Thermal fuse question.

Assuming both motros can run at the same time.....(230/12x2) would be the minimum. Are you sure the 40A fuse is the primary fuse for this load?

boy you have a good question, i cant answer that.

The circuitry has two fuses

the one closed to the battery , is a 40amp fuse, and theres one closer to the motors which is the thermal fuse in question. I am guessing the 40amp fuse is the primary fuse for the load???

Most likely...however, I just can't explain why it would only be 40amp, which is close to the total load of the two motors.

Perhaps if you describe the application a little more......

BTW, does this help?

hi

thanks for the reply.

it provides power to this motors:

they are from a peg perego 12volts ride on jeep

Hi...

Excuse me butting in, but....

Every thermal fuse I've ever seen has been either firmly attached to the heat generating element (coffee makers, etc) or in the air flow of and surrounded by a heating element(hair dryers, heat guns, etc)

Wonder if it's not a thermal fuse at all, but rather maybe a brake resistor? A self resetting stall cutout?

Just thinking....

Ken

If the motor protector is color coded, you may be able to figure out it's rating from the Otter data book....is the the right series?

The latter.

Or somewhere else where the ambient temperature exceeding the design point indicates a BIG problem.....like in the case of an attic fan.

Darn, the outside casing is black.. but thats about it :( i guess i need to open it and see on the inside to look for terminal colours etc!

thanks for the great info!

I am thinking that if the thermal fuse is rated for 20 amps, and if I decide to throw in a 30amp thermal fuse, I should then upgrade all the wiring right?

Reading on googles, and the such it says that the higher the amparage the bigger the wire gauge ( or at least thats what it should be )

you may be asking why change from 20amp thermal fuse ( if that what it is ) to a higher amparage.

well, when the jeep is under load the thermal fuse kicks in to save the wiring I guess. Upon inspection of all the wiring they look clean, fresh and warn not overly hot.

I am wondering if its current thermal fuse is too conservative?

finally I have one more question!

The fuse that came with the circuitry is rated at 40amp. If the thermal fuse is lower than 40amp, why would that be the case? Wouldnt it make sense to have a 40amp fuse tp the battery and another 40amp thermal fuse by the motors..

to me it sounds like an overkill to have two fuses in the same circuitry either with the same amp rating or different ratings.

P.S one again many thanks to everyone for responding to my inquires!

It's really not a thermal fuse.... it is a stall (overload) protector.

Maybe the best way to find out the info about the motor protectors used in the toy is to contact PEG PEREGO and ask them.

Have you ever tried calling a manufacturer of a kid's toy (or for that matter, a car manufacturer) and asking a technical / design question about their electronics?

IMHO it is not worth the time you would spend in the phone call. Reverse engineering is more productive.

Ever heard of email? If you outline the problem you are experiencing, and hint that you might spread the news about their product reliability to prospective purchasers (tactfully), you might just get a sensible answer. You haven't anything to lose by trying. It has worked for me in the past.

You have had better luck than I.

At the moment I have three more-than-one-week old "customer support" requests out to computer hardware manufacturers.

Two of these manufacturers use automated robotic mail processors - their responses are more amusing than a sitcom. In one of my inquiries above I reported the inability to use the system's built-in "Help" function (a bug), and asked where I might find a full set of online help files. The robot replied that I should use the built-in "Help" function....yeah, right.