Author Topic: used resettable fuse before?  (Read 2322 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline AdminTopic starter

  • Administrator
  • Supreme Robot
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,703
  • Helpful? 173
    • Society of Robots
used resettable fuse before?
« on: July 07, 2008, 12:35:14 PM »
I'm considering using a resettable fuse for my fish bot.

The major advantage is that I won't have to remove waterproofing seals if a fuse blows (just trust me on this).

The disadvantage is that the waterproofing thermally insulates it, possibly causing it to build up heat and trip early . . .

Anyway, the question is, has anyone used a resettable fuse and have opinions on it?


And as a side note, I found this nice reference for resettable fuses:
http://www.circuitprotection.com/04Databook/A_fundam_(15-42).pdf


edit: on second thought, since its underwater, I probably won't use this fuse type . . . my waterproofing is flexible so pressure will get applied to the fuse . . . and I'm too lazy to make/test a prototype to check . . .
Quote
Pressure on the device will affect the electrical performance of the device. If the pressure is sufficient to restrict the expansion of the device during a trip event then the device will fail to function as specified and could result in device and equipment damage. Care should be taken to avoid mounting the device in such a way as to constrain expansion.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2008, 01:31:11 PM by Admin »

Offline Commanderbob

  • Robot Overlord
  • ****
  • Posts: 146
  • Helpful? 2
  • Embeddedmicro.com
    • Embedded Micro
Re: used resettable fuse before?
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2008, 09:53:38 AM »
How deep is the fish bot going to go? I doubt it will effect the fuse very much. It will probably just take a little more current to make it trip.
Justin

Offline AdminTopic starter

  • Administrator
  • Supreme Robot
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,703
  • Helpful? 173
    • Society of Robots
Re: used resettable fuse before?
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2008, 10:00:53 AM »
Not sure . . . 6 feet sounds like a good number . . .

There really isn't any way to know if it will work or not without trying it, too many variables . . . I'm on a deadline so its a bit risky . . .

For now, I've decided to just go with a SMD fuse and hope for the best.

but I might revisit this idea in the future . . .

Offline szhang

  • Robot Overlord
  • ****
  • Posts: 140
  • Helpful? 1
    • szhang.net
Re: used resettable fuse before?
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2008, 01:48:00 PM »
could you have something like this?
--------------
|-----------
[][fuse]
|--^----^---

and bury it in the body of the fish where [] is a rubber plug of some sort, ^ are the metal contact

this way if the fuse blows you just remove the plug, pull out the fuse, and pop in a new one.

Offline Commanderbob

  • Robot Overlord
  • ****
  • Posts: 146
  • Helpful? 2
  • Embeddedmicro.com
    • Embedded Micro
Re: used resettable fuse before?
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2008, 08:47:06 PM »
For only 6 feet I think it would work fine. I don't know though and as you said the only way to know is to try it. I know the temperature affects them quite a bit so underwater could be colder making it take more current to trip. If I had one I could try it in my 8 foot deep pool. ;)
Justin

 


Get Your Ad Here