Fuses

Fuse





Fuses are the most common form of circuit protection used in vehicle wiring. A fuse is a thin piece of wire or strip of metal encased in a glass or plastic housing. It is wired in series with the circuit it protects. When there is an overload of current in a circuit, such as a short of a ground, the wire or metal strip is designed to burn out and interrupt the flow of current. This prevents a surge of high current from reaching and damaging other components in the circuit.
Determine the cause of the overloaded before replacing the fuse.
The replacement fuse must have the same amperage specification as the original fuse.
Never replace a blown fuse with a fuse of a different amperage specification.
Doing so can result in an electrical fire or other serious circuit damage. A blown fuse is easily identified.

Fusible Link





The fusible link is primarily used to protect circuits where high amounts of current flow and where is would not be practical to use a fuse (for example, the starter circuit). When a current overload occurs, the fusible link melts open and interrupts the flow of current to prevent the rest of the wiring harness from burning.
Determine the cause of the overload before replacing the fusible link. The replacement fusible link must have the same amperage specification as the original fusible link.
Never replace a blown fusible link with fusible link of a different amperage specification. Doing so can result in an electrical fire or other serious circuit damage.
A blown fusible link is easily identified.





Fusible Link Specifications




The circuit breaker is a protective device designed to open the circuit when a current load is in excess of rated breaker capacity. If there is a short or other type of overload condition in the circuit, the excessive current will open the circuit between the circuit breaker terminals.
After recovering the circuit failure, push the reset button, which is released when the circuit in the circuit breaker opens, to its original position. When you push the release button, it causes a movable spring (bimetal) to close the contact points between the circuit breaker terminals.