Can fuses go bad?


Yesterday I turned on my Halo JC-1s for a little listening. As I walked over to drop a CD in the drawer I smelled a slight burning odor. When I looked back the lights were out on one amp. A check of the line fuse verified it had blown.

Since the Owner's Guide did not specify anything about fuses I sent a message to Parasound to make certain I used the proper replacement (blown fuse was not marked fast or slow blow). In spite of it being late Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend I received an almost immediate reply. Regarding my question on why a fuse would blow a second or two after turn on they suggested it could have become weak. This was a 12 amp fuse, does that seem reasonable?
pryso

Showing 1 response by pryso

Many thanks Dhl. I popped the tops on both amps yesterday. I had replaced the blown fuse with a 10A slo-blo and that amp worked but I didn't leave it on long.

Looking inside it was just as you described. Two of the nickel sized green disk caps had exploded and a third was cracked in the damaged amp. Interestingly, the other amp has only one larger black disk cap (about the size of a quarter), one cap positioned jumpered, and the other two positions blank in place of the four green caps.

My amps are more than five years old. One failed after a year and my dealer sent it in under warranty. I don't have any paperwork from that so I don't even know which amp was repaired. From your comments I suspect it was the one which now has the single large black disk cap.

With your advice I'll contact Parasound tomorrow.