Discrimation and Fuses

Discrimation
A circuit fed from a distribution board may be fed through three or even four
fuses or circuit breakers e.g. a heating circuit may be connected to a 15amp
fuse in a fuse box fed from a section box in turn from a 500A circuit breaker on
the main board.
Discrimination occurs when the fuses nearest to the fault operates
leaving all the other fuses or protective devices intact. Discrimination may be
required between fuse and fuse, or between fuse and overcurrent device such
as a circuit breaker.

Fuses
A fuse is a protective device which is there to prevent overloading. If too heavy
a fuse or if the fuse is overridden then there is a possibility of overheating,
deterioration of insulation and failure.
 Materials used are; Tin, Lead, or silver having low melting points.
Use of copper or iron is dangerous, though tinned copper may be used.
Unlike some other forms of circuit protection devices (oil switches for
instance), which are suitable for a.c. only, solid filled cartridge fuses have an
approximately equal breaking capacity for D.C. and A.C. and the action of the
fuse does not depend on breaking circuit at the zero point on the current cyclic
wave
Requirements of a fuse;
 Have a high cut off speed on short circuit
 Operate on a sustained overload
 Make a complete break after operation with high insulation resistance
between terminals
 Have a maximum temperature rise on continuous full load rating such that
it will not be injurious to rudder cables connected to its terminals
 Be mechanically robust and capable of withstanding the large magnetic
and gaseous forces exerted during operation under short circuit conditions

A fuse must not;

 Operate on continuous full load
 operate on momentary overload
 Deteriorate under continuous operation at full load
 Burst or emit flame or otherwise damage the fuse carrier and base when it
operates

Regulations

I.E.E. and classification society rules now specify high breaking capacity (high
category) fuses on main switch boards where the total normal generator
capacity exceeds 400kW at 200v, this is for short circuit or low resistance
protection of the very high currents that can be generated in these conditions.
In addition;
 Fuses on shipboard must be made to approved standards.
 Breaking capacity not less than prospective short circuit current at point of
installation
 Fuses over 300A are not used for overload protection but may be used for
short circuit protection
 Cartridge fuses only on tankers

To control the extent of heavy fault currents on large installations

the protective device must have a very high speed performance or High
Rupture Capacity (H.R.C.) H.R.C. fuses will operate quickly before the short
circuit current exceeds 3 times the full load current.

Cartridge fuses
Are capable of handling large short circuits. Because of standardisation of
manufacture they have very consistant time/current fusing characteristics
making them accurate, dependable and non-deteriorating in service. Suitable
filling powders such as silicon sand are used in cartridge fuses having the
property of quenching the arc of the fused element.
Enclosed fuses

The element usually made of silver is much smaller than the tinned
copper used in semi-enclosed fuses so that the amount of vaporised metal is
less and this contributes to a better performance. The enclosed casing and use
of silver ensures no degradation due to oxidation. After the silver element has
fused the indicator wire will heat up sufficiently to ignite the indicator powder
and the fuse will be shown to be blown.
Except in the lowest ratings there are two or more elements in
parallel which increase the contact area in contact with the filler, and this
increases the breaking capacity. The ends of the element are reinforced by
larger wires to reduce resistance and therefore heat losses.
The indicator type should in the construction below consists of an indicator wire
which ignites an explosive powder which chars the indicator paper. On other
designs the indicator wire releases a spring and pop up indicator

Semi-enclosed fuses

Tinned copper fuse wire exposed to the atmosphere tends to deteriorate and
will vary in performance after long periods in service. Also there is a
temptation to increase the gauge of the wire, or the number of wires after a
fuse has blown. However, rewireable fuses are cheap, easily replaceable, blown
fuses are easily detected and within reason if the circuit is uprated slightly no
new fuse holders are required.

Tin-fast heating and failure (expensive)

Copper-Slow heating and failure (cheaper)
 On overload the tin will fail rapidly increasing the current through
the core speeding up its failure.

Rating
Is that current the fuse will carry continuously e.g. for a circuit rated at 30
amp, a 30 amp fuse will be appropriate. Fuses and circuit breakers on
switchboards and distribution boards are intended primarily for the protection
of the cables and not the apparatus. Overload protection of the apparatus
usually provided at the motor starter.
The fusing factor = Minimum fusing current/ Current rating
There are three
standards
Fuses protect against relatively small but sustained overloads
Class P
with fusing factor of 1.25 (25% overload rating)
Fuses where protection against relatively small overcurrents
is not required, with a fuse factor not exceeding 1.5 for
Class Q
cartridge and 1.8 for semi-enclosed fuses. Motor overload
protection to back up motor starter protection
Fuses require for protection against relatively large
Class R overcurrents (e.g. short circuit protection) 3 x Full load
current

Minimum fusing current

is affected by length of fuse element. A short element with large

terminals, or with special graded construction of wire will have its fusing
current raised because of heat conduction away from the element. Alternately,
the cross section of element can be reduced for a fuse of a given rating. This
method is adopted in some designs of semi-enclosed and filled cartridge fuses.