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A fuse is a safety device that lies in series in a circuit between an electrical source and its associated load(s). When the current, or flow of electricity, exceeds its designed threshold, the fuse is calibrated to permanently open the series circuit, thereby disconnecting the load(s) from the power source. Unlike circuit breakers, which can be reset to allow current to flow again, once a fuse disconnects, it must be discarded and replaced with a new fuse.

Fuses protect a circuit from overheating due to excessive current flow. Wires and components are designed to carry up to a certain amount of current, and if the flow of current exceeds that design limit, the wire or device could overheat. Unprotected wires and electrical devices can get so hot that they can catch fire, or heat adjacent materials to their combustion point, thus starting a fire in those adjacent materials.

Modern houses are most commonly equipped with circuit breakers, not fuses, for the house wiring. Fuses are still commonly embedded in vehicles, electrical devices, and electronic components.

A fuse is usually constructed using a thin metal strip or filament encased in a protective transparent glass or plastic enclosure. Each end of this metal strip is connected to a separate terminal on the outside of the fuse, and these external terminals in turn connect to matching terminals attached to the circuit being protected. All the electrical current that flows through the circuit passes through this single strip of metal inside the fuse.

The metal strip inside the fuse is designed to overheat and melt if the current exceeds the fuse's rating. When this metal melts away, the strip is broken, and there is no longer a path permitting the current to flow, and therefore the fuse disconnects the electrical circuit. We commonly describe a fuse as being "blown", or we say the fuse "blows" when it disconnects the electrical circuit.

Fuses are available in pre-defined ratings, such as 1 Amp, 5 Amps, 15 Amps, 25 Amps, and so on, and these ratings are clearly indicated on the fuse. Many fuses are also color coded to simplify the rating identification. The transparent enclosure permits visual inspection of the metal strip or filament, so you can see if the fuse has blown.

It is important to turn off or disconnect the electrical load(s) that caused a fuse to blow, because if you leave all those electrical devices turned on, then the next fuse will also blow as soon as you replace the first one. It is also very important to replace a blown fuse with good fuse of exactly the same rating. You should never, for example, replace a 15 Amp fuse with a 25 Amp fuse, because then the wiring is no longer properly protected, and it could overheat and cause a fire.

It is important to distinguish a fuse from a Ground Fault Interrupt (GFI) safety device. A fuse will not prevent death by electrocution. Nor does a fuse protect against fire due to arc faults. The fuse's only purpose is to protect against excessive current flow in a circuit. Like it's dynamite!

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13y ago
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11y ago

An electrical device designed to protect a circuit.

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11y ago

it is fuse for a car

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Q: What are fuses?
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