine your electronic device getting short-circuit and damaged due to fire. Add to that the chances of getting your home or office caught in the fire. That would be devastating and a huge loss of wealth and income. Now think of this solution, a fuse that comes at a dirt cheap price and helps you to protect against any fire breakage. The fuse is simply a metal wire that gets hot due to over-current breaks. It can be replaced easily at a minimal price and will stop any impending fire hazards saving you thousands of money.
3. Easy Maintenance
Fuses are easy to maintain and can be handled with ease. The way fuse is set up they are easy to install and take it out in the time of need. It makes it a lot convenient for the running and maintenance part allowing users to simply swap in and out when required without any need of qualified personnel.
4. Doesn’t create smoke or flame
When other normal fire protection hazards work, they tend to cause alarms, smoke, or even gas at times. With a fuse though, there’s no such case of smoke, noise, gas, or flame and it can simply stop the hazard without causing any disturbance to the house or the individuals residing within. It also allows for current limiting during the short circuit period and helps maintain the functioning of the devices without any issues.
5. Fuse inverse time-current characteristic
Fuse has the inverse time-current characteristic that allows it to make suitable overload protection. It works in the mechanism where when the current flowing through the fuse increases, the chances for the fuse to blow and disconnect the circuit decreases. This phenomenon allows the fuse to protect against the excessive current by responding quickly. This is a valuable feature and advantage of the fuse in helping create effective overload protection.
Disadvantages of Fuse
1. Fuse can only handle limited current
If there’s one thing that’s a disadvantage about fuse it is the limited capacity to handle the levels of the current. The fuse levels are mapped in amperes and come in various types, for say, a smaller multi-socket has 3-ampere load levels and the higher voltage stabilizer comes with 10 amperes. This means that the multi-socket can handle a load of up to 3 ampere and will break the circuit for load over that. It is one of the criticisms of fuse that it doesn’t allow larger capacity handling.
2. Needs to be replaced after breakage
Fuse has a great advantage in that when the load trips it breaks and stops the flow. But that fuse also needs to be replaced with a new one because the old one’s metal wire breaks apart. Anyone who doesn’t know the aspect of replacing the fuse with a new one will find it difficult to understand the idea about it and may install it wrongly. This will do no good as the device won’t start back if the fuse is not replaced properly.
3. Prone to higher breakage in frequent power-out areas
In areas where the electricity current loads switch a lot and the power cuts and inverse time flow of the current happen a lot, fuses tend to break a lot due to the need to cut off the circuit before it can cause damage to the electrical device. This can be a recurring issue as it will need replacing time and again and cause hindrance.
Final Words
Fuse has become an important innovation for humankind and has benefitted a lot of people over the period due to their ability to break the circuits during overflow of current and short circuits. This has resulted in savings of lives, homes, and commercial complexes by a lot. The use of a fuse is prevalent in all types of electrical devices these days and it’s a pretty vital component to be fair. We hope this article reiterated both aspects of fuse in a precise and clearer way.
