About fuses on HVACR Gear
About fuses on HVACR Gear
We have a heat pump that is 3 phase 208V and the name plate calls for a Max Breaker size of 15A. The circuit serving the heat pump is on a 3P 30A breaker. The Disconnect at the heat pump is fusable. Is it acceptible to install 15A fuses at the disconnect in lieu of changing the Breaker to 15A?
Fuses on a 3 phase line are the quickest way under the sun to destroy a compressor that in many cases could be saved. I have seen it scores of times and the discussion persists. While some so called modern machines have single phase protection, many do not. A breaker can trip, while one blown fuse can cause major and expensive destruction. There are fault conditions that cause those fuses to blow that can happen that do not indicate a major problem with the compressor proper. This is where the trouble starts and why they are an inferior protection scheme from the equipment standpoint. Just the facts from the HVACR side. One would think that the design community would have gotten on the same page as long as this has been going on, but in many cases matters have gotten far worse and the gear keeps getting thinner every year because everything has been $$ monetized. This one simple fact leads to bad Engineering, poor quality systems, and a throw away, " you need a new one " mindset among the population.
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