[Amps] HV Fuses

[K1SG at aol.com]

In recent threads, there have been a number of comments about high voltage  
fuses.
Carl mentioned sand-filled fuses, something I hadn't heard of.
I checked the Mouser catalog for HV fuses, and was stricken with  
sticker-shock...$38 for a fuse?
OK, we re-think this one...
I know that an old but workable approach is  to use  a thin piece of wire 
as a fuse...mount it between a couple of  standoff insulators, and it should 
function fine, and if current is  substantially too high, the fuse wire 
blows. How do you figure the appropriate  size wire to use? And then, how do you 
go about ordering 6" of #30 wire, or  whatever it is? If you need more 
current capacity, to use the above example, can  I put two strands of #30 wire 
in parallel, and expect them to function as a  reliable fuse?  I'm always 
worried about kinking the wire, or if it's  enameled, sanding off more than 
just the insulation.
The plan is to fuse the HV output of a 5KV 2A supply to a 3X3, which of  
course will only be used at the legal limit or into a dummy load. 
 
Steve  Gilbert
K1SG
K1SG at AOL.com
508-435-9133
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