What are the advantages and disadvantages of fuses?

Answer 1

On the advantage side, fuses are simple, easy, no maintenance required and low cost if compared to circuit breakers. They will clear a fault quicker than a breaker, trip curve not affected by ambient air temperature.

On the disavantage side, fuses may cause single phasing and motor failure and they need replacement after every fault clearing.

Answer 2

Advantages: Fuses provide overcurrent protection, are inexpensive, and have fast response times to protect circuits from damage.

Disadvantages: Fuses need to be replaced after they have blown, can be less precise in their trip characteristics compared to circuit breakers, and can be more difficult to reset.