Anywhere to buy fuses?

I'd just hate to see some newbie who knows nothing stumble on this thread doing a Google search for audio fuses and think what you did was a good idea.
 
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I'd just hate to see some newbie who knows nothing stumble on this thread doing a Google search for audio fuses and think what you did was a good idea.

As for you, don't know if you are an idiot or just trolling.
Mostly the latter. Mostly.:D

BTW, the guitarist for my old band is a licensed electrician who specializes in installing solar power in homes and businesses. So we needed lighting for our band and he did the math. For a bar with four 150 watt bulbs, he set up complete wiring that plugged into a four outlet enclosed receptacle, but here is the fun part: the four female plugs in the receptacle were cat 5 and all the cabling was cat 5.

Dead serious.

It worked flawlessly, but I learned (in a forum on another site) that the reason it's not advised is because the wire and connectors are not durable. Sure, technically it worked, but after a few load ins and outs, things get beat up, including wiring. We never had a problem with it, but I always thought it was a bit goofy. There were a lot of warnings from electricians regarding liability if something happened.

I used cat 5 cable for all the wiring in my new house, though. We don't need building permits in my county. It's working great! (just kidding/trolling):D
 
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I'd never use Cat5 for power cables, since the wires are usually twisted together in pairs inside the sheath, and it probably wouldn't take much for the insulation to abrade. Of course, one of my friends uses speaker wire to make power cords. I suppose it makes sense, since some people use zip cord to make speaker cables........ :idea:

Getting back to fuses, things weren't always as cut-and-dry as they are now. A friend of mine from England once sent me a package containing fuse wire. Yep, basically the same kind of wire inside glass fuses, but meant for 'external' use. I've never seen the sort of fusebox which would've used it, but I'm betting it wasn't hard to get zapped while replacing the wire. That, and I can't imagine that it would've been too difficult to wrap multiple turns of fuse wire around the mounting points to 'up' the protection needed.......... :no:
-Adam
 
I'd never use Cat5 for power cables, since the wires are usually twisted together in pairs inside the sheath, and it probably wouldn't take much for the insulation to abrade. Of course, one of my friends uses speaker wire to make power cords. I suppose it makes sense, since some people use zip cord to make speaker cables........ :idea:

Getting back to fuses, things weren't always as cut-and-dry as they are now. A friend of mine from England once sent me a package containing fuse wire. Yep, basically the same kind of wire inside glass fuses, but meant for 'external' use. I've never seen the sort of fusebox which would've used it, but I'm betting it wasn't hard to get zapped while replacing the wire. That, and I can't imagine that it would've been too difficult to wrap multiple turns of fuse wire around the mounting points to 'up' the protection needed.......... :no:
-Adam
I remember one of my cars had a "fuse wire" but I forget which car.

And yes, the cat 5 cable thing is dumb for exactly the reasons you mentioned. I have to admit that I was amazed that the cable can handle it no problem, but the insulation durability is the issue.
 
I remember one of my cars had a "fuse wire" but I forget which car.
I believe you're thinking of a 'fusible link', which is commonly used as a 'last ditch' protection method between the wiring harness and the battery/alternator. At least those are generally insulated; the fuse wire I mentioned isn't! :eek:
And yes, the cat 5 cable thing is dumb for exactly the reasons you mentioned. I have to admit that I was amazed that the cable can handle it no problem, but the insulation durability is the issue.
Technically, maybe the insulation on the wire used inside a Cat5 cable can handle 125V (Wikipedia states as such), but its maximum current rating is a bit more than a half-amp, which is less than half of what a single 150W bulb draws! Perhaps paralleling the conductors increases this a bit, but I still wouldn't trust Cat5 cable for any sort of heavy current carrying. :no:
-Adam
 
Yikes Cat 5 to carry 120VAC? :yikes: I don't know much but would never have thought it was even rated for the voltage much less the amps.

As for weird little fuses, Google is great - you can pull up a chart of fuse sizes, measure your fuse and find out what it's called. The 'traditional' US ones are 3AG and there are dozens of other sizes.

Whenever I junk any kind of crap electronics I always save fuses, strain reliefs, etc. etc. Handy to have that stuff around and occasionally I actually have a fuse I NEED in the drawer. :thumbsup: Modern stuff often has those smaller size fuses.
 
When the Radio Shack closed I bought every fuse, resistor, capacitor in the store. I've often thought about offering these 1000's of parts either in bulk or one at a time. The later shipping would be the cost of a stamp. I guess I could list in BT but the parts list would be long.
 
Yikes Cat 5 to carry 120VAC? :yikes: I don't know much but would never have thought it was even rated for the voltage much less the amps.
Well, it makes some sense. Cat5 cable was originally intended for telephone uses, and old-school Cat1 cable (aka 4-conductor 'quad' telephone wire) regularly carries somewhere in the range of 48-90V (albeit at fairly low current) when the ringing signal is sent to the phone. Of course, asking any sort of telephone or network cable to carry the amount of power needed to light a high-wattage bulb is well above and beyond what was ever meant to be asked of it.......... :no:
-Adam
Phone nerd
 
Getting back to fuses, things weren't always as cut-and-dry as they are now. A friend of mine from England once sent me a package containing fuse wire. Yep, basically the same kind of wire inside glass fuses, but meant for 'external' use. I've never seen the sort of fusebox which would've used it, but I'm betting it wasn't hard to get zapped while replacing the wire. That, and I can't imagine that it would've been too difficult to wrap multiple turns of fuse wire around the mounting points to 'up' the protection needed.......... :no:
Those Wylex rewirable fuses mainly date from the 1950s/60s or earlier -- though you can still get replacements -- when the typical North American system used screw-in fuses that could be easily substituted with a coin, wad of foil, or a finger. Modern UK "fuse boxes" contain circuit breakers and residual current devices, not fuses.

It's impossible -- or at least really difficult; for the determined idiot, nothing is impossible -- to get zapped whilst replacing a fuse wire. The fuse comes out, and you change the wire in it. Thusly:


The problem is folks who replace the fuse wire with either too high of a rating or conventional hookup wire, but that's the same as replacing any fuse with a higher-rated fuse or inappropriate substitute.
 
Those Wylex rewirable fuses mainly date from the 1950s/60s or earlier -- though you can still get replacements -- when the typical North American system used screw-in fuses that could be easily substituted with a coin, wad of foil, or a finger. Modern UK "fuse boxes" contain circuit breakers and residual current devices, not fuses.

It's impossible -- or at least really difficult; for the determined idiot, nothing is impossible -- to get zapped whilst replacing a fuse wire. The fuse comes out, and you change the wire in it. Thusly:


The problem is folks who replace the fuse wire with either too high of a rating or conventional hookup wire, but that's the same as replacing any fuse with a higher-rated fuse or inappropriate substitute.
Thanks for the clarification! :) Definitely less crude than what I was imagining (I've never seen a fusebox which used wire fuses), though it still makes me wonder why they didn't just go with an integrated cartridge solution of some sort. Of course, I'm one of those nuts who seems to like Bang & Olufsen turntables, soooooooooo.......... :dunno:

I'm not sure exactly how easy it was to install a penny fuse, as I've never tried it. Believe it was more common to just install a larger fuse than what was called for, though some screw-in fuseboxes used different-sized bases for different values to prevent this.
Edison-base-and-Type-S-fuses.jpg

Still doesn't prevent the installation of a 'Lincoln fuse' (or maybe a 'Roosevelt fuse', in the case of the fuse on the right), but it was a start. Frankly, I'm glad that modern home electrical panels use circuit breakers instead of fuses, though even those can fail.

Really, a fuse of any sort only works if the owner of the device using said fuse is diligent when it comes to replacing the blown fuse with one of the correct value, along with remedying what caused the fuse to blow in the first place. How many devices have we come across with toasted power transformers and a fuse several times bigger than specified installed in the fuse holder, if it hasn't been outright defeated with foil or whatnot? :rant: :blah:
-Adam
 
Thanks for the clarification! :) Definitely less crude than what I was imagining (I've never seen a fusebox which used wire fuses), though it still makes me wonder why they didn't just go with an integrated cartridge solution of some sort.
They had those too, but I bet the Wylex fuse boxes were popular because re-wiring your own fuse was perceived to be cheaper than cartridge fuses and it probably appealed to every British bloke's belief in himself as the ultimate do-it-yourselfer.
 
Hi everyone,

I was hoping to get some fuses quickly. Normally, that would have been a reason to go to Radioshack but they have all closed in Omaha. I know that Home Depot, Lowe's and Ace carry some, but they usually don't have a wide selection and usually not what I'm looking for. I thought about trying Guitar Center but that is all town way across town from me.

I'm hoping someone has some ideas on places that carry fuses that I haven't thought of.

Going to Radioshack did become kind of a drag but I really miss it when all I need is a fuse or some generic resistor.

I would suggest Ebay. The items will generally be available, and considerably less expensive than retailers. Amazon is also a good alternative. :)
 
Here's a little hint. Many stores, including Home Depot, facilitate online stock check of you local store(s).

Hint #2. If stock is low call ahead to confirm and/or just buy it while you are there online and pick up later.
 
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