Anyone know where I can get this fuse?

[Steven Campbell]

Daughter bought herself a seat heater that can be used at home or in the car. She plugged it in the car and started changing the settings rapidly and it blew the fuse!!

F3AL 250V is a sticker on the casing and mentioned in the instructions as a replacement fuse but I can't find that actual part in the uk (I've googled, honest ;o) )

The fuse itself has SEB on one half with 3A250V on the other and is 5mm x

20mm glass.

Anyone point me in the direction of where I should be looking?

The 250V has thrown me considering its for vehicle use at 12V!!

Thanks.

[NT]

Its a 3A 20mm fuse, very common, obtainable anywhere that sells 20mm fuses, ie any electronic parts place.

However, if it popped it once it'll most likely pop it again.

NT

[Steven Campbell]

Sorry I meant to add the cable coming from the seat has a connector half way along it. So for home use you plug in the power adaptor and for car use you plug in the cigarette lighter adaptor. But why have a 250V fuse inside the cigarette lighter adaptor?

[John Whitworth]

Isn't the voltage irrelevant? It's a 3A fuse, and will blow if the current exceeds that by a pre-determined amount. 250V is the rated maximum that it will blow correctly at.

JW

[Steven Campbell]

Its a 3A 20mm fuse, very common, obtainable anywhere that sells 20mm fuses, ie any electronic parts place.

However, if it popped it once it'll most likely pop it again.

Thanks. I thought maybe the SEB was significant and I needed a particular type of fuse as I have seen "Single event burnout" related to SEB on Google but it may have nothing to do with fuses!!

Cheers.

[js.b1]

What current does it draw from the cigarette lighter considering it is a heater?

Many cigarette lighters are woefully inadequately supplied in terms of cable cross-sectional area such that it is common to stink & smoke wiring with a tyre inflator. A bum heater may well draw a similar current for as long.

Worth converting tyre inflators to strong insulated crocodile clips or a separate accessory feed.

[Adrian C]

It's a standard part which can be used on anything up to 250V.

For the application, it's the current control that is relevant.

= Fast Acting (Quick Blow)

3A = 3 Amps L = Low Breaking Capacity (Glass)

Maplin sell 3.15A 'near enough' 20mm Quickblow fuses, a pack of 10 for a couple of quid. Cricklewood Electronics for half that.

[John Whitworth]

Or get a footpump and enjoy the free workout! ;-)

[js.b1]

*Smile* :-)

Avoid the cheap Draper unit, it tends to fail... as in completely fall to pieces.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Steven Campbell" saying something like:

An amp is an amp.

[Ian White]

YMMV, but the only problems I've ever had have been with poor-quality plugs, not the vehicle wiring.

After the original plug on my tyre inflator went high-resistance and melted itself without blowing the fuse, I fitted one of these and had no further problems:

cost a bit more but they are well made, fused at 8A (which runs my inflator comfortably), make a good solid contact and are not likely to melt anytime soon.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Steven Campbell was thinking very hard :

Don't worry about the SEB. What you need is a 5mm x 20mm, fast blow

3amp glass fuse. 3.15 amps is a standard rating, it will be near enough and you can get these from Maplins.

[Bob Eager]

Because most fuses are rated at 250V. It simply means that it'll work at that voltage, insulation-wise.

[Dave Liquorice]

clips or

Depends on the size of your tyres. 255/55R18 have an awful lot of air in 'em at 38psi... I did have a small "tyreman" or similar inflator but that would overheat in the time required to pump one of those. Now have a Sealy MAC2300 bigger pump and fan cooled. B-)

[Steven Campbell]

She ended up taking the whole seat heater back and exchanging it for a new one. Thanks for explaining the differences, much appreciated.

Steven.