Automotive Fuses are electrical device that helps to cut off a circuit connection in case of excess amperage or voltage through the circuit that could damage the component or system. Most electrical and electronic components or devices are usually fused in their circuit, every circuit has a maximum amount of amperage or voltage allowed to go through it, the fuse is used to control the amount of amperage from the power source to the device or components which is being powered. For more information get our free books Here and our free automotive courses Here.
When excess amount of current above the fuse limit the fuse is blown out and damaged, a bad or damaged can be physically observed as the conductor in a damaged is usually open circuit. When the fuse is bad the circuit is opened, therefore causing power to be shut off from the component or system.
The fuses in the vehicle are usually located in the fuses box, the automotive fuse box may also contain relays; the fuses are usually pulled out using special pliers. The amperage on the fuse can be tested using the multimeter; the Automotive fuses usually have two terminals which the testing led of the multimeter can be placed on them in any order for the amperage test.
HOW TO TEST FUSES
Fuses can be tested either by
Physical examination
Multimeter
Testlight
The fuse is a device that helps to connect two circuits together, it aids flow of current. The fuse is made up of a fragile conductor which usually breaks or burns out when current higher than it is designed for flows through it. This is to protect the electrical or electronic devices from high current that can damage them coming from the power source.
The fuse usually have two terminals on it top, these two terminals are for testing the fuse. To test the automotive fuses you would use the two lids on the two terminals.
PHYSICAL EXAMINATION ON FUSES
Fuses are usually cased with a transparent plastic material which is to ensure one can view through it to inspect the connection if it has been tempered with or not. If the connection is still intact then the fuse is good, but if the connection is broken, burnt out or corroded then the fuse has to be replaced.
When inspect the fuse with our physical eyes we should carefully observe it as there maybe tiny breakage within the conductor or the connection. If there any tiny breakage within the fuse it would not allow continuous flow of electric charge or power.
There are also other types of fuses which cannot be tested with testlights or multimeter, these fuses are usually fuses with amperage above 30, these fused can only be tested or checked through physical examination expect the transparent cap is being remove which is not a right practices.
These fuses might not actually be broken or have open circuit for them to be faulty, a much corroded fuse would not supply the require amount of voltage or current required in that circuit to power it device. This corroded fuse may result in malfunction in the electrical circuit or system. Such corroded fuse may pass continuity test but would not supply the required number of voltage or current needed.
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