X-Virus-Scanned: clean according to Sophos on Logan.com Return-Path: Received: from tomcat.al.noaa.gov ([140.172.240.2] verified) by logan.com (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 4.3c5) with ESMTP id 922195 for flyrotary@lancaironline.net; Mon, 02 May 2005 11:00:17 -0400 Received-SPF: none receiver=logan.com; client-ip=140.172.240.2; envelope-from=bdube@al.noaa.gov Received: from mungo.al.noaa.gov (mungo.al.noaa.gov [140.172.241.126]) by tomcat.al.noaa.gov (8.12.11/8.12.0) with ESMTP id j42ExVZn019374 for ; Mon, 2 May 2005 08:59:31 -0600 (MDT) Message-Id: <6.2.1.2.0.20050502085433.04546490@mailsrvr.al.noaa.gov> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.2.1.2 Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 08:59:02 -0600 To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" From: Bill Dube Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] Re: finally changed to fuses vs circuit breakers was Re: Ed's new rotor housings In-Reply-To: References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 06:37 AM 5/2/2005, you wrote: > if the CB doesn't reset I haven't lost anything over a fuse, BUT if it > does reset - it may save my butt or the aircraft. > >Hey Ed, how about if the CB trips because the circuit breaker IS the >problem? The only tripped breaker I've seen in a certified plane turned >out to be a bad CB. I've also seen bad CB's at home, and at work. Why >add another device that can fail? Don't fool yourself. Fuses can be faulty. As stated earlier, they can "wear out" when subjected to repeated minor current surges. (The fuse element fatigues and cracks, then breaks.) Also, when a fuse holder gets a little loose with age, the fuse contacts get warm and cause the fuse to blow at much less than its rating. I suspect that if circuit breakers were cheaper than fuses, a lot of the "pro-fuse" folks would switch sides. > >Rusty (just couldn't resist resist)