All the circuit breakers in my house can run a Toaster, Clothes Iron, etc.
The breaker does not even trip, when the cold resistance of those devices creates a very large transient current.
The 'Run-Wattage' of the Toaster, and other similar devices is 1100 Watts.
Let alone their much higher inrush current wattage.
The Destruction 'Run-Wattage' of the 600 Watt TVS diodes? who knows? But i bet it is less than 1100 watts.
I will not trust my life to one of those.
Then there is another issue with power amplifiers, that is if they get a short or even just a high run current.
I use Series fuses, One is a fast blow to take care of the power-on inrush current, and also if there is a 'Hot Start'.
The other is a slow blow that takes care of the 'Run-current' of the amplifier.
I start with small current value fuses, and find out if I have to increase the value of one or the other (not all inrush currents are the same, depending on when you throw the switch).
And, if your power mains vary, like mine do (117V to 123V), the 'Run-current' of the amplifier varies.
One amplifier I designed, would finally blow the 0.5A slow blow after about 3 months (inrush transients can slowly degrade a slow blow, so I increased to a 600mA (0.6A) slow blow. The fuse I needed for the inrush current was a 1.25A fast blow.
If any thing goes wrong with the amplifier, it is reasonably certain that one or the other fuses will open, and prevent a fire.
I only use 250V fuses, a 120V fuse for my 123V power mains is not something I want to rely on.
Safety is about prediction of what is the worst that can happen, and designing to take care of that possibility.
Safety First!
The breaker does not even trip, when the cold resistance of those devices creates a very large transient current.
The 'Run-Wattage' of the Toaster, and other similar devices is 1100 Watts.
Let alone their much higher inrush current wattage.
The Destruction 'Run-Wattage' of the 600 Watt TVS diodes? who knows? But i bet it is less than 1100 watts.
I will not trust my life to one of those.
Then there is another issue with power amplifiers, that is if they get a short or even just a high run current.
I use Series fuses, One is a fast blow to take care of the power-on inrush current, and also if there is a 'Hot Start'.
The other is a slow blow that takes care of the 'Run-current' of the amplifier.
I start with small current value fuses, and find out if I have to increase the value of one or the other (not all inrush currents are the same, depending on when you throw the switch).
And, if your power mains vary, like mine do (117V to 123V), the 'Run-current' of the amplifier varies.
One amplifier I designed, would finally blow the 0.5A slow blow after about 3 months (inrush transients can slowly degrade a slow blow, so I increased to a 600mA (0.6A) slow blow. The fuse I needed for the inrush current was a 1.25A fast blow.
If any thing goes wrong with the amplifier, it is reasonably certain that one or the other fuses will open, and prevent a fire.
I only use 250V fuses, a 120V fuse for my 123V power mains is not something I want to rely on.
Safety is about prediction of what is the worst that can happen, and designing to take care of that possibility.
Safety First!
Last edited: