[turkey]

I have wondered the same thing, why don't manufacturers use top quality circuit breakers in lieu of the cheap ass fuses & assembly. 

Why use breakers when fuses work just fine? Unless you just like to spend as much money as possible...

There are some places where it's best to use breakers, but other places where fuses work just as well (or even better in some cases) and are more cost-effective.

[kenreau]

Why use breakers when fuses work just fine? Unless you just like to spend as much money as possible...

With as much attention as is given to ample power supply delivery systems (wire, outlets, filters, contacts, build quality) it seems intuitive that seeing the cheesy build quality of most fuse holder assemblies that there is room for improvement.  A breaker, being so much more substantial, does not seem to be as much of a potential pinch point/bottle neck. 

There are some places where it's best to use breakers, but other places where fuses work just as well (or even better in some cases) and are more cost-effective.

No doubt.  In reference to components, what would you consider ideal on a s.o.t.a. amplifier and a DAC?

Kenreau

[turkey]

With as much attention as is given to ample power supply delivery systems (wire, outlets, filters, contacts, build quality) it seems intuitive that seeing the cheesy build quality of most fuse holder assemblies that there is room for improvement.  A breaker, being so much more substantial, does not seem to be as much of a potential pinch point/bottle neck. 

Neither one is likely to be a bottleneck in any of the designs I've seen.

No doubt.  In reference to components, what would you consider ideal on a s.o.t.a. amplifier and a DAC?

Fuses would be just fine with me.

[Johnny2Bad]

Has anyone tried magnetic circuit breakers in lieu of the upgraded fuses ? ETA and shurter make them.from $24 to $65 [ ETA German made]. Larger contacts, tight contact . No fuse holder, no glass, no tiny wire. I have tried no fuse with soldered quality wire and heard an improvement but do want to leave it unsafe so the breaker instead. Makes sense ,no ? Yes ?
charles

The do not have the same characteristics as fuses, so you would need to, at a minimum, do some research to determine what rating to use. To make it perfectly clear, a 3A AGC (fast blo) glass fuse does not blow at 3A; it passes 3A completely. Does it blow at 4A? Yes, probably, after minutes or possibly even hours. Does it blow at 5A? Again, yes, probably, but perhaps not for an hour, or 10 minutes, or whatever. When does it blow instantly? At something like a direct short, let's for the sake of argument say 100A (it's probably more), it blows in fractions of a second.


Those are just examples i made up, but if you go to Bussman or Littlefuse they have the data in graphs for each fuse rating and you can look it up for the fuse installed on your gear.


Now, go find a breaker and peruse the data, and find one that works under the same parameters, or determine the safe operating area of the equipment you're trying to protect. Pay particular attention to the fastest protection offered by the breaker, since it's often said they are slower than fuses even at huge currents where both will surely trip/blow as fast as they possibly can. They also change over time in ways fuses do not; it's not safe to assume a breaker will always trip under the same conditions in the same elapsed time; generally as they age or experience repeated trip events, they do not.

If the problem is the existing fuse, then what are other possible solutions? Could we substitute a better example than the glass fuses, such as the ATC/ATO fuses which have no solder points ... the two connectors and the fusible element are one piece of metal? We know that glass or ceramic fuses use soldered end caps, which can have high resistance, either when new (poor quality … stick to the two brands mentioned above, or your favourite boutique fuse) and during heat cycling under loads above the rating it can deteriorate further in use. Would that solve our problem better than a breaker?

[rollo]

Charles,

I have wondered the same thing, why don't manufacturers use top quality circuit breakers in lieu of the cheap ass fuses & assembly. 

Are any of these magnetic circuit breakers a drop in replacement / retrofit? or more suitable in a mod DIY project?

Thx
Ken

Ken, Your asking the wrong guy. It appears there is more to this than I know.

charles