Making a High Voltage Fuse

Special thanks to these companies for providing their awesome tools:

Below are my Super Patrons with support to the extreme!

Sam Lutfi
Zoddy
Raphaël Champeimont

By: Mehdi Sadaghdar

0:00 Why fuses have voltage rating?
3:20 The makings of a high voltage fuse

[SeriousApache]

When i worked as electrician, we had fuses filled with sand, exactly for the purpose to avoid arcs.

[mrmimeisfunny]

I think the reason the spring fuse worked well is because you don't need the wire to completely disconnect or melt for it to work. All you need is the wire to sublimate enough for the tension of the spring to be able to tear the wire apart. You won't get much arching because the wire goes in a split second from a short to a significant gap.

I think the spring just retracted in the flash as opposed to completely disappearing. That's also probably why there's no residue where the spring used to be. Only where the wire used to be.

[CauseOfBSOD]

6:22 sulfur hexafluoride is what is used in a lot of high-voltage electrical equipment as an arc suppressant. its also like the opposite of helium (if you breathe it in, it stays there and makes your voice a lot deeper, but don't try this since it stays there and can asphyxiate you if you are not careful). ive seen warnings about it on the doors of some rooms with electrical equipment around where i live.

[Gurgena_]

Ive been your subscriber since 2018 and im proud to say you showed me what i liked, your videos connected me to electrical engineering which is now my profession. Im currently working at the Gas Compression Site as an Electrical Engineer. Thank you Mehdi! I was enjoying your videos so much and im still enjoying it! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. You are the reason of who i am right now!

[SodaTheProto]

1:04 "One of them has killed me once before"
So he HAS died, gotta wonder how he keeps coming back to life

[michaelmoorrees]

In the power industry they use sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas in special arc quenching circuit breakers. Often there's a special mechanism, to open a gas valve as the breaker opens up, to basically blow the arc out. I remember seeing one in action, in "power lab", back in school, when getting my EE degree (1980s). Power lab was scary, as much of the gear was the size of van, with high power resistors that actually glowed under normal operation. Syncing up the large synchronous machine (could work as both generator or motor) just before connecting it to the 3 phase grid, was always a tad sphincter puckering !

[CrappyCanadianContent]

Electroboom making a fuse seems oddly ironic

[andrewparker]

This felt like a fun old fashioned Electroboom video! More of these please!

[jimsvideos]

Gases for arc suppression: Aircraft piston engine magnetos were pressurized with air to a few tens of PSI for better performance at high altitude. Portable industrial x-ray tubes are pressurized with SF6 to around 50 PSI to suppress arcing from tens of kilovolts of potential.

Happy holidays, Mehdi.

[tomozex]

Regarding gas inside the 5kV fuse, you could try and excite the gas inside this 5kV fuse with one of your coils and see if it is a noble gas by colour.

[Krishell]

Thank you for funny and informative videos

[tlhIngan]

High voltage circuit breakers at substations often have the contacts in SF6 (sulfur hexafluoride) which quenches arcs. High voltage fuses usually use sand or likely similar gas to quench the arc. There are sophisticated gas monitoring systems to ensure warnings if the gas runs low as if it get critical, the breaker will open while there is still gas available to quench.

[lumpenstein]

Video Idea: Build a deadman foot switch that you have to keep pressed in order to get mains voltage whenever you are doing something with the MW transformer. In case of an accident like with the Jacobs ladder it could safe your life :)

[jackboi_]

1:25 POV: you understand what you did wrong in your exam after getting it back (you still failed)

[PlasmaChannel]

How these high voltage fuses work, is remarkable. Mechanical combined with destructive. Nice video boomsie. So, you say you want a stronger transformer huh? 😉

[TehKillerB]

I just realized why I love ElectroBOOM so much. It is the perfect intersection of two loves: the 90's sitcom Home Improvement, and engineering.

Medhi is just a much smarter, Iranian-Canadian Tim Allen. "More power!"

[twosticksburning]

Many power companies in the US used spiral shaped copper fuses, encased in glass, filled with carbon tetrachloride to extinguish the arc. Im talking about fuses on the high side of 345KV - 169KV transformers. They were engineered before we realized carbon tet was so hazardous. They switched to solid boric acid fuses encased in ceramic after that.

[texasaggiegigsem]

Some fuses use explosive charges to separate the conductors quickly. They're commonly used on pole transformer fuses...loud too.

[Maxylium]

0:04 dude probably has more PTSD than a Vietnam war general

[rickyricardo]

"And one of these has killed me once before..." I absolutely and TOTALLY believe that. 😆😂😆