#24 Fuses and alternatives....

[Babybearjs]

I have a 20B2 Power plant as well as a 101G Unit... Both use #24 series fuses, which are either no longer made, and or extremely hard to find... I found on Ebay some 5 X 20MM fuse holders that can have spade terminals attached that will substitute quite well for the #24 fuse... has anyone else had to use this alternative method of fusing your power plants or other equipment??

[dsk]

The term: "#24 series fuses" are not on I know. How does they look? What are the sizes?

dsk

[WesternElectricBen]

Picture please?

Ben

[Dave F]

Type 24 fuses are the wafer fuses typically used in the outputs of most WE key system power supplies.  They came in various current ratings and were supplied in packages of ten.

Yes, you can substitute alternate fuse styles if you can't find any 24s.  In fact, just about any fuse with the proper current rating can be used, as long as it can be connected and still fit under the power supply housing.  You can even solder wire pigtails onto glass automotive fuses and they will work fine.  No need for spade leads, just install the pigtails under the appropriate screw heads.

DF

[dsk]

Seen them, but never changed one.
What about mending?
http://www.gxk.org.uk/info/wire.htm

dsk

[Dave F]

Seen them, but never changed one.
What about mending?
http://www.gxk.org.uk/info/wire.htm

dsk

Possible, but soldering short pieces of tiny thin wire is labor-intensive, time consuming and not easy to do.  Also, you would be gambling that the wire you were using actually provided the correct fuse rating.  You would hate to make a mistake and end up ruining a nice WE power supply.  Personally, if I were in this dilemma, I would just add pigtails to auto fuses.  Easy to do and you know that they would work.

DF

[Babybearjs]

a friend of mine, Wes who is a retire phone tech said that you could also use a single strand of stranded 24 Guage phone wire...(a single thread) that is the equivelant of a 2 amp fuse... has anyone ever done that??

[WesternElectricBen]

I'm guessing all the strand of wire does is bypass the fuse socket. Possibly, creating a fire and damaging the equipment.

Ben

[ESalter]

You could always try it, then short out the power supply quick and see if the fuse pops. 

We've bought fuse wire to repair both those kind of fuses and grasshopper fuses before, works very well.  That would be my recommendation.

---Eric

[dsk]

This has been done pretty safe, as far as you use the right size wire. By some reason the tinned copper are better than bare copper.

My old teacher told me how they mended fuses in the 50-ies. 1 strand of a 27 strand 2.5 sq. mm. cable was about 5 Amp fuse wire. 2=10, 3 made a quicker 15 Amps so it is not linear!

dsk

[Babybearjs]

the other method I've used before is using a twist tie.... you strip off the paper on the ends and use it like a fuse... when you get a dead short, the wire overheats, igniting the paper, and melting the wire... I think these things are made with a fine lead wire... I used to experiment with twist ties as a kid and nearly burnt down my playhouse when testing.... but it worked! fire and all!

[twocvbloke]

I was recently given an old welder, and the previous owner had modified the 13 amp fuse, which presumably kept blowing as the welder is 3.2KW and that's just over 13 Amps, they'd soldered a fairly thick piece of wire across the fuse, rather than just using the proper 16 Amp (or even a BS546 15A) plug & socket with the appropriate fuse or MCB on a garage consumer unit...

Still, I'm not sure if I want to use that welder, it's a bit iffy looking inside...

[Babybearjs]

yeh, I always use the same size fuse that's suppose to be used with the circuit... the twist tie is only a last resort... but it does work....

[Babybearjs]

Here's what I ordered from a E-bay store...I didn't catch the part about the 5 pack.....wound up with 30 of these things....