Converter In-Rush Thermistors etc, UPDATE -4
UPDATE on 17 Nov, Update 2 on 22 Nov, Update 3 on 16 Jan 14, Update 4 on 19 Oct 14. --------------- In a recent thread there was mention of how you can wreck your gizmo (in my case a converter) ...
Forum Discussion
BFL13 wrote:
I understand everyone is giving his best advice based on the info available, which is not much. At the end of the day, I will have to do something.
Yes. The most conservative approach is to just replace it. It could be a one off failure for the last component. (I couldn't tell if the same component with the same rating had failed more than once).
If you want to put in something "better" and you think it's blowing at turn on, then you go with a higher zero power resistance to slow down the inrush current, which decreases the energy dissipated in the component. A 10% increase in zero power resistance is roughly a 19% decrease in dissipated power. It will affect the time to charge the caps, but that's usually not a problem.
If you think it's blowing in long term failure, then you'd go with higher steady state current rating. If you want to deal with both, then increase both ratings, but not too much. It needs enough steady state current to heat up sufficiently to drop its resistance to its design resistance in steady state operation.
Measuring the steady AC current draw is pretty easy, and might be worthwhile.
I think we're all interested in how it goes - keep us advised, and good luck.
