Quote:
Originally Posted by Station X
In my experience fuses blow for two reasons, old age or a (possibly intermittent) short-circuit somewhere.
I have a 3kW fan heater which probably draws in excess of 13A. The fitted plug overheated destroying itself and the socket it was plugged into, but the plug fuse remained intact.
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Yes, fuses can handle surprising overloads: not that long ago I bought a new washing-machine whose heater is rated at 2Kilowatts. Because I was doing some kitchen-refurb work it stood next to the sink rather than being fitted into its proper space, so I powered it via a 2-way trailing 13A extension-lead which was also temporarily powering the fridge.
It did three washes before the 3Amp fuse in the extension-lead's plug failed!