Quite oftenly we are presented with a situation of wiring an old house in one of the Melbourne suburbs. Here is the thing to remember. Make sure you always stock in your van, several types of different style of old fuses and its mounting bases. Replacing a fuse box with a breaker box runs between $1,000 and $1,500. If new wiring is necessary, or the homeowner wants to add additional circuits to the home, the price of materials and labor increases. Rates to upgrade an old circuit breaker box to a new one will be close to replacing a fuse box.
If your home is an older house in Melbourne or in regional Victoria there is a possibility that it still has ceramic fuses. Ceramic fuses are an “old school” form of electrical protection for the home. These are the sort where you run fuse wire around some screws (usually in the dark while holding a torch) before plugging them back into your fuse box. It is important to note that they provide short-circuit and overload protection, limited protection to your property and no protection from electric shocks.
First turn off the power from the appliance being used and unplug it.
Use the correct rated fuse wire for the size of the cable in the circuit it protects.
The fuse rating is generally stamped on the outside of each fuse holder or marked on the switchboard near the fuse base.
Never use an oversize fuse wire as it can cause damage to the electrical installation wiring or start a fire.
Put the correctly rewired fuse into its holder and turn on the main power switch.
If the fuse blows again with the electrical equipment unplugged the fault may be in another electrical appliance or a fault in the wiring. You should then call a licensed electrical contractor.
If, however your fuses short circuit on a regular basis it also probably time to invest in a more modern system.
