@Duff
You didn't even need a new fuse, just a penny to put behind the blown one. I've seen it more than once back-in-the-day. Crazy but true.
Posted by Duff at 12:20 pm (PST) on Sat January 20, 2024
I never realized how inherently dangerous these things were. The sockets for all fuses were the same size, so if a 15A fuse blew (perhaps due to a circuit overload) and no 15A replacement was handy, the homeowner might substitute a 20A fuse and forget about it. The result would be a fire hazard as an overload could cause the circuit to overheat without blowing the fuse. I'm sure this design flaw became flamingly obvious pretty soon, and can't help wondering why it wasn't addressed long before the switch to circuit breakers.
Hey, don't knock the fuse box! We had one in our house until last August!!!!!!
Posted by Max at 12:20 am (PST) on Thu November 26, 2009
Sometimes when a household ran out of fuses or they got tired of replacing a fuse on an overloaded circuit, they'd put a penny in the socket and screw the burnt-out fuse back in place. Fires have been started that way.
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You didn't even need a new fuse, just a penny to put behind the blown one. I've seen it more than once back-in-the-day. Crazy but true.
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