Ken I have your email & will try to call you on Friday evening; it's been too busy at the uplink tonight but I do have some answers for you.
Fuses on dedicated lines instead of breakers ???
I went to the wholesale house today with my electrician to get everything I would need to run 5 dedicated 20 amp lines into the den. This includes upgrading the old 100 amp main panel to a new 200 amp panel. I will be running #10 THHN (positive, negitive & neutral)to Cryo Treated Hubbell hospital recepticals (AGAIN, MANY THANKS TO ALBERT PORTER!)and the wires will be coiled together per Bob Bundus' recomendations. Having said that, I've run into two problems:
1. Upon examining the rolls of wire, I discovered that they are stranded, not solid core. Does this make a difference? If so, I'll take it back right away and get solid core.
2. Bob Bundus recomended using ceramic fuses instead of circut breakers (or plastic fuses if ceramic could not be found). However, when I asked for that today at the supply house, the guy there (and my electrician) thought I was nuts. They told me that fuse boxes have not been available for many years, and that they had never seen ceramic fuses. I must confess, the only time I have seen fuse boxes have been in very old buildings, and the fuses that go into them are screwed into the recepticles in the box. The fuses themselves are just a little larger than the diameter of a nickle, and have a small piece of glass on the top in which you can see if the internal conductor has burnt out. The fuse is screwed into the fusebox recepticle(s), and the contact points are at the bottom and sides (which is the metal thread) of the fuse. AM I THINKING OF THE CORRECT STYLE OF FUSE???
I ended up "jerry rigging" a "fusebox" by getting individual fuse holders (yes, they did have individuals) which can be mounted into the "knock-out" holes in the bottom of a 6" metal box, and then mounting that box on top of another where the wires of each recepticle can be connected to the wires comming from the main panel. In fact, we got "dummy breakers" (no, I really don't know the name of them)that are not breakers at all, but will allow us to connect to the "hot" bar AFTER the main shut-off breaker, and run directly to the fuses without going through any individual breakers. AGAIN, IS THIS CORRECT, OR IS THERE SOME OTHER FUSEBOX OR TYPE OF FUSE THAT I AM NOT AWARE OF?
In regards to ceramic fuses, the supply house did have the little low voltage fast blow fuses that are about an inch long, and about a quarter inch in diameter. But as far as I know, these little fuses are generally fot automotive applications, or used internally in electronic equipment. Could this type of fuse be the correct one to use? I doubt it, but really need to know for sure!
Any information you can shed on these two questions would be very much appreciated. Thanks guys!
Ken G.
1. Upon examining the rolls of wire, I discovered that they are stranded, not solid core. Does this make a difference? If so, I'll take it back right away and get solid core.
2. Bob Bundus recomended using ceramic fuses instead of circut breakers (or plastic fuses if ceramic could not be found). However, when I asked for that today at the supply house, the guy there (and my electrician) thought I was nuts. They told me that fuse boxes have not been available for many years, and that they had never seen ceramic fuses. I must confess, the only time I have seen fuse boxes have been in very old buildings, and the fuses that go into them are screwed into the recepticles in the box. The fuses themselves are just a little larger than the diameter of a nickle, and have a small piece of glass on the top in which you can see if the internal conductor has burnt out. The fuse is screwed into the fusebox recepticle(s), and the contact points are at the bottom and sides (which is the metal thread) of the fuse. AM I THINKING OF THE CORRECT STYLE OF FUSE???
I ended up "jerry rigging" a "fusebox" by getting individual fuse holders (yes, they did have individuals) which can be mounted into the "knock-out" holes in the bottom of a 6" metal box, and then mounting that box on top of another where the wires of each recepticle can be connected to the wires comming from the main panel. In fact, we got "dummy breakers" (no, I really don't know the name of them)that are not breakers at all, but will allow us to connect to the "hot" bar AFTER the main shut-off breaker, and run directly to the fuses without going through any individual breakers. AGAIN, IS THIS CORRECT, OR IS THERE SOME OTHER FUSEBOX OR TYPE OF FUSE THAT I AM NOT AWARE OF?
In regards to ceramic fuses, the supply house did have the little low voltage fast blow fuses that are about an inch long, and about a quarter inch in diameter. But as far as I know, these little fuses are generally fot automotive applications, or used internally in electronic equipment. Could this type of fuse be the correct one to use? I doubt it, but really need to know for sure!
Any information you can shed on these two questions would be very much appreciated. Thanks guys!
Ken G.
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