Automotive fuses are a class of fuses used to protect the wiring and electrical equipment for vehicles. They are generally rated for circuits no higher than 32 volts direct current, but some types are rated for 42-volt electrical systems. They are occasionally used in non-automotive electrical products.
Blade type
Blade fuses, with a plastic body and two prongs that fit into sockets, are mostly used in automobiles. Each fuse is printed with the rated current in amperes on the top. These types of fuses come in six different physical dimensions:
Micro2.
Micro3.
LP-mini, also known as low-profile mini.Unofficially, the "low-profile mini" fuse is sometimes incorrectly called "Micro" since the term means smaller than mini, but recently fuses using the Micro name have been released.
Regular blade-type fuses, also known as standard, were developed in 1976 as ATO by Littelfuse for low voltage use in motor vehicles. Bussmann makes the ATC that also complies with the same ISO 8820-3 and SAE J1284 standards.
Maxi, heavy-duty.
Mount
Blade type fuses can be mounted in:
Fuse blocks. Fuseblocks offer a method of mounting several fuses together or large fuses separately.
In-line fuse holders, with two standards: IEC-publication 257 1968 Amendment no. 2 to this publication dated January 1989 and UL-standard no. 512. They help to save space. An inline fuse is often seen in add-on electrical accessories, where the manufacturer does not know the electrical current limit of the circuit you are going to patch into. This offers sufficient protection for that individual accessory, without regard to any other devices that might share the same circuit.
Dual slot fuse holders let you turn one fuse slot into two.
Where space permits, a miniature circuit breaker is sometimes used to replace a blade-type fuse in the same fuse holder. Blade fuses use a common coloring scheme for the Micro2, Micro3, low-profile Mini, Mini, and regular size fuses, and a partial color similarity with the maxi size fuses. The following table shows the commonly available fuses for each size group.
Regular fuses rated 0.5 A, 35 A and 40 A are not mentioned in the DIN standards, but are available in some products from Littelfuse, among others.
Bosch type
type fuses are used in old automobiles. The physical dimension of this type of fuse is 6×25 mm with conical ends. Bosch type fuses usually use the same color-coding for the rated current. The DIN standard is 72581/1.
Color coding
Lucas type
type fuses are used in old British-made or assembled automobiles. The physical length of the Lucas ceramic type of fuse is either 1 inch or 1.25 inch, with conical ends. Lucas Glass tube fuses have straight ends. Lucas type fuses usually use the same color-coding for the rated current. Lucas fuses have three ratings; the continuous current they are designed to carry, the instantaneous current at which they will fuse, and the continuous current at which they will also fuse. The figure found on Lucas fuses is the continuous fusing current which is twice the continuous ampere rating that the system should be using; this can be a source of confusion when replacing Lucas fuses with non Lucas fuses. The Lucas 1/4" diameter glass tube fuse have a different length as compared to the standard US item. The Lucas 1/4" diameter glass tube fuse is 1 and 5/32" long, while the US standard 1/4" glass tube fuse is 1 and 1/4" long. However many Lucas fuse holders permit the longer U.S. version to be installed easily.
Color coding
Glass tube type
North-American built automobiles up to at least 1986 had electrical systems protected by cylindrical glass cartridge fuses rated 32 volts DC and current ratings from 4 amperes to 30 amperes. These are known as "SFE" fuses, as they were designed by the Society of Fuse Engineers to prevent the insertion of a grossly inadequate or unsafe fuse into the vehicle's fuse panel. These SFE fuses all have a inch diameter, and the length varies according to the rating of the fuse.
A 4 A SFE 4 fuse is inch long,
a 6 A SFE 6 fuse is inch long,
a 7.5 A SFE 7.5 fuse is inch long,
a 9 A SFE 9 fuse is inch long,
a 14 A SFE 14 fuse is 1 inch long,
a 20 A SFE 20 fuse is 1 inch long, and
a 30 A SFE 30 fuse is 1 inches long.
There are a number of lookalike fuses which can easily be confused with these. In general this type of fuse will have an "AG" label of some kind, which originally stood for "Automobile Glass". There are at least seven different sizes of fuses with a 1/4 inch diameter. The fuses listed are the most common for the size, which is always a fast-acting fuse:
1AG size, type AGA, 1 A to 30 A, 1/4 inch diameter by inch long
2AG size, type AGB, 0.177" diameter by 0.588" long
3AG size, type AGC, 0.125 A to 50 A, 1/4 inch diameter by 1 inch long
4AG size, type AGS, inch diameter by 1 inch long
5AG size, type AGU, 1 A to 60 A, inch diameter by 1 inch long. Also called "Midget fuses."
7AG size, type AGW, 1 A to 30 A, 1/4 inch diameter by inch long
8AG size, type AGX, 1 A to 30 A, 1/4 inch diameter by 1 inch long
9AG size, type AGY, 50 A, 1/4 inch diameter by 1 inch long
UK size, type UK, 35 A to 50 A, 1/4 inch diameter by 1 inch long
These and other fuses are still being manufactured for many applications, including for AC circuits and DC uses. Some are time delayed, slow reacting, or have leads for terminals used in circuits without a fuse holder. Many of the fuse dimensions and characteristics are published by the Society of Automotive Engineers as Standard SAE J 554.
Limiter type
Limiter fuses consist of a metal strip from a lock plate, for currents over 40 amperes. Frequently, these are used in close proximity to starter battery fuse boxes. They are used also in electric vehicles, e.g., in forklift trucks. Because strip fuses require the use of tools for replacement they are therefore legally considered non-serviceable components for end-users.
