fuses you can reset instead of replace

[n0oxy]

I figured this was the best area to post this question since it relates somewhat to appliances, or general electrical wiring and somewhat to vacuums. First a bit of background, I had a 240 volt outlet installed to power my 240 volt central vacuum units. It turns out that in my kitchen I had a 240 volt hook up for an electric stove that I am not using since my stove is natural gas. In the dining room is an outlet that branches off from this, apparently it was originally a 240 volt outlet, probably used for a window air conditioner but was converted to 120 volt when the apartment building got central air. Since the wiring was already there, it was very easy for the electrician to convert it back in to a 240 volt outlet. In the kitchen is a small box that controls this circuit and it has two 20 amp fuses in it. Now for my question, I have heard that fuses are available that actually have a circuit breaker on them so that if they do blow, you simply reset them like a circuit breaker rather than having to replace them. Of course, if this continues to happen it probably means you have an electrical issue, everything is working fine, I would just rather have circuit breakers instead of fuses installed here. The fuses screw in like a light bulb so I'm assuming they are Edison screw, is that a common standard for fuses? I've searched on line for circuit breaker fuses but have not come up with much but I have read that these are also called minibreakers. Does what I am talking about even exist and if so, is there an official name for them? Come to think of it, would there even be a demand for something like that anymore since everything now uses circuit breakers which would make fuses obsolete? Hopefully what I am asking makes sense, if not, let me know and I will try to explain better.
Mike

 

[human]

I've never heard of such, but it seems like a fairly clever idea, provided it was cost effective. I've never lived in a house with screw-in fuses so I have no idea how often they blow or how much they cost.

 

[tolivac]

At one time a fuse-circuit breaker device was available-in 15,20A haven't seen them anymore.In one apartment I lived in they had fuses-safety fuses,15,20A the base on them was different so you couldn't interchange them.

 

[madman]

Yes, those exist. I have seen several in old houses that still have 100 amp service and the old fashioned screw in fuses. I looked on amazon for you, apparently that type of fuse is called an Edison base fuse (who would've thought?). It was difficult to search for, but I was able to find a 20 amp one, and I used its model number with 15 instead of 20 and was able to find it no problem. The link below is for the 15 amp version.

The model numbers are as follows:
MB-15 for 15 amp
MB-20 for 20 amp

'MB' apparently standing for 'mini breaker.' They are probably also available at your local hardware store or home depot, etc. On amazon, they are about $10 each. It does say 125 volts only, but if there are 2 fuses for a single 240 volt circuit, there should be no problem. I don't know if they make a higher ampacity, but I don't think you'll need more than 20 amps for a central vac.

Also, it's kind of strange that there is a secondary fuse box for that window air conditioner circuit. I wonder if it was originally tapped into the electric stove circuit. That would explain the presence of that box in the kitchen. Are you sure that this fuse box is even still active? You've said before that the window A/C circuit had a breaker in the breaker box. Maybe just unscrew the fuses and check whether it disables the circuit.

https://www.amazon.com/Bussmann-BP-...rds=bussmann+mb-15&qid=1581917032&sr=8-1&th=1

 

[n0oxy]

thanks, I found them

Thanks for the information, I found them at Home Depot. I was a bit surprised that they were that easily available because most houses and apartments have been switched to circuit breakers by now.
To reply to Mad Man's post, yes, that outlet in the dining room definitely branches off from that box in the kitchen. The outlet does not work if the fuses are not installed and there is also a switch on the box in the kitchen that will turn off the outlet. I'm guessing originally that whoever did the wiring figured that this was the easiest way to get 240 volts to the dining room, then when the building had central air installed, that outlet was converted in to a 120 volt outlet, and now it's back to its original configuration of a 240 volt outlet.
I now have two of the circuit breaker fuses installed in the box and it's working great, I will keep the fuses I removed just in case they are needed.
Mike