Anyone know where I can get this fuse?

[Steven Campbell]

Daughter bought herself a seat heater that can be used at home or in the
car. She plugged it in the car and started changing the settings rapidly and
it blew the fuse!!

F3AL 250V is a sticker on the casing and mentioned in the instructions as a
replacement fuse but I can't find that actual part in the uk (I've googled,
honest ;o) )

The fuse itself has SEB on one half with 3A250V on the other and is 5mm x
20mm glass.

Anyone point me in the direction of where I should be looking?

The 250V has thrown me considering its for vehicle use at 12V!!

Thanks.

[NT]

Its a 3A 20mm fuse, very common, obtainable anywhere that sells 20mm
fuses, ie any electronic parts place.

However, if it popped it once it'll most likely pop it again.

NT

[Roger Mills]

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Steven Campbell <sp...@privacy.net> wrote:

Yes, I'm confused, too! How do you power it when used 'at home'?

Try Maplins or RS Components for the fuse. It's probably a slow-blow jobbie
designed to withstand a high current inrush when first turned on. This Wiki
article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuse_(electrical) may provide some
clues.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
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[Steven Campbell]

"Roger Mills" <watt....@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:7rcckk...@mid.individual.net...

> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
> Steven Campbell <sp...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>> Daughter bought herself a seat heater that can be used at home or in
>> the car. She plugged it in the car and started changing the settings
>> rapidly and it blew the fuse!!
>>
>> F3AL 250V is a sticker on the casing and mentioned in the
>> instructions as a replacement fuse but I can't find that actual part
>> in the uk (I've googled, honest ;o) )
>>
>> The fuse itself has SEB on one half with 3A250V on the other and is
>> 5mm x 20mm glass.
>>
>> Anyone point me in the direction of where I should be looking?
>>
>> The 250V has thrown me considering its for vehicle use at 12V!!
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> Yes, I'm confused, too! How do you power it when used 'at home'?
>
> Try Maplins or RS Components for the fuse. It's probably a slow-blow
> jobbie designed to withstand a high current inrush when first turned on.
> This Wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuse_(electrical) may
> provide some clues.

Sorry I meant to add the cable coming from the seat has a connector half way
along it. So for home use you plug in the power adaptor and for car use you
plug in the cigarette lighter adaptor. But why have a 250V fuse inside the
cigarette lighter adaptor?

[John Whitworth]

"Steven Campbell" <sp...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:Sr6dnTt_u7DuY83W...@brightview.co.uk...

Isn't the voltage irrelevant? It's a 3A fuse, and will blow if the current
exceeds that by a pre-determined amount. 250V is the rated maximum that it
will blow correctly at.

JW

[Steven Campbell]

"NT" <meow...@care2.com> wrote in message
news:61cfd82d-0271-4c82...@u41g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...

Thanks. I thought maybe the SEB was significant and I needed a particular
type of fuse as I have seen "Single event burnout" related to SEB on Google
but it may have nothing to do with fuses!!

Cheers.

[js.b1]

What current does it draw from the cigarette lighter considering it is
a heater?

Many cigarette lighters are woefully inadequately supplied in terms of
cable cross-sectional area such that it is common to stink & smoke
wiring with a tyre inflator. A bum heater may well draw a similar
current for as long.

Worth converting tyre inflators to strong insulated crocodile clips or
a separate accessory feed.

[Adrian C]

On 15/01/2010 23:46, Steven Campbell wrote:
>
> Sorry I meant to add the cable coming from the seat has a connector half way
> along it. So for home use you plug in the power adaptor and for car use you
> plug in the cigarette lighter adaptor. But why have a 250V fuse inside the
> cigarette lighter adaptor?
>

It's a standard part which can be used on anything up to 250V.

For the application, it's the current control that is relevant.

http://www.swecheck.com.au/pages/product_markings.htm

F = Fast Acting (Quick Blow)
3A = 3 Amps
L = Low Breaking Capacity (Glass)

Maplin sell 3.15A 'near enough' 20mm Quickblow fuses, a pack of 10 for a
couple of quid. Cricklewood Electronics for half that.

--
Adrian C

[John Whitworth]

"js.b1" <js...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:65e1da77-4470-4536...@14g2000yqp.googlegroups.com...

Or get a footpump and enjoy the free workout! ;-)

[js.b1]

On Jan 16, 12:11 am, "John Whitworth"

<sexyjw@g_EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE_mail.com> wrote:
> Or get a footpump and enjoy the free workout! ;-)

*Smile* :-)

Avoid the cheap Draper unit, it tends to fail... as in completely fall
to pieces.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Steven Campbell"
<sp...@privacy.net> saying something like:

>The 250V has thrown me considering its for vehicle use at 12V!!

<shrug>
An amp is an amp.

[Ian White]

YMMV, but the only problems I've ever had have been with poor-quality
plugs, not the vehicle wiring.

After the original plug on my tyre inflator went high-resistance and
melted itself without blowing the fuse, I fitted one of these and had no
further problems:

http://uk.farnell.com/pro-car/57715000/plug-dc-power-8a-fused/dp/658376

They cost a bit more but they are well made, fused at 8A (which runs my
inflator comfortably), make a good solid contact and are not likely to
melt anytime soon.

--
Ian White

[Harry Bloomfield]

Steven Campbell was thinking very hard :

> F3AL 250V is a sticker on the casing and mentioned in the instructions as a
> replacement fuse but I can't find that actual part in the uk (I've googled,
> honest ;o) )
>
> The fuse itself has SEB on one half with 3A250V on the other and is 5mm x
> 20mm glass.

Don't worry about the SEB. What you need is a 5mm x 20mm, fast blow
3amp glass fuse. 3.15 amps is a standard rating, it will be near enough
and you can get these from Maplins.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

[Bob Eager]

On Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:46:43 +0000, Steven Campbell wrote:

> But why have a 250V fuse inside the
> cigarette lighter adaptor?

Because most fuses are rated at 250V. It simply means that it'll work at
that voltage, insulation-wise.

--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

[Dave Liquorice]

On Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:11:14 -0000, John Whitworth wrote:

>> Worth converting tyre inflators to strong insulated crocodile
clips or
>> a separate accessory feed.
>
> Or get a footpump and enjoy the free workout! ;-)

Depends on the size of your tyres. 255/55R18 have an awful lot of air
in 'em at 38psi... I did have a small "tyreman" or similar inflator
but that would overheat in the time required to pump one of those.
Now have a Sealy MAC2300 bigger pump and fan cooled. B-)

http://www.sealeyonline.co.uk/mac2300-compressor-12v-heavy-duty.html

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Roger Mills]

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

m...@privacy.net <m...@privacy.net> wrote:

> On 15 Jan,

> "Roger Mills" <watt....@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>> It's probably a slow-blow jobbie
>> designed to withstand a high current inrush when first turned on.
>

> The F in the type number implies that it's a fast blow type.
> F3A = fast blow 3 amp.

Fairy Nuff - I stand corrected!

[Steven Campbell]

"Harry Bloomfield" <harry...@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message
news:mn.82097da11f...@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk...

Cheers all for the input.
She ended up taking the whole seat heater back and exchanging it for a new
one.
Thanks for explaining the differences, much appreciated.

Steven.