melted fuses

corsamel · 08-22-2004, 11:53 AM

Just had a look at my wiring and found the following (see pics).

Anyone guess how this has happened then? Surely the fuse should blow if it was passing through to much current, these are 10amp fuses for my laptop dc-dc adapter.

Theres nothing next to these fuses which I can see that would get this hot.

Both fuses are still completely intact and working. Somert dodgy goin on.

TruckinMP3 · 08-22-2004, 12:31 PM

Are they broke or melted.... hard to tell from the pic. They may have been installed poorly and have been broken by the ham fist useing pliers.

lawrence · 08-22-2004, 12:37 PM

how hot is your power supply getting?

corsamel · 08-22-2004, 01:32 PM

they've melted... have been installed correctly and arn't really that close enough to the power supply.

gospeed.racer · 08-22-2004, 01:55 PM

Seen a few melted fuses in my day. Most of the time it is caused by a loose connection TO the fuse. Check your fuse holder or terminals depending on how you set it up. Probably a bit of a loose fit is all.

n8scstm · 03-25-2005, 04:06 PM

Were they made in China? This is off topic, but when I bought my radio tuner, it came with a remote and batteries. The batteries were the cheapest pieces of **** ive ever seen. They looked just like Duracells but had Chinese writing on them. The outer surface was kinda lumpy so I squeezed the battery and realized that they were squishy like a marshmallow. I could have actually pinched the thing in half. Now we have an inside joke about them here at work.

koolaidkitten · 03-26-2005, 12:46 AM

not trying to think your stupid or anything, but always gotta try every angle
but does this fuse go in your hood/engine comparment? Make sure its not sitting next to something that gets really hot under the hood.

Thats the only time I have seen a melted fuse in my life.

HostileJava · 03-26-2005, 07:06 AM

These fuses/holders are meant to withstand a pretty fair amount of heat. Unless you had it laying across the engine I doubt that enginebay heat cause it. I would think a more likey cause is what was suggested earlier. I loose fuse will somtimes arc in the holder and the loose connection will also cause resistance which will heat up the fuse. I've seen that occur quite a few times before.

corsamel · 03-26-2005, 11:25 AM

been quite a while from when it happened, i replaced the fuses and these ones haven't melted yet, still as they should be.

They arn't in the engine bay, no where near any heat at all really. Must of been slightly loose like suggested, strange for both of them to go like that though.

HoSS · 03-26-2005, 02:45 PM

Ok, they have obviously melted through heat.
Theres 2 possiblitites here:

1. A 10A fuse will not blow instantly at 10A or even 11 or 12. A fuse has a curve, ie 100A it will blow instantly, 15A maybe in 1 second.#
But if you are running slightly too much current through, it may just get quite hot for a while before blowing. Use a slightly bigger fuse (assuming the wiring/load is rated for it)

2. (most likely) You have a bad contact in the fuse holder, which will produce heat. Buy a better quality fuse holder.

HoSS

Scouse Monkey · 03-26-2005, 03:37 PM

Yeah i second that....

bad connection between the fuse and fuse holder and/or/causing a constantly high current.

Also check your wiring for heat damage to the insulation connectors at all ends just in case and make sure it is large enought to cope.