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Keep blowing fuse but it's working for everyone else?

5K views 33 replies 18 participants last post by  woodbutcherbynight 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I see that many people have success using electrical outlets w/ remote control on/off to activate their DC and even w/ the Harbor Freight DC.

I have the HF DC and it doesn't blow the circuit where it's plugged in now. I don't know if it's 15 or 20A circuit. However when I plug in the remote control outlet, turning on the HF DC immediately blows the fuse. I figured, okay it's probably 20A and the outlet is 15A fuse so I went to an electronics store and bought a 20A fuse and came home and opened up the little unit and replaced the fuse with the 20A.

But when I plug it in and turn on the HF, again it immediately blows the fuse? The guy at the electronics store said this should work and prevent blowing. I don't know what I did wrong but if it's a 20A fuse and it doesn't blow a 15A or 20A circuit then why would it blow this fuse?

FYI - it's a slow blow fuse so it supposed to allow for that high initial pull.

If I can't figure out the fuse thing, is there something wrong with bypassing the fuse in the plug?

Thanks.
 
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#3 ·
First off NEVER, NEVER, NEVER replace a fuse with one rated higher than is supposed to be in something. NEVER!

The fuse is there for a reason. The problem is NOT that the fuse blows. The problem is what is causing the fuse to blow. You can always put in a large enough fuse so it won't blow. But at that point, why have a fuse at all?

And yes bypassing the fuse is a bad idea. Again, it's blowing for a reason. Either the switch is defective in some way, or you are simply drawing too much current. Maybe your DC is defective. Just becasue it doesn't blow your breaker means almost nothing. A breaker is not a fuse, and there are significant variations between identical fuses and breakers. The ratings are nominal.

You might even have a defective breaker and it should be tripping. It happens.

If you are blowing a 20 A, slow-blow fuse quickly, you are drawing a lot more than 20 A.

Are you sure the remote switch is appropriate for this application. You say others do the same thing, but are you using the same make and model of remote switch?

I'm not much help I know, but you really want to get to the root cause of this, and not simply put on a bigger band aid.
 
#4 ·
The breaker trips as I have tripped it before when starting 2 machines. But understood - breaker and fuse not the same thing.

If you search the forums here tons of people are using remote switches, christmas light remote switches etc with the same DC - the Harbor Freight fake 2HP one and they all say it works like a charm so was really surprised that it was popping the outlet.

After putting new fuse in, tested it with a shop Vac in another outlet and it worked. Moved it back to the outlet the DC was on but used the Shop Vac and it worked. The DC blew it. Removed the remote control outlet and plug DC directly into outlet - works.

As you probably figured out by now, I know nothing about electrical stuff. Thanks for your advice thus far and to come.
 
#5 ·
The breaker trips as I have tripped it before when starting 2 machines. But understood - breaker and fuse not the same thing.

If you search the forums here tons of people are using remote switches, christmas light remote switches etc with the same DC - the Harbor Freight fake 2HP one and they all say it works like a charm so was really surprised that it was popping the outlet.

After putting new fuse in, tested it with a shop Vac in another outlet and it worked. Moved it back to the outlet the DC was on but used the Shop Vac and it worked. The DC blew it. Removed the remote control outlet and plug DC directly into outlet - works.

As you probably figured out by now, I know nothing about electrical stuff. Thanks for your advice thus far and to come.

- WorksInTheory
Does the switch in the DC have some sort of slow start feature in it that prevents a big initial rush of current because if it does and it is just always switched on so the remote can turn it on that would be why there could be a big inrush of current that isn't there when you just plug the DC in and use its switch to turn it on and off.

Could also be your DC draws high current for some reason such as having builtup debris in the blower, or it could be that outlet it is in has wiring problems ie not a properly wired outlet.
 
#6 ·
I don't know if the wiring is an issue, like I said everything else works on that outlet properly. It might have a slow start feature, it's not quite instant on, there is a wind up.

I could try to plug the whole set up to another outlet, just weary of keep blowing more fuses - didn't get that many.
 
#8 ·
I don t know if the wiring is an issue, like I said everything else works on that outlet properly. It might have a slow start feature, it s not quite instant on, there is a wind up.

I could try to plug the whole set up to another outlet, just weary of keep blowing more fuses - didn t get that many.

- WorksInTheory
In the electrical sections of hardware stores you can find a plug that goes into an outlet, it has three lights on the back of it to display if the outlet is wired correctly or not. They cost about $5, I find mine very useful.

 
#9 ·
Unless they've changed them, the switch on the HF DC is just a switch.

I think it's probably one of two things:
1. The remote switch is defective. Try plugging some other piece of machinery into the switch and see if you still trip the breaker.

2. You are on the border of tripping the breaker all the time with the DC and are just barely sneaking by. With the extra power draw of the switch, that's just enough to put you over the limit for the breaker.

There is a potential that the problem is your specific circuit. Try using an extension cord to another outlet in your house.

Mike
 
#11 ·
Ok I realize after the last post that I probably mis-read the OPs situation.

I thought they were tripping the breaker, but it seems like the fuse in the remote is tripping? In that case, then InstantSiv is on the right track as my measurements showed the HF DC definitely drawing more than 20 amps at startup for 1 or 2 seconds until the fan gets up to speed.

Mike
 
#18 ·
I can tell you for sure that the HF DC pulls 70A for a second or so on startup. Most of those remote switches are not motor rated and will work depending on the quality of the internals. Long term they will most likely fail because of the high startup amperage of motors burning up the relay.
 
#20 ·
It almost has to be the startup inrush of current that's blowing the fuse. I'd suggest getting a different model remote (and return the one you have). DC's really suck some amps when they are trying to spin that heavy impeller up on start up.
 
#22 ·
You DC draws more than 15 amps on startup. Turning on a few watts worth of Christmas lights does not take as much juice as starting a heavy motor. You need a remote switch made for your application - just because other people have gotten lucky with a cheap switch is no guarantee you will.
 
#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
A Kill-A-Watt is handy for measuring how much power your tools are drawing. It will show you how many amps are being used at any giving time and also measures the kilowatts over time. I've used it to determine which appliances in my house are using significant power even when not in use.

If you are using one of those remotes designed for something other than motors (like for xmas lights), it probably cannot handle the surge of the the DC motor. I use one that is only rated for 13 amps for my shop vac and it works fine but for a DC, you need to get a remote specifically designed for that. Rockler, PSI, iVac and Peachtree all sell units for this purpose. If you have one designed for motors, it must be defective and I would return it.
 
#24 ·
Okay everyone thanks for all the advice. I thought I'd give an update of where I am. I solve the issue by hooking up a contactor so that the DC pulls power through there and used the remote outlet as a switch for the contactor to close the circuit. That way none of the amp pull when the DC starts up is going through the remote outlet!
 
#25 ·
I am curious what contactor and remote switches you actually used. It would interesting for future reference to see if what you did might be cheaper than some of the all-in-one units that are specifically designed for this purpose.
 
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