Does the voltage rating on a fuse matter if it's higher than the one it's replacing? A friend's TV blew a fuse. He replaced it with one with the same current rating, but the new fuse is rated at 250v, not 125v as the original one was. I can't imagine it would, but I figured I'd err on the side of caution.
It shouldn't make any difference as long as the current rating is the same. Higher voltage rated fuses can be used in lower voltage rated circuits (but not vice versa)
Thanks. That's what I figured, but when it comes to electrical stuff, I'm always second guessing myself.
Also, there are specific type fuses for low-voltage, high-current applications. However, for anything like wall voltage, you're fine.
That much I know from my darn multimeters. For some reason it's really hard to find the ceramic slow blow fuses it takes. Even mouser is out of them half the time. Do all quick blow fuses look the same? Meaning are they all transparent with the wire running across?
Rapid Electronics sell both glass and ceramic 20mm x 5mm quick-blows, same brand (Littelfuse), similar current range, similar price. Anti-surge also come glass or ceramic. Only way to tell is to read the code, see here for what the codes stand for.
The one my friend replaced, the only difference visually, besides the voltage was that the newer one's element looked light a little screw. Meaning it had little rings around it instead of being a thin smooth piece of metal. I'll have him double check them. Thanks again everybody
thefuses that look like a wire wound around a little ceramic rod are slow-blo fuses. Essentially, they allow a high current surge for a short period of time. They are usefull for things like if you are charging smoothing caps through a transformer, etc... ANything where it draws a LOT of current for a little bit of time on startup, etc... The two different types should not be interchanged.
Like cpemma said, the type (or time-current-curve) is the most important part. The actual amp rating rating doesnt make that much of a difference so long as you're close. Circuits rarely fault on overload, it usually short time or instantaneous (read that as short circuit). Also, so far as I've found the response curve is the same for a particular type of fuse regardless of its rated voltage. The only thing the rated voltage refers to is that when the fuse blows the voltage at each end of the fuse isn't enough to make the jump across the gap where the element once was.
