Choosing Between Glass and Ceramic Fuses for Electric Meters

Hello,

I`m planning to buy an electric meter and I`m wondering which fuses are better, because some fuses are glass and some are ceramic.

Regards

The technology of making the tube does not matter. The meters should be equipped with so-called fast fuses.

And overall which ones are better? I guess ceramic, but why?

Hello.
A ceramic fuse is characterized by greater mechanical resistance to the electrodynamic effects of short-circuit currents. They are used in circuits with low short-circuit loop resistance.
When purchasing a meter, pay attention to its measurement accuracy class and internal resistance:
- as high as possible to measure voltages
- as small as possible for current measurement

wirtualnyjan wrote:

And overall which ones are better? I guess ceramic, but why?

Most often, fuses with a higher short-circuit capacity are placed in ceramic housings.
Use a fuse with the parameters recommended by the manufacturer or an exact equivalent for the meter.

The multimeter has two fuses. Good because the cheap Chinese ones cost PLN 10, only one in the small current path and a large shunt wire and that`s it.
The fuse must have the ability to disconnect the short-circuit current. Safely without arc explosion outdoors.
The ceramic one has a gaseous agent in it, the glass ones also have a gaseous gas, and there are regular ones plus "special" ones for multimeters, but these are about PLN 50 each.

If the manufacturer cares, he provides the class for the meter regarding use.

The fuse with an extinguisher, i.e. either ceramic or white glass, has an extinguisher backing.
But I will give you an example from Mastecha where in the 10A current path I have a ceramic one (large) and in the 300mA path I have a regular glass one for 50 cents.
In the second meter I have a 10A fuse for about PLN 50 and in the low current path a ceramic fuse of PLN 15 hurts when it burns out
In analogue meters I have glass ones with a silencer for about PLN 1. And so I don`t measure in installations where the short-circuit current exceeds 1000A, in a residential building it is <1000A. Maybe in a car, near the battery, something like 600A

Additionally, the ceramic ones are filled with sand which extinguishes the arc when disconnecting the circuit when the permissible current is exceeded.