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Is it safe to use a higher amperage rating fuse?

Today was my 2nd attempt at trying out Synergistic Research fuses.  About 3 years ago when I had separates, including mono block amps, I bought a set of Blue fuses.  One component had a mfg spec of 250mA and the retailer said go with 315mA.  My two mono block amps each had a 6.3A.  When I installed them one of them blew upon powering up.  The retailer said we should go up to the next rating.  I was a bit frustrated at the experience and didn't feel comfortable putting higher values in my expensive components.  I felt these expensive fuses should be made to tighter tolerances than the cheap BUSS fuses I had been using.  If I remember correctly, that was the actual argument that the dealer told me.  They are mfg to tighter tolerances so a 5A SR fuse was almost dead-on 5A while a cheap fuse may actually be 5.3A or whatever.  This also was a bit confusing at the time so I sent them all back.

Okay...3 years have passed and now I have a single integrated amp which has a 5A fuse.  Much less to invest in the upgrade so I ordered an Orange.  It came in today...installed....pressed power...on and off went the amp.  DAMN!!  I contacted the retailer and SR on the same email.  This was a different dealer from 3 years ago.  The retailer said I should go to the next value up.  I said no and and they are waiting for the tracking info of my return shipment.

I did a quick search of my question before posting and saw a thread about the Red fuses and someone said they had to do the exact same thing.  Is everyone putting higher rated fuses in their gear that is worth thousands of dollars?  Is there no risk in this?  I admit that I don't know what could actually happen from that.  It seems that other things could burn up if a higher amperage fuse is in place.  I am compelled to simply stick to the mfg specs for something that I don't understand because I don't want to create problems just from a simple tweak.

Should I let them ship me a 6.3A or just be done with this?
dhite71
dhite71 OP
315 posts
 
To stick with the MFG recommended rated fuse was my feeling and I am certain of this choice now.  I didn't intend for this thread to spark the debate of whether a fuse offers a sonic advantage.  I would like to know if all those high-end fuse lovers, specifically from Synergistic Research are bumping up to the next amperage.  Is this a quality issue with SR?  Are there other brands that are more accurate in their rating where if I buy a 5A fuse it will work just like my Bussman 5A fuse regarding the protection limit?  
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
Go up a value. 
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
If only common sense were actually common..... the whole point of the fuse is to not burn your house down. Has nothing to do with protecting your precious expensive equipment. For proof of that look no further than all the millions of people who have blown resistors, tubes, transistors, fill in the blank, and not blown a fuse. Look how many amps fail while the fuse is just fine. That is not what they are there for. They do not protect against surges. All they are designed to do is in the event of some dramatic short that might cause the component to go up in flames the current draw will cause the fuse to blow first. 

That is all.  

Once you understand this then, oh but wait no common sense.

Okay, try again. Why does the fuse blow in the first place? They are all made out of very thin wire. The idea is the thin wire gets hot and burns out first. Without the fuse if for any reason the component draws more current than it is wired to handle, well at that point a whole lot of wires could just possibly get hot enough to start a fire. The whole point of the fuse is to blow before this happens. 

Committees and politicians and fire departments - pretty much everyone but audiophiles - then gets involved and that is how we wind up with all these screwy tiny little amperage ratings, in a hundred different values, when really all we need is one wire somewhere that will blow before the rest get hot enough to burn. 

Me being one of the few actually has common sense, when mine blew I didn't go up one baby step I doubled the damn thing. Why not? There are guys soldering wires straight across simply because it sounds better. I think it is great Synergistic will replace for free any that you blow. But I don't like the hassle and I know there is ZERO RISK so I bump em all up. Some of em are probably 3x, 4x whatever the stock fuse was.  

We now return you to our regularly scheduled neuroticism.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,539 posts
 
I would think you should have gotten the message by now. Making reliable accurate fuses requires a lot knowledge, science and experience which little companies can not afford. Go out and get a tin of Buss fuses the right size and be happy, you will not find a better fuse anywhere. If anyone thinks those designer fuses improve sound quality it is purely psychological. Spend your money on better equipment not garbage like designer fuses and cable elevators. 
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Me being one of the few actually has common sense, when mine blew I didn't go up one baby step I doubled the damn thing. Why not? There are guys soldering wires straight across simply because it sounds better.

I highly recommend that you DO NOT do this.  This kind of thing is never good advice.  Anything you do similar is AT YOUR OWN RISK.
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