Fischer Panda ANL Fuse or Circuit Breaker?

[Meanwhile]

I found the 100Amp ANL fuse at the very edge behind my battery Selector switches. It was hidden from view by the switch case. I moved it to an inside wall that I can easily reach.

So is there a reason I can't replace this fuse with a 100 AMP circuit breaker? Is the ANL fuse special in some way (slow or fast)?

 

[grady33]

i blew a few before realizing the panda starter needed replacing. I would leave it along or perhaps call Fisher Panda customer service and ask them. Not sure if Jim is still there —-


James C Gag on
Service Manager
Fischer Panda Generators USA
service@fischerpanda.com
800-508-6494
954-462-2800

 

[wspitler]

If it was me, I would continue to use a fuse. Fuses are faster acting and a lot less susceptible to corrosion and considerably cheaper. A 100 amp Circuit breaker is considerably larger and more expensive. In addition it does not act quite as quickly as a fuse which either melts or does not. There may also be a slight difference in the internal resistance of the devices.

 

[seasick]

Those 100a model fuses are ignition protected which may or not be required for your installation. The key difference is the tripping profile. The fuse can handle very large inrush currents for short times. For example, it can carry 150 amps for just about 10 seconds without blowing. If it blows repeatedly, something else is wrong and replacing it with a breaker is not an appropriate solution.

 

[everwhom]

You could compare these two charts:

https://www.bluesea.com/products/5125/ANL_Fuse_-_100_Amp

https://www.bluesea.com/products/7144/187-Series_Circuit_Breaker_-_Surface_Mount_100A

Looks like in a dead short situation, the ANL fuse would blow in .2 seconds, but the breaker would take 1 second. No idea if that .8 seconds is important... probably not? Beyond that 1 second the graphs look reasonably similar.

FWIW, I have a 200 amp blue sea breaker protecting the power to a 2000w inverter from 2 Group 31 AGM batteries. That unit was recommended by the mfg's local installer.

 

[everwhom]

But I agree - you shouldn't be blowing that fuse!