Fuses Help

[gackt1500]

Can anyone tell me if there's a difference between a 5X20mm T1.6A/250V (thin wire) and a 5X20mm T1.6A/250V (coiled wire). Both are slow blow fuses but I tended to get frequent fuse blows when I used the T1.6A/250V (thin wire) in my tube amp. Recently, I started using T1.6A/250V (coiled wire) and I'm not getting any fuse blow so far. Any comments?

 

[RODALCO]

Interesting

T stands for Trag (slow) in German.

Just use the coiled wire fuse, don't know why , my guess is that the straight wire fuse is maybe wrongly labelled. (made in China)

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Anti-surge fuses can either have the spring or not, I've never found any difference between the two types. Usually if there's no spring, there's a small 'blob' in the middle of the wire.

 

[Mikebits]

My guess would be reaction time of the fuse.

 

[gackt1500]

Anti-surge fuses can either have the spring or not, I've never found any difference between the two types. Usually if there's no spring, there's a small 'blob' in the middle of the wire.

The T1.6A/250V (thin wire) has no small 'blob' in the middle of the wire. But one thing I observed using the T1.6A/250V (thin wire) and T1.6A/250V (coiled wire) is that the T1.6A/250V (thin wire) tends to have abit of burnt stain on the thin wire after long use but no problem with the T1.6A/250V (coiled wire) that I currently using now. In a way, it tells me that the T1.6A/250V (thin wire) can't stand whenever a surge of current exists when I turned on my tube amp.

 

[gackt1500]

My guess would be reaction time of the fuse.

Meaning?? The T1.6A/250V (thin wire) has a faster reaction than the T1.6A/250V (coiled wire) ?That's why it can blow up frequently? The weird thing is that both are rated T1.6A/250V slow blow....Now I'm not sure whether is the fuse problem or my tube amp's problem...

 

[gackt1500]

Interesting

T stands for Trag (slow) in German.

Just use the coiled wire fuse, don't know why , my guess is that the straight wire fuse is maybe wrongly labelled. (made in China)

The T1.6A/250V (thin wire) metal caps has two indications, 'S' and a 'F' .

However I can't find any indication on the T1.6A/250V (coiled wire) metal cap.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I would suggest you stick to the spring type then, if you have the option.

 

[RODALCO]

Fuses

S means Schnell
F means Flink

above indicates a faster operating type fuse.

That indicates a faster operating time of the fuse than the Trag fuse.

 

[gackt1500]

S means Schnell
F means Flink

above indicates a faster operating type fuse.

That indicates a faster operating time of the fuse than the Trag fuse.

So you mean that T1.6A/250V (thin wire) fuse has a slower operating time than a fast blow fuse but has a faster operating time than a normal slow blow fuse?

 

[gackt1500]

Top metal cap of the T1.6A/250V (thin wire)
**broken link removed**

What does this means?

 

[RODALCO]

Fuses

Thanks for putting that image up.

I have never seen that on a fuse before.

Your best bet is to go to the shop where you get the fuses from and ask for the fuses packaging.

Most of these little 5x20 fuses have only a T or no marking near the voltage rating which indicates normal blow.

As Nigel sais , just stick to the spring type fuse.

You can do an actual current measurement and see what the actual inrush start current is when your tube amp is cold.
You may need to add a low ohm series resistor in series with the caps to reduce the start up current which gets bridged out via a relay after 5 seconds or so.

 

[gackt1500]

Thanks for putting that image up.

I have never seen that on a fuse before.

Your best bet is to go to the shop where you get the fuses from and ask for the fuses packaging.

Most of these little 5x20 fuses have only a T or no marking near the voltage rating which indicates normal blow.

As Nigel sais , just stick to the spring type fuse.

You can do an actual current measurement and see what the actual inrush start current is when your tube amp is cold.
You may need to add a low ohm series resistor in series with the caps to reduce the start up current which gets bridged out via a relay after 5 seconds or so.

hmmm I see, didn't know that most of the 5x20mm with T markings/no marking near voltage rating are normal blow. So what are the indications for genuine 5x20mm slow blow fuses?

If I did not add a resistor in series with the cap to reduce the inrush current, does it hurt my tube amp whenever i turn it on?