Replacement thermal fuse for Kill-a-watt?

So, I cooked my Kill-a-watt checking the draw over time for a sauna heater :man_shrugging: . I checked the internal fuse, and it’s still good. The thermal fuse, however, doesn’t show continuity.

The specs on the part say:

SEFUSE
SF  94R1
99C

Which I think is a Schott SF94R1. Would this be a reasonable replacement?
https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Cutoffs-Degree-Replacement-SEFUSE/dp/B07B9SR14K

I’d love to fix this thing instead of throwing it out like all the other disposable electronics out there.

I’d see if that part is available on Mouser or Digikey before I bought it on Amazon. Generally I prefer to source parts from an authorized distributor whenever I can.

2 Likes

I’m also leery of the 'zon for electronic components.

Mouser and Digikey undoubtedly have suitably similar components, but don’t stock Schott.

TME (Europe) has the Schott part in stock https://www.tme.eu/en/details/sf94r0/thermal-fuses/schott/ Shipping is likely to be the killer, though for what the Amazon supplier is charging, TME may be competitive. . Buy more than one, they are easy to kill when soldering.

The only different between the Schott SF94R1 and SF94R0 is lead length.

3 Likes

Not on Mouser… Special order on Digikey…

@mattarmstrong the one on Amazon will work… but if you solder it in, use a couple of hemostats between the body of it and the solder joint and solder it QUICKLY. otherwise you’ll open it with the heat from the iron.

1 Like

Thanks guys! Yeah, I hadn’t been able to find one with similar working temp and holding temp. Close but not quite there, and I don’t know enough to know what range would still be acceptable.

They don’t need to be exact. They are simply there to open if the temp starts getting too high.

The PCjr power brick has one inside it in case of an overload and it overheats. Your coffee maker has one in it for similar situations. The first gen Miata had one inside the airbag computer wrapped in a heating element so the computer could commit seppuku if you left an error condition with sensors existing too long.That would take it from a simple code of “replace front bumper sensor” to a 10 blink code of “replace airbag computer” :slight_smile:

The temp isn’t so critical that it must 100% be replaced with that.exact temperature device. Get it as close as you reasonably can so it doesn’t open way too soon or not fast enough.

4 Likes