Fuses are current-sensitive devices that provide reliable protection for discrete components or circuits by melting

under current overload conditions. Choosing the right fuse for your application can be an overwhelming, timeconsuming process, even for a seasoned design engineer.

Find the Right Fuse!

Fuses can prevent accidents including the electronic circuit emitting smoke and/or catching fire by opening the circuit
if any abnormal current passes through it. However, selection of a fuse inappropriate to the intended protection
purpose may lead to nuisance operations and the inability to open the circuit in the case of abnormal currents, which
may result in accidents.
Fuse is a safety protection component for preventing fault current from causing hazards or serious damage in electric
equipment. There are different types of fuses designed to meet different application requirements. To select an
appropriate fuse for a particular application, several parameters should be considered.
Purpose of Fuses
Circuit protection is critical, and in many cases required, in electrical and electronic products.
Fuses are an inexpensive and effective way to protect your device from damage due to over-current
conditions.
Fuses can prevent safety hazards to the end user such as fire and catastrophic failure of the product.
Fuses help design engineers comply with regulatory agencies such as UL and IEC.

Fuses are among the best known of electrical devices because most of us have quite large numbers of
them in our homes and, unless we are extremely fortunate, we are made aware of their presence from
time to time when one must be replaced because it has blown or, to use the official term, operated. They
are basically simple and relatively cheap devices, although their behavior is somewhat more complex
than may be generally realized.

What are the advantages of using an electrical fuse?

There are numbers of advantages available for using electrical fuse in
system.
1. This is the cheapest form of protection system available for electrical
circuits.
2. This is also simplest form of protection system and it is almost
maintenance less.
3. This is inherently operates automatically there is no need of any extra
arrangement for its automatic operation unlike the operations of circuit
breakers.
4. It interrupts electrical circuit without any noise, flame, gas or smoke.

5. The minimum operating time and the minimum operating current can
be easily adjusted by choosing appropriate cross-sectional area of
fusing element.
6. If the over current, flowing through the fuse element is higher, the rate
of temperature rise of the element is also higher which causes very
fast melting of fuse element. In other words there is an inverse time
current characteristics of fuse element which makes it very suitable for
using in overload protections.

Fuses- Characteristics

Fuse timing response to a given level of over current may be separated into
melting time, which is the time required to melt the current-responsive
element, and arcing time, which is the time elapsed from the melting of the
current-responsive element to the final interruption of the circuit.

The arcing time is dependent upon the circuit characteristics, such as the
voltage and impedance of the circuit. The total clearing time is the sum of
the melting time and the arcing time.

For all low-voltage fuse classes, the basic timing characteristics can be
classified in the same manner. Fuses are typically assigned a minimum
melting

characteristic

and

total

clearing

characteristic

by

their

manufacturer. These define the boundaries of the fuse time current

characteristic band.

For currents with time durations below and to the left of the time current
characteristic band, the fuse will not blow or be damaged.

For currents with time durations within the time current characteristic band,
the fuse may or may not blow or be damaged.

For currents with time durations above and to the right of the time-current
characteristic band, the fuse will blow with a minimum melting time given by
the minimum melting time characteristic and a total clearing time given by
the total-clearing time characteristic.

Alternatively,

the

fuse

may

be

assigned

an

average

melting

time

characteristic; in this case the total clearing characteristic is considered to be

the average melting time characteristic shifted in time by +15% , and the
minimum melting characteristic is considered to be the average melting time
characteristic shifted in time by -15%.

To select an appropriate fuse for a particular application, several parameters

should be considered.

1. Amperage rating (A)

Amperage rating indicates the current carrying capacity of a fuse. Normally, a
fuse can hold continuously a current equal to or less than its amperage rating
without blowing, at a standard environment specified by the relevant testing
standards. However, since the actual current flows through the fuse may vary
due to variations of other components and working environment, an allowance
is usually provided when selecting the amperage rating of a fuse in order to
avoid nuisance blowing.
In other words, the amperage rating of a fuse should always be greater than
the normal working current. An minimum allowance of around 20 to 25 percents
is usually considered acceptable. The upper limit of amperage rating on the
other hand is usually determined by the level of overload protection required.
Although it is sometime difficult to obtain exact information, the amplitude of
expected fault current and maximum allowed period within which a fuse must
clear the fault current are very important in deciding the highest amperage
rating to be used.

2. Voltage rating (V)

The voltage rating of a fuse states the maximum supply voltage that the
fuse can safely clear. The most popular types of voltage ratings are 125V and
250V. A fuse should only be used at supply voltage less than or equal to its

rated voltage. For example, a 125V fuse can be used at 110V supply voltage
but not
220V while a 250V fuse can be used at both 110V and
220V supply voltages.