Why such wide price difference in fuses?

[Hammy]

I was looking for a 0.75 to 0.8A fuse for a PSU I've built and there's
a very wide price difference in what seems to me to be similar fuses.
I've been curious as to why this is the case for a while.

For example this fuse 0.8A SLO BLO 5 X 20MM IS only $0.670

http://www.littelfuse.com/data/en/Data_Sheets/239.pdf

And this similar fuse is $3.40 from Bussman.

http://www.cooperbussmann.com/pdf/97f03692-104e-46be-88dd-cff38581f811.pdf

The bussman fuse is t 5 times the cost of the littlefuse one. I don't
see any reason to justify this?

 

[Paul E. Schoen]

"Hammy" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
news:i5t366paqhn3k998675gv8e2015ueqdr2k@4ax.com...

I was looking for a 0.75 to 0.8A fuse for a PSU I've built and there's
a very wide price difference in what seems to me to be similar fuses.
I've been curious as to why this is the case for a while.

For example this fuse 0.8A SLO BLO 5 X 20MM IS only $0.670

http://www.littelfuse.com/data/en/Data_Sheets/239.pdf

And this similar fuse is $3.40 from Bussman.

http://www.cooperbussmann.com/pdf/97f03692-104e-46be-88dd-cff38581f811.pdf

The bussman fuse is t 5 times the cost of the littlefuse one. I don't
see any reason to justify this?

It seems like the axial lead version is a lot more expensive than the
cartridge type for the Cooper/Bussman GMC version fuses. Ceramic versions
are more expensive, and there may be differences in interrupting rating or
delay characteristics. Usually Bussman and Littelfuse are similar in cost,
while you can get some other brands cheaper. Some imports are very cheap,
but there may be some liability issues if an X-brand fuse fails to provide
protection.

I checked Mouser, and there is a lot of price variation with no apparent
reason. Best to shop around. And their price for the Bussmann GMC 0.75A is
$0.69 each. The 0.8A is $0.90. Probably not as common ampere rating.

Paul

 

[Hammy]

On Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:27:45 -0400, "Paul E. Schoen"
<paul@pstech-inc.com> wrote:

"Hammy" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
news:i5t366paqhn3k998675gv8e2015ueqdr2k@4ax.com...

I was looking for a 0.75 to 0.8A fuse for a PSU I've built and there's
a very wide price difference in what seems to me to be similar fuses.
I've been curious as to why this is the case for a while.

For example this fuse 0.8A SLO BLO 5 X 20MM IS only $0.670

http://www.littelfuse.com/data/en/Data_Sheets/239.pdf

And this similar fuse is $3.40 from Bussman.

http://www.cooperbussmann.com/pdf/97f03692-104e-46be-88dd-cff38581f811.pdf

The bussman fuse is t 5 times the cost of the littlefuse one. I don't
see any reason to justify this?

It seems like the axial lead version is a lot more expensive than the
cartridge type for the Cooper/Bussman GMC version fuses. Ceramic versions
are more expensive, and there may be differences in interrupting rating or
delay characteristics. Usually Bussman and Littelfuse are similar in cost,
while you can get some other brands cheaper. Some imports are very cheap,
but there may be some liability issues if an X-brand fuse fails to provide
protection.

There are some much cheaper from MultiComp (SPC) Newark has them from
0.40 cents to 0.19 cents.

I was curious as to why the large difference. It seems some of the
expensive ones they have in large quantity. I usually assume this as
an indicator of popularity and wondered why. I guess it could also be
they screwed up and over judged demand?

I checked Mouser, and there is a lot of price variation with no apparent
reason. Best to shop around. And their price for the Bussmann GMC 0.75A is
$0.69 each. The 0.8A is $0.90. Probably not as common ampere rating.

Paul

 

[Hammy]

On Wed, 11 Aug 2010 07:09:09 -0400, Hammy <spam@spam.com> wrote:


I should have added I paid $4.99 for two 1A 250VAC 5X20mm fuses from
the Source by City,( Canada's Rat Shack). These are made by a company
called Nexxtech.

The mark-up is easily a hundred percent.

I know they are effective given my scientific method of testing. I
soldered in my bulk input aluminum cap the wrong polarity
instantaneous fuse vaporization. This was done on purpose and is a
standard testing procedure recognized by numerous regulatory bodies,
but nobody believes me.;-)

I was impressed the cap didn't blow up 170VDC in reverse Panasonic
makes good caps. ;-)

 

[George Herold]

On Aug 11, 7:23 am, Hammy <s...@spam.com> wrote:

On Wed, 11 Aug 2010 07:09:09 -0400, Hammy <s...@spam.com> wrote:

I should have added I paid $4.99 for two 1A 250VAC 5X20mm fuses from
the Source by City,( Canada's Rat Shack). These are made by a company
called Nexxtech.

The mark-up is easily a hundred percent.

I know they are effective given my scientific method of testing. I
soldered in my bulk input aluminum cap the wrong polarity
instantaneous fuse vaporization. This was done on purpose and is a
standard testing procedure recognized by numerous regulatory bodies,
but nobody believes me.;-)

 I was impressed the cap didn't blow up 170VDC in reverse Panasonic
makes good caps. ;-)

"Panasonic makes good caps."

I liked their caps too, but now they seem to be getting out of the
components business. They stopped making polypropylene caps, And
recently a thermal fuse we were going to use went away.

George H.