Why Fuse Both Sides?!

TheBatteries

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One question I often see asked here is whether or not you should fuse both sides of your pack. I always fuse both sides of mine. Not only is the fuse wire very cheap at only $0.055 per foot, you have to solder both sides anyway, so why not? I've seen people say they get copper wire for free so it's cheaper for them to use that instead of fuse wire. Why not use free copper instead, right??

While I was drilling holes to mount my Batrium longmon tonight, I accidentally put too much pressure on the drill and it made contact with the positive busbar on the other side while bumped up against the negative cell casing. Guess what? There was a small spark and the negative-side fuse instantly blew. That's it. If I had used regular copper wire on the negative side, something tells me I'd be pulling and re-soldering 300 more fuses, not to mention some pretty bad burn marks and a drill bit potentially welded to the cell/busbar.


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Yes, I should have been more careful. Yes, I should have probably drilled first before installing cells. Human error happens. Next time you're debating fusing both sides, keep safety in mind :)

/end thread
 
Definitely another reason to double fuse -
 
Hi HB would you know the approx amps of a fuse wire made with the wire of a 0.25 resistor thanks.
 
You should test them as they can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Depending on where you got them from it can range form 2A - 5A, or more. Always test your fuse wire yourself and never rely on someone else's numbers for your project. Even from order to order, you should test the new batch to verify the numbers.
 
Korishan said:
You should test them as they can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Depending on where you got them from it can range form 2A - 5A, or more. Always test your fuse wire yourself and never rely on someone else's numbers for your project. Even from order to order, you should test the new batch to verify the numbers


Hi Korishan thanks for that.
 
Yep test test test - different batches of wires can be different
 
mike said:
While I was drilling holes to mount my Batrium longmon tonight, I accidentally put too much pressure on the drill and it made contact with the positive busbar on the other side while bumped up against the negative cell casing. Guess what? There was a small spark and the negative-side fuse instantly blew. That's it. If I had used regular copper wire on the negative side, something tells me I'd be pulling and re-soldering 300 more fuses, not to mention some pretty bad burn marks and a drill bit potentially welded to the cell/busbar.

This is why, when I build a 1S pack I choose to fuse the negative side.
 
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