How to Checking and replacing fuses

How to Checking and replacing fuses

Here you can get Fuse system. Here we provides How to Checking and replacing fuses, identify Vehicle’s Fuse Box and types.

When an electrical component stops working the fault could also be within the component, within the electrical circuit or within the fuse that protects them. Because the fuse may be a likely cause, and the easiest to see , check out it first. The fuses are usually grouped during a box or on a panel with a canopy. Ideally, the box should be fixed in an accessible place — like the bulkhead under the bonnet.

Often, however, it’s hidden away, perhaps under the dashboard or down within the front knee-well. The car handbook usually gives the situation , but without a book finding the box can prove difficult. Get to know where it’s before anything goes wrong.

The individual fuses within the box are usually numbered, in order that checking out which one may have blown is simplified by pertaining to the numbered list within the handbook. this could tell you which of them fuse protects which circuit. Where they’re not numbered, remove each fuse in turn and see which component stops working.

Fuse system

Almost everything in a car is wired through a fuse. Fuses are designed to fail when too much current is drawn through the device. This prevents heating of the wires and subsequent melting of the insulation, followed usually by fire!

Fuses are simple in design. Inside a fuse is a soft wire with a specific cross-sectional thickness. This dimension dictates how many amps can be carried before the wire melts. Too many amps and the fuse fails, saving the rest of the circuit from damage.

Most of any car’s fuses are located in the fuse panel, but some are in-line. In-line fuses are found under the dash and in the engine compartment.

Vehicle’s Fuse Box

Make sure you know where the fuse box is fitted in your car. The location is usually given in the car handbook. Often, the box is half hidden under the dashboard or in the front knee-well.

Checking fuses

Depending on the fuse design, it’s sometimes possible to inform whether it’s blown by holding it up against a light; a break within the wire inside could also be visible. Another clue is blackening of the glass cover. If there’s no visible sign, check by fitting another fuse of the same rating; if that cures the trouble, then the fuse was responsible.

However, it’s always advisable to see the circuit also, just in case a fault in it caused the fuse to blow. for example, failure of an electrical component or damaged insulation on a cable can cause a brief circuit , leading to a sudden massive increase in current. If the cable overheated, there might be a fireplace. The fuse prevents that taking place, because its thin wire will melt and break the circuit long before the cable itself can heat up and burn. Some cars have only two fuses. One rated at about 30-50 amps protects components wired through the ignition switch — flashers, wipers, heater-motor and instruments.

The other, probably rated at about 20-30 amps, protects components not wired through the ignition — horns , interior lights and therefore the cigarette lighter. Where one fuse protects variety of circuits and keeps blowing, each circuit must be checked individually to get which one is faulty.

To find the faulty one, fit a sound fuse while all the relevant components are switch ed off. Now switch them on one at a time – the circuit with the fault will blow the fuse. Always replace a fuse with one among an equivalent rating. Replacing, say, a 10amp fuse with a 30amp one could end in considerable damage. The 10 amp fuse would normally protect a circuit carrying 7 amps: a 30 amp fuse would allow a 30 amp current to flow through, with possibly a disastrous effect on the unit or cable it had been alleged to protect.

Types of fuse

The type and construction of fuses varies from car to car.

blade type fuse

A rectangular blade type. This is the most common type. It has two push-in connectors linked by a visible fuse wire.

Clear-Glass type fuse

A clear-glass type. A wire running through breaks when overloaded.

Continental type fuse

The continental type. A shaped metal strip set in one side melts under excessive load.

A blown fuse

A fuse is ‘blown’ when the connector between its two ends melts under an overload of current.

Changing a fuse

In most fuse boxes, the fuses simply push into a pair of spring-clip contacts. Pull out the suspect fuse and, using fine emery paper, clean off any dirt or corrosion from the within contact surfaces of the clips.

Make sure the new fuse has the right amp rating for the circuit (See How car electrical systems work ); use fine emery paper to decorate the metal caps at each end. Push the fuse into the vacant clips and try the circuit to see if power is restored. If it is not, check by fitting a fuse of the same rating from a circuit you know is working. If this does not work, the fault is not in the fuse, but elsewhere in the circuit.

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