Fuse Holders

Fuse holders provide convenient and safe ways of organizing and holding fuses in an enclosed space. Whether retrofitting an already existing power management devise or creating a new protection system for the circuit, fuse holders are necessities for the application.

Similar to their matching commercial and industrial fuses, fuse holders come in an assortment of styles, shapes, and “voltage-carrying” features that are suitable for a broad range of “power electronics” uses. If you’re not very sure of the type of fuse holder that would best fit the requirement, here are some guides to help you.

Choosing Fuse Holders
When choosing the right fuse holder for your need, there are several things that you must determine and here are the most basic of them:

Determine the voltage of the system. Fuse holders are intended to match the fuse’s voltage rating so find out your system’s voltage.

Verify the “short-circuit current” for the specified application. If the short-circuit current that is available can’t be identified or will vary with the location of the equipment, then choose fuses and matching fuse holders that are able to withstand an “ampere interrupting rating” of 200, 000.

Find out the fuse’s ampere rating and type. There are several factors that play special parts in choosing the right fuse holder, these includes “fuse interrupting rating”, “fuse voltage”, “fuse opening characteristics”, “fuse size”, and “fuse ampere rating”.

Determine if CSA, UL, NEC or any other requirement is needed. Fuse holders will be fitted in equipment presented for agency approval. Standards should be given before choosing fuse holders.

Select among the three types of “wire termination”. “Pressure Plate Termination” is used for stranded and solid wire with no terminals, and also for heavy-vibration uses. “Screw Termination” is used for those with ring terminals or spade lugs. “Box Lug Termination” is used for every type of wire except welding cables or other “rope-stranded” conductors.

Find out the number of poles for every holder. This is usually decided by the on-hand space and/or wire type used.

Find out if “fuse clips” need reinforcement. “Reinforced Clips” are an alternative on a number of fuse holders.

Fuse holders are necessities as you’d need a secure and convenient device to place the fuse and make connections to it. Every fuse holder is water-resistant for fuse protection from the weather or the battery. Every fuse holder features a side which is intended for connecting the power lines from the battery, and another side for attaching these lines out.

The majority of fuse holders are transparent for convenience of fuse visibility through its plastic casing. Most holders are also designed to attach to four or eight gauge wiring, as well as fusing twenty to thirty amps of power. Three types of fuse holders are designed to hold the three various styles of fuses – AGU, MAXI, and ANL.

When installing the fuse holder for amplifiers, it must always be installed at the battery end of the main power feed. In contrast to popular belief, the inline fuse holder is not for protecting amplifiers, but is to safeguard the vehicle from damage if a short circuit ever occurs. If the primary power cable becomes detached, severed or split from its amplifier, the “live” end may easily touch metals and be a cause for car fire. Having a fuse holder installed, will let the fuse blow avoiding further damage. There are a lot of quality brands that offer inline fuse holders in the market today.

Fuse holders are basically a “must have” for electrical applications. They provide a more protected and easy way for fuses to be placed. With today’s many suppliers of electrical audio devices, finding a fuse holder that matches the fuse and the requirement won’t be a problem.