How important is a Hi-Fi fuse

All general audio posts go here.
User avatar
It is I, Leclerc
Posts: 86
Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:59 am
Location: Nouvion
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: How important is a Hi-Fi fuse

Unread post by It is I, Leclerc »

Dr Bunsen Honeydew wrote: Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:46 am So what would you do about fuses if you lived anywhere else in the world apart from the UK. Do they need to clean fuses and fuse holders, does their music suffer because they can't clean non existent fuses.
A de fused world would be fine for me from an audio point of view although safety might be another matter. I can't say I've noticed any difference at all after cleaning up a fuse, it's just OCD-ness getting the better of me. I don't like the idea of oxidation in a plug or badly arranged wires for that matter. I'll quite happily chop a few cm off the end of the cable to get things looking more "ship shape" to me. As I don't have occasion to open up moulded on plugs that we mostly have these days I take no interest in their fuses at all. Out of sight out of mind :)

I should add that I do the same for any electrical equipment, from fridges to bedside lamps. I haven't noticed any improvement in their performance either.

User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: How important is a Hi-Fi fuse

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Why do you think a fuse in a mains plug makes things safe, and why does the rest of the world laugh at us about it.

User avatar
It is I, Leclerc
Posts: 86
Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:59 am
Location: Nouvion
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: How important is a Hi-Fi fuse

Unread post by It is I, Leclerc »

I can see this thread is going in directions where I can't really follow. Not being an electrical engineer I really have no valid comment on why I think fuses are needed.. or not, and I doubt the absence of a fuse makes any difference at all. I've blown plenty of the little buggers in the last seven decades to convince me they must be the weakest link in the electrical chain. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is an issue I'm in no position to argue. I've always been led to believe they were a safety measure and that may or may not be so, I'm not qualified to dispute that point. From an audio perspective though, I'd say they have no effect I can detect. That may just mean I have crap ears but that's just the way it is for me. :grin:

User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: How important is a Hi-Fi fuse

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Its all in our archive if you want to learn.

Radial circuits (the rest of the world) v Ring Circuits (our unique stooopidity). ONLY Ring Circuits require plug fuse because it a dangerous stupid and ludicrous design foisted on us a Labour Gov Committee run by the Unions in the 1940's. Before that we were the same as everyone else, now we are a laughing stock because of it. BUT it seems we are on our way back to sanity in the future so I am told.

User avatar
David Brook
Posts: 124
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:12 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: How important is a Hi-Fi fuse

Unread post by David Brook »

1/4" copper bar cut to 25.4mm long (exactly 1 inch)

Sorted.
I am in the hi-fi trade
Status: Dealer
Company Name: MCRU

User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: How important is a Hi-Fi fuse

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Wish it was legal, but who is to know. Legal on Radial Circuit, illegal on Ring Circuit, but as I said times are a changing. Trouble is the paranoid stooopidity at Wigwam seems unlikely to change.

davjam13
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:51 pm
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Great Britain

Re: How important is a Hi-Fi fuse

Unread post by davjam13 »

I think you have just answered my question but is the only reason you put fuses in NVA equipment is for legal reasons?
Cleardio performance D.C.Turntable MCRU PSU Clearaudio Clarify arm Clearaudio Virtuoso v2 Ebony MM cartridge
Project cd box DS
pioneer vsx 531
interrconnects all Nva ssc
Nva ls3 biwire speaker cable
Linn Tukans front
monitor audio radius centre

User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: How important is a Hi-Fi fuse

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

There are no fuses in NVA equipment, there are components that fuse, that is a very different thing. If you mean UK mains plug then the answer is yes.

Geoff.R.G
Posts: 1562
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2016 2:46 pm
Location: Denham UK
Has thanked: 132 times
Been thanked: 476 times
Great Britain

Re: How important is a Hi-Fi fuse

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

David Brook wrote: Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:37 pm 1/4" copper bar cut to 25.4mm long (exactly 1 inch)

Sorted.
Dr Bunsen Honeydew wrote: Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:42 pm Wish it was legal, but who is to know. Legal on Radial Circuit, illegal on Ring Circuit, but as I said times are a changing. Trouble is the paranoid stooopidity at Wigwam seems unlikely to change.
Interesting! I was doing some electrical safety testing for a friend the other week, she plays and sings at parties etc. Many of her devices are low voltage with separate power supplies, none of these power supplies has a fuse but they plug directly into the mains socket and are legal. They can't be continuity tested or insulation tested, being Class II, so all I can do is a visual check for damage. The extension lead has to be tested as do the IEC leads she uses with her other equipment. Using an amplifier (active speaker as it happens) at the end of an extension lead there are three fuses between the wall and the amplifier, plus the one in the amplifier. A complete nonsense because the RCD (I prefer the term GFI but never mind) in the distribution board will react faster than any of them if there is a fault.

I am sure that back in the 1940s when the ring main was "invented" those responsible thought it was safe, indeed it probably was with only heaters, lights and possibly, a radio attached and nobody messing around adding sockets. The originators (I refuse to call them designers) of the system never anticipated today's range of loads and the demand for more and more sockets or sockets with USB chargers, usually fitted by the householder.

Even radial circuits have circuit protection so we can't be entirely "fuse" free, though MCBs are far less likely to cause the problems created by multiple fuses. Additionally, unless the equipment designer is really awake, there may be a mains fuse inside equipment, many IEC sockets incorporate a fuse.

Somebody, somewhere, is paranoid about electrical safety and fuses proliferate in the domestic environment. A circuit should really only need one protective device.

Post Reply