Why are DMM fuse so expensive

[David Aurora]

You do understand that DMM manufacturers are gonna be the biggest purchasers of said fuses and therefore likely get the best deals, right?

You do understand they later sell those parts to the same distro in much smaller quantities and slap their own markup? Why would they pass their best deal price to the distributor? Not to say I doubt Mouser pays for them 10x more than Fluke.

$10 delivered next week from Fluke

I compared Bussmann and Fluke prices from Mouser. So shipping time is the same.

Again- if you can get them cheaper directly from Fluke, shipped in the same time frame, what exactly are you bitching about here? Yes, some places charge more for things. Welcome to the free market.

[wraper]

Again- if you can get them cheaper directly from Fluke, shipped in the same time frame, what exactly are you bitching about here? Yes, some places charge more for things. Welcome to the free market.

Where did I say you should get them directly from fluke? It's contrary to my post you quoted  . Again, pack of 5 from Mouser https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Fluke/FUSE-11A-1000V-B5?qs=fEPEG4LJ8UGLYf5WgAuthA%3D%3D. What I said is that pricing is fishy.

[M0HZH]

That is Mouser being industrious, same PN with CPC is 6x cheaper:

https://cpc.farnell.com/eaton-bussmann-series/dmm-b-11a/fuse-test-equipment-11a/dp/FF01869

[wraper]

That is Mouser being industrious, same PN with CPC is 6x cheaper:

https://cpc.farnell.com/eaton-bussmann-series/dmm-b-11a/fuse-test-equipment-11a/dp/FF01869

On their website for businesses Farnell does the same pricing trick, although to much lesser extent. https://uk.farnell.com/eaton-bussmann-series/dmm-b-11a/fuse-test-equipment-11a-38x10mm/dp/1241956?ost=dmm-b-11a
But on their website for US they let you pay through the nose. https://www.newark.com/eaton-bussmann-series/dmm-b-11a/industrial-power-fuse-1-kv-1-kv/dp/23M5764?CMP=AFC-OP Just like any US based distributor (Mouser, Digikey, Arrow, Avnet).

[David Aurora]

Again- if you can get them cheaper directly from Fluke, shipped in the same time frame, what exactly are you bitching about here? Yes, some places charge more for things. Welcome to the free market.

Where did I say you should get them directly from fluke? It's contrary to my post you quoted  . Again, pack of 5 from Mouser https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Fluke/FUSE-11A-1000V-B5?qs=fEPEG4LJ8UGLYf5WgAuthA%3D%3D. What I said is that pricing is fishy.

Oh, my bad, I misread. So your gripe is that a retailer gives you the choice to buy the same product branded differently at a higher price, but you don't have to. Got it.

[MrCAL]

For the 10A version there seems to be a good alternative from DF Electric part# 491620, price €4,26 (as per 24. sept. 2023)
TME: https://www.tme.eu/dk/en/details/491620/fuses-10-3x38mm-super-fast/df-electric/
End-caps: Silver-plated copper
Melting element: pure silver
Categorized as "super-fast" by TME.

Dosens't seems DF have a 400/440mA version though :-(

[p.larner]

you think that markup is bad!,i used to run a bar in france in the early 90's,our markup on beer was 600% and we were one of the cheapest in town!.

[EPAIII]

No, you pay because you want to keep breathing. And not start pushing daisies up from below ground level.

The sand they use to fill these high current braking capacity fuses has magical properies.

You pay for the magic trick and because you want to keep your equipment compliant to the safety standards.

[coppice]

No, you pay because you want to keep breathing. And not start pushing daisies up from below ground level.

The sand they use to fill these high current braking capacity fuses has magical properies.

You pay for the magic trick and because you want to keep your equipment compliant to the safety standards.

So, you really think they have special high performance sand? That following these long proven designs, which are actually cheap to make, won't give the same results?

[Gyro]

Well yes, it is special sand - virtually 100% silica with carefully controlled grain size and shape and tightly controlled impurities, so it comes under the heading of 'manufactured sand'. It needs to immediately fill the void left by the evaporating metal (no clumping or binding) and quench the arc by melting [Edit: or at least cooling it, depending on fault current].

That said, I very much doubt that the value of the amount of sand in a fuse forms a significant proportion of its manufacturing cost!

https://www.standard-sand.com/en/special-sand-for-fuses/

[julian1]

Might also be the cost of liability insurance with their insurers.

One can imagine the thinking from the insurers side - so you manufacture devices that keep products designed to measure life-threatening electrical potentials, and for millions of untrained members of the public as well as professionals?

And we indemnify you for that, in countries with a poor history of tort reform, and where courts and juries are eager to find a solution for medical expenses if something goes wrong?

It's possible that kind of protection costs money.

[Doctorandus_P]

When you go into CAT IV rated DMM's you are far beyond the realm of desktop lab equipment.

I once watched a servicemen working on a home fuse box. Rubber mat on the floor, full plastic suit, rubber boots, gloves, full face shield, isolated tools. Compared to that the cost of some DMM fuses is negligible.

On the other hand, I've got a brand new BM869s on my desk, and if it's fuse ever blows, I will likely replace it with some pretty standard 50ct fuse, because I am well beyond the other side of my house fuses. Or maybe I will buy the expensive fuses, just to remind me that I did something stupid and should pay the proper price for being stupid.

One reason the DMM fuses are a bit special, is the combination of the high breaking capacity, low burden voltage (and heat in a small plastic enclosure) and small size of the fuse.

If you've still got a house with those standard ceramic house fuses. Those are in big metal and ceramic holders. and when loaded just below their melting point, they (and the holders) can become hot enough to melt the plastic of your DMM.

[ejeffrey]

Might also be the cost of liability insurance with their insurers.

