ANL Fuses: Blue Seas $20 ea vs. Amazon Stereo $4?

F

Fishtronics

New member
Does anyone have any experience with the difference between the big Blue Seas ANL fuses for $20+ vs the cheap stuff made for kilowatt car stereo for $4 each? It would be easy to say the Blue Seas must be somehow better, but how exactly? 5X better? Perhaps the actual fusing current is closer to the specified value? My experience is that the values may vary as much as 20% within a given value, depending on the uniformity of the fusible material, the rise time of the current surge, etc.

The Blue Seas look alot like the Bussman ANL shown in this data sheet:
http://bdfuses.com/anl.pdf

Although the rating tolerance is not given, it is interesting that Bussman rates the 150A fuse to blow in about a minute with almost 250A going through it. It will blow rapidly (under a second) with 500A through it. And it will run forever at the rated current.


Thanks!

Jason K
C-Scout Everett WA
80-something 22 Angler
 
Thanks for your replies, I think you are correct about the Ignition protection. The Bussmann have a mica window, and the cheap-o ones are all plastic I think. I found some Bussman very cheap on Amazon and the other ANL OEM stuff Blue Seas marks ups up too.

Thanks again, Jason
 
Hello Jason,

Take a look at here for a good tutorial on fusing in general. The fifth box down talks specifically about 'cheap' ANL fuses and how their failure mode/s can be unsafe on a boat where flammable fumes might be present.

dave
 
Thanks, Dave, that is a very good tutorial. It makes a good case for exceeding the ABYC rules. And his prices for the battery-mounted fuses are pretty good, too!
 
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