fuse for Craftsman digi multimeter

The original fuse is probably filled with a powdered material that will quench arcs and prevent fire.

You ARE mighty cheap aren't you ?:-)

...Jim Thompson

Yes. At least they aren't your 'everyday' type.

Graham

Soooo......in your opinion, could I substitute the cheaper Radio Shack fuses?

Thank you....... Lee

I'd advise against it. In the event of a huge fault current it might make a mess of your meter's internals.

Graham

The Radio Shack fuses are only rated for 32 V.

Mark

It's their breaking capacity that's the big issue.

Graham

Ooops! You are right! That was my error. That RS fuse # 270-1074 is indeed rated to "only" 32 volts.

But......here's another Shack fuse......says "ceramic fuses for microwave ovens"........and it has a number 270-1041.....and it is rated to 250 volts & 20 amps. ABC/3AB series fuse. And it even has that "ceramic" appearance that the Sears fuse has. Approx. 50 cents each..........

I wonder if this microwave oven fuse would work for me?

Thanks again.......... Lee

That's a lot better. The RS site says $2.49 though.

Graham

Generic type is most likely ABC20. They're about 88 cents each from Mouser. But if you're blowing them often enough that the difference between $2.50 and 0.88 + shipping makes a difference you need to revise your work habits.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

These companies are notorious for overcharing on things like this. If you shop around you can find components at sometimse a 1/10 of the price(atleast).

My finals blew out in an amp once and I went to the local music store to see what it would cost them to order them for me... they wanted 30$+ for them, and I need atleast 2. I found the same components online for ~2$ each in low quantities and installed them myself... the amp has been working fine ever since(and I ordered 10 just incase they blew out again... was still much cheaper)

I went to home depot for some fuses and the cheapest I found was for 50c, most were about 1.50$. I was able to order the same fuses online for about

These companies know that they can make a nice profit by overpicing a lot of there product. If you need a fuse quick the best way is to run to your local parts store and pay a 3-8x its price... hell, its only a dollar or so. Atleast this is there thinking. They know theres a sucker born every microsecond and they gladly take advantage of it.

I suggest that if you really need the fuse urgently that you go ahead and order but when you get some time spend an hour or so looking online and see if you can't find a better deal... I went ahead and ordered about 50 fuses of various types for around 10$ just incase I need one. Beats having to run down to the local store and pay 1-2$ per fuse and waste the time and energy which all add up to about 10$ anyways... basicaly I got 5x the amount of fuses by ordering online.

There might be a quality issue but if you knew how much these companies play there little games you wouldn't worry to much about it.

Jon

Unfortunately these ceramic fuses *are* actually quite expensive.

Graham

One point to note: the white ceramic type fuses like a microwave uses are normally slow blow fuses, and not the fast acting.

mess

It's a Craftsman; they'll replace it, free, if it fails. I would save the original, blown, fuse where I could find it years later and replace that with whatever should work. If "should work" happens to turn out to be "doesn't work, and toasted the meter" then .......

Hmmm ... I wonder how many regular Craftsman sockets were shattered by an impact wrench and replaced free, how many Craftsman ratchet handles succumbed to a breaker bar and were replaced free.

mess

mess

work,

Yup. Everyone who's ever handled warranty claims knows that one. Some will 'call' their customers on it. That's the kind of fraud that results in fine print in warranties. Aside from any ethical issues it could be dangerous to the person using the meter. There have been people blinded by the arc and metal spray when the fuse in a meter does not have enough interrupting capacity for the circuit it's mistakenly connected to.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

work,

You're a good for nothing ignorant low life- and there is no lifetime warranty on that cheap meter which is really a Universal or something. The high price tag on the replacement is intended for people like you.

I'm thinking that Sears' lifetime warranty extends only to their hand tools. Electrical and electronic tools are covered by a limited warranty (90 days to a couple years, depending on the tool).

You're talking about $1.50 difference. I don't know how much your time is worth, but you should keep it in mind when dithering about the maintenance costs of your tools.

Use the correct replacement part, as it seems to be available to you. If you want to learn about fuses, safety and liability, read up on it in your spare time before going against the mfr's explicit printed instructions regarding this part's replacement.

If you examine the markings on the fuse body, you might be in a better position to replace the part with a suitable component through more economical avenues than Sears, in the future. These markings will identify the fuse manufacturer, fuse type and characteristic ratings.

No advice on usenet protects you from errors of this kind..

If the mfr could have avoided fusing this input with a less than generic part, then, believe me, they would have done so.

RL

"Spehro Pefhany" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Shack

make a mess

the

with

"doesn't work,

And then they can't read the fine print in the warranties anymore. Double trouble ;)

(Sorry, it's the wine)