Where you guys getting fuses?

[drewl]

I had a nice stash of 3AG fast and slo blow from de-comissioned equipment at work that has been depleted.


Where you guys ordering decent quantities from, the typical Mouser, Digi-key etc?

Thanks.

[SoulFetish]

yeah. I generally shop all the big cats. Mouser-Newark-Allied-Digikey-Avnet-etc.
Octopart.com is a good resource to compare prices between distributors.

But, I always check Newark's overstock-priced items for ridiculous deals.
see here, and click the category you need. Easy to follow from there:

[xtian]

I buy a lot of 3AG and 5x20mm fuses from tubesandmore.com.

[drewl]

Thanks !

[Chuck H]

I just go to my kitchen. There's a drawer where I keep the aluminum foil.




jk

[Enzo]

I used to buy fuses in bulk, boxes of 100. I liked them loose, but sometimes it was just 20 boxes of 5 in one container. I bought house brand fuses from MCM for cheap. At the time I was doing a ton of SMPS repairs for arcades, and used a zillion 20mm 2, 2.5, 3A fuses, and as many with pigtails. I still have a lot of pigtail 20mm fuses. And when I was also working in the arcade business I bought from coin-op ssuppliers. But later I used fewer fuses and turned to Mouser et al. I found the Schurter fuses work as well as the main brands, and are cheaper.

[Enzo]

And don't overlook your local hardware store or Home Depot/Lowes. They usually have a decent selection of fuses.

[Jon Snell]

I find that most wholesalers, RS, Mouser, Farnell etc supply fuse kits which cover most useful values. Here is what I purchased back in 1980 and still use after topping up as and when needed. At least I know the break values are guaranteed unlike most Chinesium suppliers on fleabay. Don't forget, if you fitted that fuse that is not of an approved type and the customers house burns down, you are liable!
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/fuses...reakers/fuses/

[glebert]

I've had good luck getting variety packs of fuses on Amazon Prime. Way cheaper than my local hardware store. Slow blow fuses are especially expensive locally.

[catalin gramada]

I've had good luck getting variety packs of fuses on Amazon Prime. Way cheaper than my local hardware store. Slow blow fuses are especially expensive locally.

It well depends what type of slow blow you.re looking for. I remember blowing from mistake an original 3A from a Hiwatt amp I ended with a 5A slow blow (cheap chinese from my local stores) to can start it on. Found the cheap fuses didn't fit to keep the same surge currents as original fuse did (maybe wrong calibration or different rating). That is easy to check with a series limiter resistor to determine max admissible surge current the fuse is rated for. The problem is the value may be large enough to be useful to protect some...

[Chuck H]

It well depends what type of slow blow you.re looking for. I remember blowing from mistake an original 3A from a Hiwatt amp I ended with a 5A slow blow (cheap chinese from my local stores) to can start it on. Found the cheap fuses didn't fit to keep the same surge currents as original fuse did (maybe wrong calibration or different rating). That is easy to check with a series limiter resistor to determine max admissible surge current the fuse is rated for. The problem is the value may be large enough to be useful to protect some...

And I suspect consistency would be a problem with cheap fuses too.?. Of course a "tested" fuse is a blown fuse so there's no way to know. Maybe you could hope that a "batch" is going to be consistent, but I wouldn't. Probably best to avoid fuses that might be inconsistent or have a stupid wide tolerance. Like a 5A being equivalent to the same surge as a 3A. I don't buy a lot of fuses so I'm leaving sourcing advice to the pros here. Just wanted to chime in with my $.02 that I think it's always worth choosing a reputable maker so there are fewer surprises.

[Randall]

I only buy NOS fuses. They sound better.

[Enzo]

And don't forget to watch polarity, only install fuses facing the right way.

[drewl]

I just go to my kitchen. There's a drawer where I keep the aluminum foil.




jk

My friend and bass player still teases me for doing this to his Bassman 135 when we were teens.

[Chuck H]

My friend and bass player still teases me for doing this to his Bassman 135 when we were teens.

In the interest of full disclosure... I did do this once. But not in an amp. It was a car. And I used the foil lined paper from the inside of a cigarette pack. Stop lookin' at me like that. Jeez! I needed headlamps to get home! OK!?!