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RealDeal wrote:I did that and it worked for a while, but I kept blowing fuses on power up. It turns out that one should use a 300mA slow-blow fuse on a US voltage N6. Since switching to that fuse I have not had any fuses blow. I believe the momentary voltage surge at power-on time was blowing the 250mA fast-blow fuses.
What I don't get is, why increase the value AND go to slow-blow? I mean, it makes sense to not use a fast-blow fuse exactly because of the surge at power-on, but a 250 mA slow-blow fuse should be more fitting. Half the voltage (230 > 115), double the current (125 > 250).
Two things wear out the fuse (non-fault conditions):
1. The steady-state current (causes self-heating and slowly boils away atoms from the fuse element). This sets the rated current.
2. The in-rush current at power on (a short duration current surges that exceed the rated current). These are too slow short to blow the fuse, but cumulative cycles boil off atoms and weaken the fuse element. This sets the blow-time characteristic.
To avoid nuisance blows (due to quick wear out), the designer selects the blow time and current rating based on downstream devices' damage thresholds and protection. Each fuse has a time-to blow characteristic that is a function of its type (fast, slow) and its rated current. Slow blow increases the risk of damage, so usually requires additional protection or higher damage thresholds for downstream devices.
Hopefully this helps answer your question. Edited to clarify item #2
Last edited by pterm on 30 Apr 2021, 17:54, edited 1 time in total.
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Yeah, it would be helpful to know what the factory thinks the US fuse should be. It could be that 250mA slo-blo is the correct fuse. My Electro 4D takes a 300mA slo-blow and someone else on this forum said their Electro uses that one, so that's what I ordered in the absence of information from Clavia/AMS. If someone reading this with a Nord 6D in the USA, could you please take a look at the fuse value printed on the sticker on the back panel next to the fuse and add that to this thread?
I received my 6D from a European supplier because of an Amazon mistake. IMO, hiding the correct fuse value from a customer is stupid and bad business for Clavia, whatever the AMS importation business model might be. A fuse is a user replaceable part! The correct value of it is printed on the back panel of the unit for all to see. It SHOULD be printed in the specs section of the manual as it is by other manufacturers. Does ASM think it's helpful to withhold information that anyone owning a US sold keyboard has in front of their face? I carry appropriate fuses for all my gear at gigs. If the 6D fuse blows at some venue with dirty power, does Clavia think I should simply lose the use of my 6D??? This is a professional grade keyboard marketed to professionals. Should a professional not be told the value of a user-replaceable fuse? This is absurd. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
RealDeal wrote:Should a professional not be told the value of a user-replaceable fuse? This is absurd. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Moreover, a fuse is a safety item that - when selected incorrectly - could cause internal overheats and possibly even fire. So it may be part of the AMS 'business model' (which IMO is already a very shaky and childish argument) to withold that info because 'we were not involved in the sale'; it is a potential safety hazard.
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Arjan P wrote:Moreover, a fuse is a safety item that - when selected incorrectly - could cause internal overheats and possibly even fire. So it may be part of the AMS 'business model' (which IMO is already a very shaky and childish argument) to withold that info because 'we were not involved in the sale'; it is a potential safety hazard.
Not just that, I heard the wrong fuse can trigger earthquakes. AMS has a perfectly sound business model - the more European keyboards they sell on the US market that explode at the pop of a toaster in the next room, the more people on the market for a new keyboard.
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Hopefully this is my last post on this subject, as I think the issue of fuse rating for the US voltage NE6D is resolved.
To quickly recap, when converting from 230v to 115v for the US market, one throws the 115/230 switch inside the NE6D, and changes the fuse. At first I tried a 250mA fast blow fuse (my local supplier did not have slow blow) and that worked but would occasionally blow on power-up. Others had said that their US voltage Electro (model number not specified) used a 300mA Slow Blow fuse. That's also what my NE4D uses, so I ordered a 300ma Slow Blow. That worked fine and did not blow. But there was concern that 300mA might be too high, leaving the NE6D circuit with insufficient protection. Since converting to US voltage cuts the voltage in half, one argues that the amperage of the fuse should double, to 250mA (not 300).
With that in mind I ordered 250mA slow blow fuses, which have worked fine. Thanks to all in this forum who have helped with this, you are invaluable members of our user community. Thank you!
So it appears that the correct fuse for US voltage (115 volts) for the Nord Electro 6D is:
Hopefully this is my last post on this subject, as I think the issue of fuse rating for the US voltage NE6D is resolved.
To quickly recap, when converting from 230v to 115v for the US market, one throws the 115/230 switch inside the NE6D, and changes the fuse. At first I tried a 250mA fast blow fuse (my local supplier did not have slow blow) and that worked but would occasionally blow on power-up. Others had said that their US voltage Electro (model number not specified) used a 300mA Slow Blow fuse. That's also what my NE4D uses, so I ordered a 300ma Slow Blow. That worked fine and did not blow. But there was concern that 300mA might be too high, leaving the NE6D circuit with insufficient protection. Since converting to US voltage cuts the voltage in half, one argues that the amperage of the fuse should double, to 250mA (not 300).
With that in mind I ordered 250mA slow blow fuses, which have worked fine. Thanks to all in this forum who have helped with this, you are invaluable members of our user community. Thank you!
So it appears that the correct fuse for US voltage (115 volts) for the Nord Electro 6D is:
** drum roll ** Miniature (5x20mm) 250mA 250v Slow Blow
It's a small fuse...
I found it online at DivineLighting.com for $2.48 and $12 dollars shipping for a box of 5.
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OMG, I HOPE this is my last post on this subject! After a few months use it turns out a 250mA Slow Blow miniature is not the right fuse for a US NE6 after all. I have blown 2 of the 250mA slow blow fuses on power up in the last 4 weeks. The most recent at a gig yesterday. As I've said before, I carry spares, and in this case I carried both the 250mA Slow Blow and also the 300mA slow blow, since I had bought both for the NE6 recently anyway (see the looong sad story above in this thread). So I replaced the 250mA with the 300mA and so far so good. I don't expect further problems. I wanted to pass it along in this forum for completeness.
BTW, I never did discover what value Clavia designed for the fuse type for NE6 in the US market. They're keeping it an open secret. If anyone reading this actually owns a US NE6, please take a look at the fuse value printed on the label on the back of your NE6 and tell us what it is in this thread.
Many thanks one and all for this amazing and so well run forum.
Yeah, @pterm made the case for 300 mA earlier in the thread in his answer to my question why it shouldn't be 250 - with a very convincing case about the quick wear-out of this 'theoretically correct' fuse. So you proved him right - it must indeed be 300 mA Slow blow.
Last edited by Arjan P on 28 Jun 2021, 23:04, edited 1 time in total.
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