11-Aug-2017, 19:15
(This post was last modified: 11-Aug-2017, 19:22 by Rufus McDufus.)
The fuse is there to protect the power cord. The reason why the UK has fuses in the plug is because of the common use of ring circuits, which virtually all other countries do not use. Ring circuits enable the use of thinner mains cable in the wall. Anecdotally the reason the UK adopted ring circuits was to conserve copper usage during and just after WW2. Typically ring circuits have 30A or 32A fuses/breakers, which is quite a bit in excess of the capability of most thin electrical cables supplied with gadgets, so a fuse is needed at the plug as well.
In Guillaume's and my case, we're specifically using radial circuits (commonly known as spurs) which do not require such high current breakers at the consumer unit (we both have 10A breakers), so the need for a fuse in the plug is negated. This is basically emulating the system used in most other countries in the world, though 10A or thereabouts is usually considered a 'low current' circuit and is quite easy to trip. I trip mine turning the amp on sometimes, which is both reassuring and a bit annoying. Putting a non-fused cable on a ring circuit would be a very bad idea (edit - though it's worth pointing out that audio power cables are typically much thicker and capable of carrying much higher currents than the usual thin power cord).
In Guillaume's and my case, we're specifically using radial circuits (commonly known as spurs) which do not require such high current breakers at the consumer unit (we both have 10A breakers), so the need for a fuse in the plug is negated. This is basically emulating the system used in most other countries in the world, though 10A or thereabouts is usually considered a 'low current' circuit and is quite easy to trip. I trip mine turning the amp on sometimes, which is both reassuring and a bit annoying. Putting a non-fused cable on a ring circuit would be a very bad idea (edit - though it's worth pointing out that audio power cables are typically much thicker and capable of carrying much higher currents than the usual thin power cord).
