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Many appliances and electronics have fuses that are accessed without opening the housing.
Use a multimeter or continuity tester to check an appliance fuse.
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Fuses are all through your house—and rightly so. They keep electricity surges from damaging appliances and circuits. They are the weakest link in the chain. Fortunately, they are also easy to test and to replace. Here's how the Fix-It Club fixes fuses. (Refer to Testing Circuit Fuses and Testing Circuit Breakers for additional tips.)
An appliance fuse is an electrical safety device with a metal strip that melts and interrupts the appliance's electrical circuit when the circuit is overloaded or the appliance overheats. Electrical fuses protect from electrical overloads. Thermal fuses protect from overheating.
Electrical fuses are mounted on the outside of the unit in a screw-out receptacle marked "Fuse," or inside the unit near the cord and/or a power supply. Thermal fuses typically are installed inside an appliance on or near one of the electrical cord wires. Fuses are clipped, screwed, or soldered into place. Most fuses open within a second after a substantial overload begins. Slow-blow fuses are designed to protect equipment where heavy, periodic demands for current would blow a common fuse even though the apparatus was operating normally. Quick-blow fuses open at even a momentary overload; they are used to protect delicate or sensitive components.
To test a fuse:
- Touch each end of the fuse with a probe of the multimeter set at RX1 or with a continuity tester (see Testing With a Multimeter or Using a Continuity Tester).
- The fuse should show continuity, the passage of electricity through the fuse. Replace a fuse that does not.
- If the appliance or electronic component still does not work, or if the fuse blows again, you will have to look further for the solution. Refer to the appropriate Fix-It Guide.
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Text by Dan & Judy Ramsey - from "If It's Broke, Fix It!"
Artwork by Dan & Judy Ramsey
Copyright Fix-It Club® © 2003
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