Are they on your list ?? The kind of thing that can easily be overlooked !! Only remembered myself when I went hunting for a spare when the kettle blew today.

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), May 29, 1999

Answers

Wow. How interesting. I doubt that fuse wire has been used in the US for at least 70 years. Maybe closer to 100. That dates back to the knob and tube era of wiring.

A spare circuit breaker or two would be the US equivalent, unless you have an older house and then some fuses WILL be needed, particularily if "dirty" power becomes a problem.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), May 29, 1999.

Thanks for the heads up! I had not thought of the dirty power problem except in the case of buying lots of extra light bulbs.

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), May 29, 1999.

I was thinking of the fuses in plugs & in the main box.Don't you have the same things in the States?

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), May 29, 1999.

Chris we don' have fuses in plugs here. We rely on cirt. brakers or fuses on Main. As I recall most of your plug fuses are 13 amp. I would solder some 5 amp wire across a BAD fuse that might cover you . Wish we could get fuse wire here.

-- && (&&@&&.&), May 29, 1999.

The standard house circuit fuse over here in the ex-colonies looks like the base of a lightbulb (hmmm, I've never been to the home of the mother tongue, perhaps your light bulbs are just as odd, driving on the wrong side of the street, calling hoods bonnets, trucks lorries, and not knowing what an English muffin is and all that) that is covered in glass. They are a one-shot device that have a visable fusable lead link in them, once they blow, you toss them, period, non-repairable. The idea was that they are less of a spark hazard than the replacable fuse wire system. All houses built in the last 30 years or more use circuit breakers. In the 60's somebody actually made a circuit breaker that could screw into a standard fuse socket.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), May 30, 1999.

Dear Ken,

I reckon its the difference between us all that makes life so interesting not to mention - funny.For instance your muffins, we call fairy cakes.Mind you they would have to be made for rather a large fairy !!!

Over here all appliance plugs have renewable fuses 2,3,5 & 13 amp.In addition some individual power sockets are fused.Also,the main board has separate fuses.Older boards still use fuse wire.

Widening the "fuse" situation,of course we have fuses in our car's electrical circuits too.

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), May 30, 1999.

Hey Ken--

Since we are on the topic of fuses, power, and such, could you give us your take on protection from DC shock from generators? I was planning on a metal grounding rod, but I would appreciate any good advice.

-- unspun@lright (mikeymac@uswest.net), May 30, 1999.

Well most generators state right in the manual that you should ground the genset, with of course the proper way being to sink a 6' copper rod into the ground where there is usually some moisture (ie. not next to the house under an overhang).

I do not know what you are refering to as DC shock. Please clarify. DC from where?

Chris - There is a funny book whose title I can't remember (how's THAT for helpful!). It was written by a WW2 War Bride about the differences between US and British culture and attitudes. It was hoot. I'll try to find it and report back to you.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), May 30, 1999.