Wonder if you could put my mind at rest.
I occasionally contribute to another forum dedicated to a particular make of car. One of the members of that forum mentioned that his halogen downlighters were blowing wired fuses when ever a bulb blew. Here is a link to that topic (moderator – hope this is OK)?
[url]http://www.citroenpicasso.org.uk/picasso/index.php?showtopic=9785[/url]
I once had a problem with fuses blowing as follows:
About 8 years ago, my wife and I relocated and lived for a while in rented accommodation. The heating in the flat was underfloor electric heating and would blow the fuse about every three months (apparently the heating was drawing slightly more current than the fuse rating). Anyhow, after the fuse had blown and been rewired a second time, we noticed a fishy smell that we simply could not locate. The fishy smell then stopped and this coincided with the loss of our heating. Thinking that the fuse had blown, I checked it only to find that the fuse carrier had exploded into about three pieces.
An electrician was called and he advised that what had probably happened was the fuse wire blowing had left carbon trails on the fuse holder. This had allowed the current to track through it – causing the holder to heat and emit a smell. Eventually, the holder heated up so much that it exploded.
I have a work colleague who reported similar to the above only with him it came to light (pardon the pun) when his consumer unit set on fire!
Back to putting my mind at rest. Is it ‘normal’ for fuses to overheat and even set on fire after fuse wire has been replaced a few times or am I just worrying my friend from the other forum unduly?
Many thanks in advance
G
I occasionally contribute to another forum dedicated to a particular make of car. One of the members of that forum mentioned that his halogen downlighters were blowing wired fuses when ever a bulb blew. Here is a link to that topic (moderator – hope this is OK)?
[url]http://www.citroenpicasso.org.uk/picasso/index.php?showtopic=9785[/url]
I once had a problem with fuses blowing as follows:
About 8 years ago, my wife and I relocated and lived for a while in rented accommodation. The heating in the flat was underfloor electric heating and would blow the fuse about every three months (apparently the heating was drawing slightly more current than the fuse rating). Anyhow, after the fuse had blown and been rewired a second time, we noticed a fishy smell that we simply could not locate. The fishy smell then stopped and this coincided with the loss of our heating. Thinking that the fuse had blown, I checked it only to find that the fuse carrier had exploded into about three pieces.
An electrician was called and he advised that what had probably happened was the fuse wire blowing had left carbon trails on the fuse holder. This had allowed the current to track through it – causing the holder to heat and emit a smell. Eventually, the holder heated up so much that it exploded.
I have a work colleague who reported similar to the above only with him it came to light (pardon the pun) when his consumer unit set on fire!
Back to putting my mind at rest. Is it ‘normal’ for fuses to overheat and even set on fire after fuse wire has been replaced a few times or am I just worrying my friend from the other forum unduly?
Many thanks in advance
G
