So just now I was adding an extra light over my day bed it's a vintage 60 watt bulb looks like an old radio valve it even has the little glass pip on top. Anyhow as I was wiring it up two whiskas of wire touched there was barely any sound but it popped the 5 amp fuse in the plug adaptor and tripped 16 amp MCB how is this even possible even under partial short circuit conditions surely a 5 amp fuse should clear before a 16 amp MCB?
a rather nice article showing plain and ballotini fuses in lamp caps and explaining why.
This is the safest and most reliable fuse type - but also the most expensive. The fuse wire is encapsulated in a small glass tube filled with tiny glass beads called Ballotini, named after Potters Ballotini, the Italian producer. Should a secondary arc form between the broken pieces of fuse wire, its heat will melt the glass beads to form an electrically insulating barrier which contains and rapidly quenches the arc. It is so efficient that only one fuse is required, but on account of their higher price they are generally employed only in the more expensive special lamps
a rather nice article showing plain and ballotini fuses in lamp caps and explaining why.
This is the safest and most reliable fuse type - but also the most expensive. The fuse wire is encapsulated in a small glass tube filled with tiny glass beads called Ballotini, named after Potters Ballotini, the Italian producer. Should a secondary arc form between the broken pieces of fuse wire, its heat will melt the glass beads to form an electrically insulating barrier which contains and rapidly quenches the arc. It is so efficient that only one fuse is required, but on account of their higher price they are generally employed only in the more expensive special lamps
