Originally Posted By: jtedesco This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
My personal opinion follows:
I believe that fuses are far superior for protection against an overcurrent condition. Some types of circuit breakers fail and we have been made aware that they have a history that may not be the safest protection.
Terms Defined:
Overcurrent.
Any current in excess of the rated current of equipment or the ampacity of a conductor.
It may result from overload, short circuit, or ground fault.
FPN: A current in excess of rating may be accommodated by certain equipment and conductors for a given set of conditions. Therefore the rules for overcurrent protection are specific for particular situations.
FPN: = Fine Print Note and the words shown in Brown are also defined.
Homework: You should take a look at them and add a reply here.
First one with the correct answers gets a prize!
Originally Posted By: lfranklin This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Do you mean something like fuses were required to blow at the rating and the breaker is allowed allowed a little bit over it’s rating. Or what types of breakers fail and why? Or Both
Originally Posted By: jpeck This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
jtedesco wrote:
I believe that fuses are far superior for protection against an overcurrent condition. Some types of circuit breakers fail and we have been made aware that they have a history that may not be the safest protection.
Not participating, just clarifying.
Does "superior for protection against an overcurrent condition" just consider the protection against overcurrent, or does it also include the safety aspect of either's ability of being tampered with?
Originally Posted By: Bob Badger This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
jpeck wrote:
Does "superior for protection against an overcurrent condition" just consider the protection against overcurrent, or does it also include the safety aspect of either's ability of being tampered with?
I think that ship for the most part has sailed. I was in an HD electric dept and a guy was in with his wife looking for a bigger breaker 'cause this 30 amp one for my dryer keeps going off'. 
Point is you can not protect people from themselves.
TV has told them to go to the store and DIY it is not hard.
Originally Posted By: roconnor This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
On the plug fuses I would agree with ya Bob, but only if the panel has the Type-S Fuse Adapters installed … I would recommend them for EVERY fused panel.
You can not keep people from doing dumb things ... like tin foil or pennies in the sockets, or swapping out breakers ...  ... but in those cases someone really should know they are doing something very dangerous.
-- Robert O'Connor, PE
Eagle Engineering ?
Eagle Eye Inspections ?
NACHI Education Committee
I am absolutely amazed sometimes by how much thought goes into doing things wrong
Originally Posted By: jpeck This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Bob Badger wrote:
I think that ship for the most part has sailed. I was in an HD electric dept and a guy was in with his wife looking for a bigger breaker 'cause this 30 amp one for my dryer keeps going off'. 
Point is you can not protect people from themselves.
TV has told them to go to the store and DIY it is not hard.
True, but at least they will still have some type of overcurrent protection.
What's the rating of a penny? Or tin foil?
Robert, guess you haven't seen Safe-T-Fuses wrapped in tin foil?
RE: Swapping out breakers with ones of a higher rating - every seen oversize fuses installed? 30 amp where 15 should be? No problem on Edison Base type fuses (actually cheaper and easier than swapping breakers). With Safe-T-Fuses? Not quite as easy as with Edison Base fuses, but is done quite often (a little bit of aluminum foil can do miraculous things for Average Joe, and in usefulness, it is only exceeded by duct tape ).
Okay, so now we are in the mist of the 'which is safer' debate. Which, in reality, must be part of every 'which provides better overcurrent protection' debate. The quality of the overcurrent protection is only as good as its resistance to tampering.
Would you rather have a 30 amp fuse on a 15 amp circuit, or a 15 amp fuse with a penny installed or the fuse be wrapped in aluminum foil? Of course, the real answer is "None Of The Above", but I'd like to think that AT LEAST there was 30 amp overcurrent protection instead of (what does it take to melt that penny or aluminum foil?). Besides, anyone who would install a 30 amp breaker on a 15 amp circuit is also going to install a 30 amp fuse on a 15 amp circuit.
Originally Posted By: Blaine Wiley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I don’t disagree that they can be tampered with or overfused, but then by the same token, we find 14/2 connected to 20 or 30 amp breakers all the time right? Probably not as often bypassing a fuse, but the determined harry homeowner will find a way. Just call it…Job Security.
Originally Posted By: John Bowman This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
When a fuse or circuit breaker blows, simply replacing the fuse or flicking the circuit breaker back on is not the way to solve the problem. The overload that caused the fuse or breaker to blow must be corrected first, otherwise the same thing will immediately happen again.
How do you know what caused the problem? If the fuse blew just after you plugged in an appliance or power tool, chances are the trouble is a short or other defect in that appliance. If it did not occur immediately, however, then the likelihood is that the circuit was overloaded by your plugging in that particular appliance in addition to all the other applicances or lights on that circuit.
If the fuse blows without any new load having been added, then it could be an overload caused by something that kicked on automatically (a refrigerator, for example), or it could be a defect that has developed in the wiring, or in one of the appliances plugged into that circuit.
The failure rates of breakers in this type situation is higher than fuses.
Originally Posted By: Gino Conner This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I agree with Joe. I never saw a fuse that did not blow on overcurrent or short/fault. If we all moved back to fuses, they could be designed so only the correct rating of fuse is installed for the conductor being protected. Toward the end there of the use of fuses that was being done with Type “S” adapters that reduced the size of the socket so that only the correct sized fuse could be installed.
