amp blown a fuse

riotorgun · #1 02-01-2011, 04:48 AM

i flicked my kustom deepend head on yesterday and it blew a fuse.It came with a spare i changed it and it works fine.
But i was wondering if it could be a sign of an underlying problem.
Thoughts?

**mikeddd** · #2 02-01-2011, 04:56 AM

Fuses blow. Every time you switch it on/off a little spike goes through it. Sometimes if the fuse was a little weak to begin with, it will blow. Sometimes the fuse lasts for decades. It's a fuse.

If it blows again very soon, I'd have the amp looked at though.

riotorgun · #3 02-01-2011, 04:58 AM

hmm yeah im gonna get some better fuses,i was just abit shocked cos ive had my warwick amp about 5-6 years an never blown a fuse and had this one about 3 weeks,cheers for the quick response.

T-Bird · #4 02-01-2011, 09:03 AM

Hi.

Better fuses?

What the heck are those?

This topic comes up every once and a while, and most of the people who's been on the road more than they like to admit tend to agree that fuses just blow (once) every now and then. It's a standard practice to replace fuses periodically on gear that's toured continuously, even though they're often the kinds that have sand or other medium there to reduce the vibration problems.

It's only if the fuse blows a second time there usually is a problem.

Regards
Sam

riotorgun · #5 02-01-2011, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bird

Hi.

Better fuses?

What the heck are those?

just assumed that like anything you can get better and worse quality.if it happens again ill just send it back still under warranty an whatnot. Thanks for the advice

BassmanPaul · #6 02-01-2011, 10:06 AM

When you first turn an amp on there is an inrush surge. This can be quite large if you happen to turn on at the exact right time during the AC cycle. That's why a lot of amps have slow blow fuses. These have a little spring in them if you look. Other amps just use a larger value fast blow fuse. Fuses do get "tired" and can fail prematurely.

As sam posted if it goes out again get it checked by a tech.

dincz · #7 02-01-2011, 10:46 AM

When you switch on, the fuse heats up and the wire expands. Switch off and it cools down and contracts. Eventually all of that expanding and contracting will result in metal fatigue. So yes, fuses can fail even if there's no fault in the amp.

But as others have said, if the new fuse fails soon after replacement, you'd be well advised to take the amp to a tech.