This is a very important and interesting question. Fuse is a safety device. It is inserted into an electrical circuit to protect the equipment and wiring against any excessive current flow. It is a short thin piece of wire which becomes hot and melts when the current through it is greater than its rated value.
The thicker the wire, the more current is needed to melt it and the higher is its rating. Normally fuses are rated at 1A, 2A, 5A, 10A and 13A. There are two common types of fuses, namely the cartridge and the rewirable fuse.
As a safety measure, the following should be considered:
-Fuses to be used should have a rating of just slightly more than the current which the electrical appliance will draw under normal circumstances. For example, choose a 5 A fuse for lighting circuit as the current drawn by each lamp is very small (about 0.4 A for a 100W lamp) so that 10 lamps can be safely used as the total current drawn is only 4 A.-Fuses should be connected to the live wire so that the appliance will not become live after the fuse is blown.-Always switch off the main before changing the fuse.
The thicker the wire, the more current is needed to melt it and the higher is its rating. Normally fuses are rated at 1A, 2A, 5A, 10A and 13A. There are two common types of fuses, namely the cartridge and the rewirable fuse.
As a safety measure, the following should be considered:
-Fuses to be used should have a rating of just slightly more than the current which the electrical appliance will draw under normal circumstances. For example, choose a 5 A fuse for lighting circuit as the current drawn by each lamp is very small (about 0.4 A for a 100W lamp) so that 10 lamps can be safely used as the total current drawn is only 4 A.-Fuses should be connected to the live wire so that the appliance will not become live after the fuse is blown.-Always switch off the main before changing the fuse.
