Blown fuse

[beacon14]

So I'm knee deep in MDF dust and had the occaision to use the E-stop button for the first (and second and third times) today - previously I've always been nearer to the keyboard and used the space bar for panic stops. I was taking deep cuts in MDF, 1/2" per pass, bit started wobbling in the material or something. I was able to stop it quickly before any major damage was done, but now the 30Amp fuse is blown. I seem to have full movement capability and I can hear the relay tripping when switch #1 is turned on or off but the router will not start.

Is this a simple matter of replacing the fuse and getting back to work or is there something more sinister going on? It is not unusual for me to be the victim of weird coincidences and circumstances - is it possible that it was just time for the fuse to blow or did the tripping of the E-stop push it over the edge?

Can I run the machine with the router plugged into an extention cord (not controlled by the ShopBot) until I can locate a replacement fuse? I don't want to risk making a small problem big, but if I don't get back into production tomorrow, it will be a big problem anyway.

How often can we expect these fuses to blow? Do most people keep extras on hand for this reason?

It's a PRTAlpha with Porter-Cable router, about 15 months old, not used everyday or even every week. Where is the best place to find these kind of fuses?

So many questions, I know, any help is appreciated.

[bleeth]

Dave-No problem running with the router power being independant of the controller. I've always run that way. For the rest (Which fuse etc.) I'd call SB in the morning. Using the e-stop shouldn't blow a fuse-after all it's just a switch. Alternately if you take the fuse to a wholesale electrical supply house they should be able to identify it by specific number for you and either suppply it or point you in the right direction.
As far as the cause, it sounds like the fuse did it's job-If the router got bogged down in the mdf then there may have been an overload on the circuit. I always buy a couple extra fuses whenever I have one blow. Good protection against faulty parts.

[Brady Watson]

David,
You can get the fuse at Home Depot. They usually have them loose in bins...the little white/green ones right?

-Brady

[grant]

David, blowing a fuse is not a common occurrence, the only situations I know of where that has happened there was some sort of wiring problem. In your case we ought to change fuses and see if it was a fluke or if the issue persists. We'll make sure you get back up and running.

Best regards,

Grant Bailey
ShopBot Tools Inc.
1-888-680-4466

[beacon14]

Thanks for the quick responses. Grant also called me this morning. I guess I pretty much knew all the above (except the part about buying fuses at Home Depot - that never even occurred to me), but in a pinch it's great to have some other heads to bounce things off of.
The weirdest part is that when I put the 15A fuse back in this morning it was blown too!? It was fine when I took it out last night - surely testing it with my little Radio Shack voltmeter didn't hurt it (I'm pretty sure the voltmeter puts out less than 15 amps!).
Anyway, turns out there's a fuse wholesaler (talk about a niche market) 10 minutes from me that takes walk-in business. I was back up and running pretty quick.
Now on to conquer the next problem.
Thanks again all.

[gerald_d]

David, sounds like you have an intermittent fault that has blown 2 fuses so far..... Aren't the wires in the power cord perhaps shorting out when the cord is bent a certain way? Or something else like that?

[beacon14]

Gerald,

It seems more like a fluke than an intermittant fault. There does seem to be an explanation for the 30 Amp fuse blowing, not sure about the 15 Amp but it has never happened before in 15 months and I ran the machine for several hours today, doing the same operation as yesterday with no further problems. (I adjusted the toolpath to eliminate the spot where the router was bogging down.)

In any case, the fuses protect two separate entities - what kind of fault would cause both to blow, but not at the same time? As I said yesterday, "It is not unusual for me to be the victim of weird coincidences and circumstances". If we ever get together for a beer I'll regale you with some of the freak things that have occurred in my life - I can't tell you how many repair men have said to me "I've never seen THAT happen before"!

[3imoh]

Just thought I would mention that those fuses don't seem available at the Home Depot (or Lowes for that matter). They have similar fuses, but the ones in the SB have a special tip on them, and are just a bit longer. We got some replacements through Grainger.

[beacon14]

Grainger gets $4 more per fuse than the place I lucked into. If you are interested in stocking up the savings might offset the shipping - and if you have to have Grainger ship them to you the savings would be even higher.

Fuseco (http://fusecoinc.com/)

Their part numbers are GOSATDR15 (15Amp) and GOSATDR30 (30 Amp)