Eaton Bussmann 170M5013 High Speed Fuse 700 A 690 V AC DIN 2 Class aR Square Body Fuse Link

Technical Specifications

Main Features and Advantages

Semiconductor-grade speed: The defining characteristic of the Eaton Bussmann 170M5013​ is its aR class behaviour. A power semiconductor has almost no thermal reserve — a diode or IGBT junction can be destroyed in a few milliseconds, well before any conventional overload device reacts. The aR characteristic is engineered to operate within that window, clearing a short-circuit before the let-through energy reaches the device’s damage threshold. The published pre-arc I²t of 60,500 A²s and total clearing I²t of 405,000 A²s give the design engineer the exact numbers needed to coordinate the fuse against the semiconductor’s own I²t rating, which is the core calculation in any drive or rectifier protection study.Energy limitation, not just interruption: Clearing the current is not enough; the fuse must limit the energy that flows while it clears. The silver-element, sand-filled construction of the Eaton Bussmann 170M5013​ generates a high arc voltage that drives the current down rapidly, so the peak current and the total I²t seen by the protected device both stay low. This is why the same 700 A rating from a general-purpose fuse would not protect a converter: it might eventually interrupt the circuit, but long after the silicon has failed.Manageable power loss: At 95 W at rated current, the Eaton Bussmann 170M5013​ keeps its own contribution to cabinet heating modest for a 700 A device. In a densely packed drive or rectifier cubicle carrying several of these fuses, that difference directly affects enclosure sizing, cooling requirement and the thermal derating of neighbouring components. Eaton also publishes correction curves for calculating losses at load currents below rated, so thermal budgets can be worked out accurately rather than conservatively.Positive mechanical indication: The top-mounted status indicator on the Eaton Bussmann 170M5013​ releases when the element operates, providing unambiguous visual confirmation at the cabinet which fuse has cleared — a real advantage when several identical fuses sit side by side. Fitted with a compatible microswitch on the fuse base, the same striker generates an electrical signal that can trip a contactor, block the drive or raise an alarm, ensuring complete isolation and preventing a restart onto a faulted branch.Mechanical and standards fit: Live gripping lugs, blade-end contacts, M10 mounting and 78 mm connection centres place the Eaton Bussmann 170M5013​ squarely in the standard DIN 43653 size 2 ecosystem, so it drops into existing bases and busbar work without modification. IEC 60269-4 compliance plus UL recognition and CE marking mean the same part number serves designs destined for European and North American markets.

Application Field

The Eaton Bussmann 170M5013​ is at home in the power conversion cabinets that run heavy industry. In AC and DC drives, it protects the input rectifier bridge and the semiconductor stacks against internal faults and downstream short-circuits — the classic scenario being a DC link or device failure where the fuse must clear before the thyristor or IGBT is destroyed. In rectifier and converter front ends feeding electrolysis, plating, traction or DC mill drives, it provides individual branch protection so one failed device does not cascade through the bridge.DC common bus installations are another core territory. Where several inverter sections share a common DC link, the Eaton Bussmann 170M5013​ protects each branch, and its strong DC performance and low arc voltage make it suitable for the DC interruption duty that general-purpose fuses handle poorly. Power converters and rectifiers for induction heating, welding, UPS systems, static var compensators and renewable inverters use the same principle at the 700 A level.In practice this means steel and aluminium rolling mills, mining hoists and conveyors, cement kiln drives, marine propulsion converters, large pump and fan drives in water and power stations, and the test benches and process lines of heavy manufacturing. The Eaton Bussmann 170M5013​ is equally a maintenance item: it is the standard replacement element held in store for planned outages, and the correct spare to reach for when a drive reports a blown semiconductor fuse — always with the root cause investigated first, because a cleared fuse is a symptom rather than a fault in itself.