Under what general circumstances can AC fuses be directly used in DC circuits?

Question: What are the general circumstances that would let me use an AC-rated fuse in a DC circuit? Are there any rules of thumb?
Answer: It’s not recommended. However, according to experience, using a 220VAC fuse in a DC environment below 100V generally causes no problems.

This operation usually doesn’t comply with regular specifications or poses certain risks. If your system is particularly vulnerable or mission-critical, you should use appropriately rated fuses.
But if there is sufficient margin, for example, when using a 220VAC-rated fuse in a DC environment below 100V, based on past practical experience, it generally won’t cause any issues.

More Littelfuse circuit protection products

Littelfuse Circuit Protection products provide stable and reliable signal transmission guarantee for all kinds of precision electronic devices by virtue of their precise adjustment relationship with capacitance, dynamic resistance, etc. in terms of high-frequency characteristics, and their performance is excellent in the industry.

More Q&A on Littelfuse Circuit Protection Products Technology:

I. Questions Related to Component Characteristics

  1. What are the classifications of gas discharge tubes?

  2. Littelfuse new MOV+Sidactor thyristor vehicle charging solution technological innovations

  3. In Littelfuse circuit protection products, what kind of current is I in I²t?

  4. What are the differences between discharge tubes and metal oxide varistors?

II. Questions Related to Selection

  1. How to select metal oxide varistors for overvoltage protection?

  2. Do Littelfuse overcurrent protection fuses/circuit breakers have self-resetting function?

  3. The difference in the selection of overvoltage / overcurrent between AC and DC input terminals?

  4. When to Use PTC Resettable Fuses and Metal Fuses?

  5. What parameters differ between surface mount and through hole fuse selections?

  6. Under what general circumstances can AC components be directly used in DC circuits?

  7. Can the method of paralleling small-capacity fuses be used to achieve the purpose of fast fusing?

III. Questions Related to Applications

  1. What design requirements for overcurrent and overvoltage protection?

  2. In which fields are gas discharge tubes mainly applied? Do they have directionality?

  3. Are overcurrent and overvoltage protection for AC/DC power inputs used in charging piles?

  4. Can Littelfuse Circuit Protection Products Protect Against Overvoltage and Overcurrent?

  5. How to understand the fuse explosion-proof test?

  6. How to specifically know the time of time-delay fusing fuses?