Fuses are used in many electrical or electronic devices; they protect the appliances from short-circuit situations or overcurrent. The fuse has many types; one of them is the SMD type. So, how to identify a surface mount fuse (SMD)?
How To Identify Surface Mount Fuse (SMD)? Complete Guide
You have to look for a tiny electrical component on your PCB which looks like a small candy bar silver-colored. SMD fuses are used in many video game devices and electrical applications. The fuse protects circuits and applications from overcurrent or short circuit situations.
However, SMD fuses protect specific components in the system, not the entire system; you can check whether your SMD is working or not using a multimeter.
How To Check Surface Mount Fuse (SMD)?
- Bring your multimeter and adjust it to “x1” ohms, which is the minimum rating of resistance, and it’s used to know if an electrical component has a continuous connection.
- Remove the fuse from the board to test, attach the red clip of the multimeter to one of the fuse ends, and attach the black clip of the multimeter to the fuse’s other end.
- Use leads to test the SMD fuse if you don’t want to disconnect the fuse from the board. Attach the multimeter’s black clip to a lead, and the multimeter’s red clip to the other lead, connecting the leads to the SMD fuse ends or terminals.
- Observe your multimeter’s reading; if you have an analog multimeter, observe the needle if it changes or shows reading. If you have a digital multimeter, observe the digital screen if it shows numbers, this means that the SMD is working properly.
- No readings mean that your SMD fuse is not working and must be replaced because the component that the fuse is supposed to protect is now vulnerable to overcurrents and short circuit situations, which can damage the component.
What Are The Types of Fuse?
SMD Fuses
The surface mount device fuse, its name was derived from surface mount technology or SMT. They are electronic or chip fuses used mainly in direct current applications such as cameras, cell phones, hard drives, and DVD players. SMD fuses play an important role in saving up space when used in these applications.
SMD fuses have many types, for example:
- Through-hole styles fuses
- Radial Fuse
- Lead Fuse
- Axial Fuse
- Slow–Blow Chip Fuses
- Fast Acting Chip Fuses
- Very Fast-Acting Chip Fuses
- Pulse Tolerant Chip Fuses
- High Current Rated Chip Fuses
- Telecom Fuses
You can find many types of fuses in the market; the main two fuse categories divided into two are alternating current fuses and direct current fuses. The two types differ in the type of voltage supply; in addition, fuses have many other types depending on their applications, for example, cartridge fuses and HRC fuses.
Cartridge Fuses
Motors, pumps, refrigerators, air conditioning, and other applications use cartridge fuses to protect their components because they need high currents and voltages. This type of fuse is available up to 600 V AC and 600 A, and they can be used in home distributions, industries, and commercial.
Cartridge fuse has two types according to the time required to act: heavy-duty fuses and general-purpose fuses. The heavy-duty fuses have a time delay, where they take more time to act; meanwhile, general-purpose fuses have no time delay, where they don’t need any time to act; they act immediately.
However, both can be found in 250V AC to 600V AC, and their ratings are imprinted on their knife blade or the end cap. Cartridge fuses have an enclosed base and can be classified into two groups D type cartridge fuse and link-type cartridge.
Cartridge Fuse D – Type
The D-type fuse contains a cartridge, base, cap, and an adapter ring, the fuse’s cap is connected to the fuse’s base, and the cartridge is located inside the fuse’s cap. When the cartridge connects through the link conductor of the fuse, the circuit is completed.
Cartridge Fuse Link Type or HRC Fuse (High Rupturing Capacity)
HRC type features a fuse wire inside it; this wire is responsible for carrying the current of the short circuit for an amount of time. Therefore, you can remove the fault during this amount of time.
If you remove the fault, the circuit continues to work properly, and the fuse wire doesn’t melt, but if the fault continues for a long time, the wire will start to meltdown, and the circuit will be disconnected from the power source. Usually, the high rupturing capacity (HRC) fuse is made of glass material, but it can also be made of other materials.
The High Voltage Fuse
The power transformer in power systems is protected by the high voltage fuse and the instrument and transformed distributions. This high voltage fuse is used in the mentioned systems instead of the breaker because the breaker can’t be used to protect them. The rating of HV fuses is from 1500V to 13K Volts.
Tin, silver, and copper are the material generally used to make high voltage fuses and the boric acid for filling the link chamber, especially in expulsion high voltage fuses.
Bolted Type, Blade Type, and& Automotive Fuses
These fuses are also known as plug-in or spade fuses; they have two metal caps and a plastic body, making them fit easily in the socket. The plug-in or spade fuses are used in automotive to protect them from unexpected high currents and short circuits.
In addition, a glass tube fuse is also known as a bosch fuse, and fuse limiters are also used in automotive or automobile industries; they have low ratings, which are 12V:42V. Meanwhile, in bolted fuses types, the base is contacted directly like it’s in the HRC fuses.
Rewirable Fuses
The rewirable fuse, also known as the kit-kat fuse, is the most famous type; it’s used in home wiring and industrial applications that need small currents and have low voltage. The kit-kat fuse consists of two main parts, which are:
- The base has the OUT and IN terminals used to connect the fuse in series with the circuit for protection, and it’s made of porcelain.
- The inner element can be made of lead, aluminum, tinned copper, etc.
The rewirable fuses have a big advantage over other types of fuses. They can be rewired again if blown during an overcurrent or short circuit situation. The wire is replaced with another wire made of wire elements and has the same rating.
What Does a Fuse Mean?
A fuse is a mechanical or electronic/electrical device that protects the circuits or devices from overcurrent or short circuit situations. The inventor of the fuse device was Thomas Alva Edison in 1890; fuse has many different types; however, they serve the same purpose.
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Conclusion
To sum up, you can identify any SMD fuse by searching the PCB for a silver-colored candy bar-shaped component that has a very small size. After identifying the SMD fuse, you can check it using the multimeter to know whether it is working or not. Finally, you can follow these easy steps:
- Bring your multimeter and adjust it to “x1” ohms, which is the minimum rating of resistance, and it’s used to know if an electrical component has a continuous connection.
- Remove the fuse from the board to test, attach the red clip of the multimeter to one of the fuse ends, and attach the black clip of the multimeter to the fuse’s other end.
- Use leads to test the SMD fuse if you don’t want to disconnect the fuse from the board. Attach the multimeter’s black clip to a lead, and the multimeter’s red clip to the other lead, connecting the leads to the SMD fuse ends or terminals.
- Observe your multimeter’s reading; if you have an analog multimeter, observe the needle if it changes or shows reading. If you have a digital multimeter, observe the digital screen if it shows numbers, this means that the SMD is working properly.
- No readings mean that your SMD fuse is not working and must be replaced because the component that the fuse is supposed to protect is now vulnerable to overcurrents and short circuit situations, which can damage the component.
Fuses, in general, have many types; the SMD fuses are only one type of them; the SMD fuses also have types, for example:
- Radial Fuse
- Lead Fuse
- Axial Fuse
- Slow–Blow Chip Fuses
- Fast Acting Chip Fuses
- Very Fast-Acting Chip Fuses
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