Where to buy ATC (closed) blade fuses?

[Lomax]

I've searched all over but cannot find anyone who can deliver ATC (closed) blade fuses; the type used in potentially explosive atmospheres (petrol engine compartments, batter charging enclosures, boats/caravans using LPG, etc). Everyone seems to think that ATO and ATC are the same thing these days, but they really aren't. I know Eaton/Bussman used to make a kit with ATC fuses but it seems these now contain ATO (open). Grateful for any pointers.

[DBecker]

If you need only a few, rather than production quantities, check automotive parts suppliers.  The specialty BMW suppliers in the US sell high quality ATC fuses with full thickness contact blades.  (Chain parts stores typically sell Chinese made ATO fuses with thin blades.  It's a known issue that these fit loosely in old fuse boxes, causing burnt contacts.)

[ConKbot]

IT looks like blue sea is using a sealed lid for their ignition rated products. I.e.https://www.bluesea.com/products/7725/SafetyHub_100_Fuse_Block

But cooper lists their ATC products http://www.cooperindustries.com/content/public/en/bussmann/edison/products/ul_fuses_generalpurpose/automotive_fuses/blade_fuses.html as ignition protected also.

Searching for 'bussman ATC-5m' yielded a few results, so dig through the cooper datasheet, and find some specific part numbers you want, and go with that. 

Or retrofit a sealed fuse block, if you can, put sealed fuses in to double up on protection, and if you ever get in a situation where only ATO is available, you're still safe.

[georges80]

Digikey has ATC fuses. In the US I buy stuff like that from Waytekwire - but they have a minimum qty for such items, which of course means I have a lifetime supply

e.g. https://www.waytekwire.com/products?pSearch=atc%20fuse&sc=1367&Fuse-Type=ATC

Don't buy ebay/chinese fuses - you have NO idea what their true rating is and the blade quality tends to be garbage.

cheers,
george.

[Lomax]

Thanks everyone - not for the first time I feel a tinge of jealousy for not living in the US, where it seems almost anything is available (will resist temptation of making a political joke here). I do have a Blue Sea semi-sealed enclosure which claims to be "ignition protected" - but the damn fuses I bought to put in it are a smidgen too tall to be able to fit the lid on with them installed It came with a single 15A ATC fuse from Japanese "Pacific Engineering Corporation", which has a 12mm tall sealed (closed) polycarbonate body and looks to be of very high quality (it even includes a nice pair of test points on the top) - while my 2A ATO fuses from Italian MTA, which I thought would be well designed and usable despite being ATO (courtesy of the sealed enclosure), have a body measuring 13.5mm from blade exit to top, and are too tall for the Blue Sea enclosure's lid. I don't know who's at fault here; Blue Sea or MTA, but since I'm already in for a pretty pound on the fuse holder and the useless MTA fuses, I wanna make sure I get it right next time and whatever fuses I get will be usable in any enclosure/environment, whether it calls for ATC or not.

Digikey has ATC fuses.

@georges80: I've seen the Bussmann/Eaton fuses at DigiKey, but price is a tiny bit better at RS - though at £0.50+VAT a pop they're hardly cheap! I also checked Farnell, TME, Mouser and Rapid - plus a lot of searching on eBay (US/GB/EU), Amazon (US/GB/DE) and general hunting in various search engines (google, DuckDuckGo). But this is where things get really complicated; apparently Bussmann/Eaton supply both ATO and ATC fuses under the same or very nearly the same part numbers, and according to a large number of reviews on Amazon will even mix them up. There is no way to be sure about anything here. For example, a Bussmann BK/ATC-2 is supposedly an ATC fuse, while a BK/ATC-5 is in fact an ATO, and to get a 5A ATC fuse you'd need to get the BK/ATC-5M. This from their own datasheet:

ATC fuse catalog number availability for open body housing without test points
BK/ATC-5
BK/ATC-10
.. etc ...

ATC fuse catalog number availability for closed body housing with test points and SAE J1171 ignition protected
BK/ATC-2
BK/ATC-3
BK/ATC-5M
... etc ...

If a world-leading manufacturer/distributor of blade fuses themselves do not know the difference between ATC and ATO blade fuses, then what hope is there?

Don't buy ebay/chinese fuses - you have NO idea what their true rating is and the blade quality tends to be garbage.

Quite happy to buy things on eBay - but only when I can ascertain what it is I'm buying. And I never very rarely buy anything from a seller who isn't 1) based in the US/UK/EU and 2) seems to understand the products that they sell. If their listed items include (fake) perfume and trainers I will avoid them. Similarly if their username is along the lines of "luckyshop2017", "happydeal315" or "speedysavings".