Rank: Forum user
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Hi all. just been handed a fuse with copper wrapped round it from a technician but cant find any information on why this is dangerous
i know it is , want to get all the information gathered before i raise a near miss
can anyone point me in the right direction please
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Rank: Forum user
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Rank: Super forum user
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The fuse is a circuit protection device designed to fail if a current exceeds a certain level (as I am sure you are aware). The copper wrapped around the outside is likely to excede the the current rating of the fuse and so will not fail as quickly should a fault occur on the circuit allowing the current to continue flowing, possibly resulting in electrocution, damage to machinery, fire etc.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Mikeee...
If the technician can tell you where the fuse came from, it would be worth trying to investigate why somebody had negated it with the copper wire. One possibility is that the fuse had blown for some reason (did anyone know/ask why?) and a user of the appliance/machine, possibly keen to complete a task, couldn't be bothered or didn't know how to obtain a replacement fuse. Irrespective of whether a culprit can be identified or not, it's probably appropriate to publicise the defeated fuse within your organisation and use it as an opportunity to tell/remind people about the dangers which can arise from tampering with electricity.
Over the years I've seen a number of instances of plug fuses being defeated, mostly with silver foil and occasionally with copper wire. The worst instance was one brought to my attention over 20 years ago by an electrician after doing PAT testing in a secondary school. He was appalled to find that the plug fuse for a small welding machine in a technology department had been replaced by a cropped length of 6" nail. The reason given to him was that the fuses kept blowing when the machine was in use. The electrician cut off the plug and promptly advised the head of department about the dangers involved and that the machine should be powered through an industrial plug & socket arrangement with an appropriately rated fuse. The electrician confiscated the plug to show me what he had found. It made a useful addition to the small collection of artefacts used by my colleagues and I when running training courses, especially for headteachers and school governors.
Top marks to the electrician for taking appropriate actions about what he found and nil marks to the departmental employee/s who fitted or knew about the cropped nail and ought to have known better. If feasible it's worthwhile for OS&H professionals to encourage in-house PAT testers to tell them about unusual/blatantly unsafe findings. Some of the other horrors shown to me by PAT testers came from school science departments whose employees, like those of technology departments, I used to think might have a better grasp of electrical safety issues than most adults. However, I've since concluded that the lamentably poor understanding of electrical safety by people in general may stem from limited teaching about it in schools. Also, if pupils/students aren't suitably educated to understand electrical safety, their ignorance is likely to be perpetuated - which might help to explain why some people at work defeat fuses as in the subject of this thread!
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Rank: Super forum user
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(There was me thinking fuse wire was made of copper)
Quite right...if wrapped around a HRC fuse then a problem. Even if the correct rating for the circuit, the mess the thing would make has to be seen etc.
However, if the Zs was correct for the rating and intended use, then the fuse would open in the correct time. The current may however still flow as a 3036 fuse is only rated at 1000A (some say more but trust me here, the manufacture will say otherwise) So if the fault current was say 2000A the fault would be running but the wire not there anymore.... arcing
By the way, nothing really wrong with fuse wire in the right place.
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