It's not that.  It's not the special design, it's not the testing and rating, it's not even the small volume.

If it were any technical, legal, or cost related basis you wouldn't be able to get siba fuses or fluke branded fuses for a fraction of the cost.

It's because they can charge that much and enough  people buy it at that price to make it worth it.  It presumably has to do with the mentality and protocols of the intended customers and what they do when they blow the fuse that came with it.

[coppercone2]

worth the money for all that electrical safety shit, its too easy to get confused. A little sick or a little tired or rushed...

you can save the money to put in a fund or whatever, or you can live to use the fund

and half the devices you work on, people in the future will see as totally insane from a safety stand point. Those safety handles and HV tools are one of the best returns on investments possible

and you damn well know in retrospect most of the work you do is barely worth doing lol

[coppercone2]

and quality powders for manufacturing are no joke and the reason why alot of things you own suck is because the right kind of particle is for whatever reason too expensive! plastics, batteries, bread, inductors, ceramics, cements etc

[DimitriP]

When it comes with a presentation box...you know it's expensive!
https://www.thecableco.com/accessories/fuses/masterpiece-m1-fuse.html

[Gyro]

When it comes with a presentation box...you know it's expensive!
https://www.thecableco.com/accessories/fuses/masterpiece-m1-fuse.html

Now I wouldn't be surprised if those (and the box) are made in some back street oriental factory, using whatever filling, if any, that comes to hand. I can't see any of the major fuse manufacturers wanting to be involved in custom marking for them. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, hopefully they are just a bog standard mains fuses with a hard to remove labels applied.

[coppice]

Well yes, it is special sand - virtually 100% silica with carefully controlled grain size and shape and tightly controlled impurities, so it comes under the heading of 'manufactured sand'. It needs to immediately fill the void left by the evaporating metal (no clumping or binding) and quench the arc by melting [Edit: or at least cooling it, depending on fault current].

That said, I very much doubt that the value of the amount of sand in a fuse forms a significant proportion of its manufacturing cost!

https://www.standard-sand.com/en/special-sand-for-fuses/

By that measure most industrial sand is special. People do actually sell sand to Arabs, because desert sand is totally unsuitable for concrete. I doubt the selection of sand for a fuse is any more selective than selecting sand for most other industrial processes. We do have a very high volume, very low cost tightly specified sand selection process which runs on a vast scale - the glass industry.

[mendip_discovery]

When it comes with a presentation box...you know it's expensive!
https://www.thecableco.com/accessories/fuses/masterpiece-m1-fuse.html

Gotta love it,

The M-1 has been in development for over a year now and finally meets our criteria for sonic excellence and provides a very noticeable improvement over any other fuse we have developed in the past. The M-1 is the most labor intensive fuse in our line up by far, The M-1 is now filled with our new Black Diamond fill within the fuse as well as Bees Wax also incorporating our i core technology and a proprietary coating on the outside of the fuse making this the quietest fuse ever!. What does this mean sonically? Much blacker back ground, wider and deeper sound stage, better detail, better dynamics, smoother, and very musical. The M-1 will transform your system into something magical.

I almost spat out my tea reading that delightful BS.

[Gyro]

I'm pretty sure that "Bees Wax" won't improve the arc quenching capability of the fill, quite the opposite! 

[mendip_discovery]

If they were a sensible price I would be tempted to get some and send them to Marco Reps and BigClive and see what they make of the audio foolery.

A joke on another group was to reply to random things with "It's OK but a bit smeary in the midrange". This could be the latest sound system, a motorcycle or even a multimeter.

[coppice]

Those audiophile fuses are a bit pricy. I've seen 2m audiophile mains cables for as little as $2000, so $300 to carry the power in only one wire for only 2cm is a bit much.

[TimFox]

When it comes with a presentation box...you know it's expensive!
https://www.thecableco.com/accessories/fuses/masterpiece-m1-fuse.html

A quick search for high-end "presentation boxes" for the jewelry market shows similar boxes for roughly $2.00 wholesale.
(Paperboard ones are much cheaper, but may not enhance the self-esteem of the fuses as they face a destructive life ahead of them...)

[coppice]

A quick search for high-end "presentation boxes" for the jewelry market shows similar boxes for roughly $2.00 wholesale.
(Paperboard ones are much cheaper, but may not enhance the self-esteem of the fuses as they face a destructive life ahead of them...)

There is no silly audiophile product so ludicrously overpriced they they don't feel the need to penny pinch on the very things that make people buy. Sometimes it just works out for them. I remember seeing a stupidly designed power amp being opened at a show, to let people see the construction inside. Engineers seeing the guy struggle with the weight of a cheap steel panel thought "$10k and they can't even use a nice aluminium panel". The main audience were deeply impressed, and gasped at the guy straining with the weight.

[Gyro]

Well yes, it is special sand - virtually 100% silica with carefully controlled grain size and shape and tightly controlled impurities, so it comes under the heading of 'manufactured sand'. It needs to immediately fill the void left by the evaporating metal (no clumping or binding) and quench the arc by melting [Edit: or at least cooling it, depending on fault current].

That said, I very much doubt that the value of the amount of sand in a fuse forms a significant proportion of its manufacturing cost!

https://www.standard-sand.com/en/special-sand-for-fuses/

By that measure most industrial sand is special. People do actually sell sand to Arabs, because desert sand is totally unsuitable for concrete. I doubt the selection of sand for a fuse is any more selective than selecting sand for most other industrial processes. We do have a very high volume, very low cost tightly specified sand selection process which runs on a vast scale - the glass industry.

You're right, the glass industry must be the biggest consumer of high purity silica sand by a vast margin. I can't see them being that bothered by grain size and shape though. It must be a bit of a hassle filtering out the right ones. As I said, I doubt it is a major cost contribution to the product.