>>> It depends on what you are trying to protect. If you are trying to
protect your electronics from surges, then polyswitches are probably the
least favorable. Your electronics would probably be fried before the
switch trips. But in mechanical drives and motors they could be ok.
But then again a circuit breaker won't protect against surges either as
both are current limiting devices, not voltage limiting devices.
I know of a number of aircraft flying with polyfuse protection instead
of conventional breakers and have heard no adverse comments. I also use
these on my model railway and can attest to their effectiveness in
shutting the load down well before burning out the wiring and the great
thing is that they do automatically reset once the power is removed from
the circuit or the fault goes away.
In the last rendition of my wiring on the Europa I dumped the majority
of conventional breakers and went back to polyfuses . You do need to
ensure that there is some means of isolating power from the circuit but
this would normally be provided for by the on/off switch.
Remember that the primary purpose of a fuse or breaker is to protect the
wiring from excessive current - they aren't designed to protect the
equipment on the end of the wire.
Tony
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