[dorkbotpdx-blabber] Why did God invent Solder in Fuses

[Rich Hoge]

The short answer is cost to the mfg.  A soldered in fuse costs the price of
the fuse, plus the minimal cost of pick and place ($0.001/placement) or had
soldering done by a working making 150 units per hour and only being paid
less than $1.00/hr.  Having a holder on the PCB add the $0.47 + all of the
above.

Fix it yourself.  Measure the component footprint, and look on digikey to
find a holder that will fit, or solder a fuse holder using wires onto the
PCB terminals.  It might cost you a few bucks, but inthe long run, you
maintained the circuit in close to the original design (the fuse is there
for a reason, and a regular wire doesn't meet that), and if you have to
replace it again later you can do so much more easily.

My $0.02.

Rich

On Sat, Oct 22, 2011 at 12:13 AM, Mark Allyn <allyn at well.com> wrote:

>
> You are right. However my frustrations lie:
>
>        1. Fuses sometimes blow for no reason. I have seen it happen
>
>        2. Fusus should be easily replaceable. In the old days, electronic
>           equipment had the fuse in a fuse holder that was mounted on the
>           rear apron of the chassis.
>
>        3. The worst of all; a solder down fuse blows for no reason. The
>           repair shop wanted to replace the entire unit. I told them
>           where to go. I took the unit apart and replaced the solder in
>           fuse with a single strand of wire. The unit works fine. I save
>           $$$ for the new unit the shop wanted to rip me off for.
>
>        4. We can go one step further. My glowing raincoats have a device
>           the 'blows' if the current  gets too high. But they reset
>           themselves after cooling off. Perhaps we can use those
>           devices instead of solder in fuses instead. If a hobbyist
>           fashion designer can come up with that idea, then device
>           manufacturers could do the same.
>
> This is why I think that solder in fuses are a terrible idea.
>
> Houses have user-resettable circuit breakers in an easily accessible
> electrical service box.
>
> Truly,
>
>
> Mark Allyn
> Portland, Oregon
> www.allyn.com
> 971-563-7588
>
> On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Anthony Asterisk wrote:
>
>  agreed, except for the part where your house catches on fire, and you are
>> left homeless
>> and destitute.  ok well maybe there is a reason for fuses even if they do
>> suck.
>>
>>
>> a*
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 21, 2011 at 10:09 PM, Mark Allyn <allyn at well.com> wrote:
>>
>>      Folks:
>>
>>      This may sound like a rant, but I have to get this off my chest :)
>>
>>      Why in heck did God invent these stupid solder down fuses?
>>
>>      I recently had a device quit on me. There was no external fuse, but
>> there
>>      was a solder down fuse on the circuit board buried inside the device.
>>
>>      Perhaps it may be my own solder-welding-glueing fume induced
>> dementia,
>>      but I think it's one of the stupidest concepts concieved on this side
>>      of the Milky Way galexy to have solder down fuses in a device.
>>
>>      I have been braught up to believe that a fuse is meant to be an
>> easily
>>      replaceable component that save the rest of the device from failure.
>>
>>      A solder down fuse would force a non technical geek person to take
>>      the device back to the store only to be told to replace the whole
>>      device, or at least the board with the fuse on it.
>>
>>      Folks, please enlighten me.
>>
>>      Luv & Peace
>>
>>      Mark Allyn
>>      Portland, Oregon
>>      www.allyn.com
>>      971-563-7588
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>>
>>
>>
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