I thought that it was kind of strange the first time around, when I blew out the thermal fuse on the Shop-Vac. But blowing the fuse a second time really threw me for a loop, since I didn’t think that the filter was even that dusty to cause the Shop-Vac to overheat. Go figure.
At least I was smart enough to install the replacement thermal fuse with bullet style electrical quick connects, in case it ever needed to be replaced again. This time around I going to use a slightly higher temperature thermal fuse than the first time around. So this time I’m going to go with a 291.2F (144C) thermal fuse. Since the next highest temperature thermal fuse at Radio Shack was 550F, but at that temperature, I would think that the plastic housing would start to melt before the thermal fuse would trip. Which would kind of defeat the whole purpose of having a thermal fuse to begin with.
It took me about 10 to 15 mins to do the thermal fuse swap, and I was back up and running with the Shop-Vac, so we’ll see how long this fuse lasts.
New Fuse:
Radio Shack part# 270-1320, 291.2F (144C) Thermal Fuse
4 comments on “Blew thermal fuse on the Shop-Vac again!”
Thanks for posting this. I chased my problem down to the same thing but didn’t know what size fuse to try.
What a great resource!
You know, the funny part is that I know about Digikey, but why I didn’t think about ordering up a bunch of fuses from them is beyond me. But when (not if) this new thermal fuse blows, I’ll just order up a bunch of bullet connectors and thermal fuses from them.
Use Digikey to stock up on them, I bet you can get 5 for what you paid for 1 at the Shaq. They are also likely to have a wider selection…