ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area So how DO you slug a fuse-box with a coin??

Bjarney,

Are those things for real? What in blazes are they used for and ... why?

Yes, they are a real product. An example of their use may be for a disconnect on 120V fuel-dispensing motors—one case where the hot and neutral are both required to be switched. The other situation could be converting a fused-disconnect switch into a non-fused switch, possibly for packaged HVAC-R equipment where mechanical codes require local isolation. http://www.bussmann.com/products/accessories/Group2.asp about half-way down the page. The complete listing is http://www.bussmann.com/library/docs/FullLine_Cat.pdf {6MB} page 207—listed up to 600-amp 600-volt.

Presumably it would also be acceptable to use these with a corner-grounded delta service and regular 3-phase switchgear?

Steel mills were notorious for using bolts in the motor disconnects, they'd rather smoke a motor than shut down a line.
A lot of their practices were suspect at best, like one company needed room for expansion so they started dumping slag in Lake Erie after awhile it was more slag at where they werer dumping than water so they would build new buildings on top of the slag, problem was most of the machines had 2 to 3 feet of water around them, the operator station was raised so he could see what he was doing and be out of the water. In the winter the water would freeze because there was not any heat except the heaters for the gearboxes, Thank God for OSHA .. they finally shut this place down. at least the expansion practices and the lack of heat.

Sven,
The problem may not have been how to get the penny in, but how do you get it back out again?


The problem with electricity is that it almost always works.

Many years ago while teaching a class for "harry homeowners" I had a guy give a complete explaination. Take a pencil, put a wad of gum on it, stick the penny to the gum and insert. Give a quick twist and the pencil and gum come out. Screw in a blown fuse in to hold the penny in place. If the gum stays in...forget it (so he said) it'll melt away. (Probably during the fire). Honest to gosh... that's what he explained to the class.

My trade school teacher once told me of a silly fool who used a bullet in place of a fuse.

True story.

I knew there were handguns with electrical firing, but an electrical panel that is firing at you? Scary stuff!