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Home >AboutLittelfuse >EducationCenter >FusesvsPTCs

FusesvsPTCs
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FusesvsPTCs
Thissectionprovidesguidanceinchoosingthebestovercurrentcircuitprotectiondevice...PTC
orfuse...fortheapplication.

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ManytimeschoosingbetweenusingaFuseorPTCisamatterofpreference,thoughthereare
importantconsiderationsandcommonareasofapplicationswheretheuseofonemaybe
betterthantheother.

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Forexample,muchofthedesignworkforPCs,peripherals,andportabledevices(smart
phones,tablets,etc.)urgestheuseofPTCsbecausetheyareselfresettableusingafusethat
mustbereplacedeachtimeanovercurrentconditionoccursisunacceptable.
Inothercases,fusesmaybemoreacceptablebecausetheycompletelystopcurrentinfault
conditionthismaybemoredesiredifsafetyoravoidanceofdownstreamcircuitequipmentisa
premiumconcern.Fusesarealsohelpfulfordiagnosticpurposes,aidingequipmentdesigners
andusersintracingtheoriginoftheovercurrentfaults.

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OvercurrentCircuitProtection
Thecircuitdesignerhasachoiceoftechnologieswhenfacedwiththetaskofproviding
overcurrentprotection.ThetraditionalfuseandthePolymerbasedPTC(positivetemperature
coefficient)devicerepresentthemostcommonsolutionsemployed.Understandingthe
differencesbetweenthesetwocomponentssimplifieschoosingthebestprotectiondevicefor
theapplication.

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Fuseshavebeenreferredtoasonetimedevices,inthatthefusewillprovideprotectionfrom
theoverloadbyopeningonlyonceandthenitneedstobereplaced.Theheartofatypicalfuse
isalengthofwirewhichisheatedtoitsmeltingpointbytheexcessivecurrent.Thecircuit
currentflowdecreasestozeroasthewiremeltsopen.
ThePTCalsoreactstotheexcessivecurrentbutisknownasaresettabledevice.The
polymerbasedunitcanprovideovercurrentcircuitprotectionanumberoftimeswhenresetby
removingtheoverload.Theconductivepolymerincreasesinresistancewhenheatedbythe
overloadandlimitsthecircuitcurrent.

PTCProtectionFunction
Theprinciplesofoperationforafusehavebeendocumentedovertheyearsandaregenerally
wellunderstood.TheactualprocessbywhichthePTCprovidesovercurrentcircuitprotectionis
lessclearandmeritsfurtherdiscussion.SofarthePTChasbeenidentifiedasbeingpolymer
based,currentlimiting,andresettable.
ThePTCsunderdiscussionareconductivepolymerbasedproducts.Thepolymermaterial
usedcontainsparticlesofcarbonblackastheconductivemedia.Theresistanceiscontrolled
bytheamountofcarbonblackintroducedintothemixture.Heatproducessomeexpansionof
thepolymerwhichcausesthecarbonblacktoshiftresultinginlessconductivityoranincrease
inresistance.
ThePTCfunctionsbycurrentlimitingapotentiallydamagingovercurrenttoasafelevel.
Specificallytheexcessivecurrentthroughthedevicecausesinternalheating(I2R)whichraises
thetemperatureofthePTCandresultsinanincreaseinitsresistance.Theresistanceofthe
PTCisgenerallyasmallpartofthetotalcircuitimpedanceuntiltheheatingtakesplace.The
increaseinresistanceforapolymerbasedPTCisnonlinearasshowninthegraphbelowand
thisrelativelylargeincreaseinresistancewillreduceorlimitthecircuitcurrenttoasafelevel.
Thetransitionfromlowtohighresistanceisreferredtoasthetrippoint.
Theheatgeneratedbythislimitedcurrentthroughthehigherresistancevaluewillmaintainthe
temperatureofthePTCatalevelthatwillcausetheresistancetoremainhigh.Thisthermal
equilibriumconditionwillcontinueuntilpowerisremovedfromthecircuitwhichallowsthePTC
tocooldownandtheresistancewilldecrease.TheresettablefeatureofthePTCisbasedon
thefactthattheincreaseinresistanceresultingfromtheincreaseintemperatureisreversible.
ThePTCisresetorreturnedtothelowerresistancestatebyremovingthepowerfromthe
circuitwhichallowsthedevicetocooldown.Theunitisthenreadytoreacttofutureoverloads.
Theresistancewillremainlowifthecauseoftheovercurrenthasbeencorrected,butifthe

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overcurrentrecursthedevicewillagainswitchtothehighresistancestate.

ChoosingbetweenaPTCandaFuse
Overcurrentcircuitprotectioncanbeaccomplishedwiththeuseofeitheratraditionalfuseor
themorerecentlydevelopedresettablePTC.Bothdevicesfunctionbyreactingtotheheat
generatedbytheexcessivecurrentflowinthecircuit.Thefusemeltsopen,interruptingthe
currentflow,andthePTCchangesfromalowresistancetoahighresistancetolimitcurrent
flow.Understandingthedifferencesinperformancebetweenthetwotypesofdeviceswillmake
thebestcircuitprotectionchoiceeasier.
ThemostobviousdifferenceisthatthePTCisresettable.Thegeneralprocedureforresetting
afteranoverloadhasoccurredistoremovepowerandallowthedevicetocooldown.There
areseveralotheroperatingcharacteristicsthatdifferentiatethetwotypesofproducts.The
terminologyusedforPTCsisoftensimilarbutnotthesameasforfuses.Twoparametersthat
fallintothiscategoryareleakagecurrentandinterruptingrating.
Leakagecurrent:thePTCissaidtohavetrippedwhenithastransitionedfromthelow
resistancestatetothehighresistancestateduetotheoverload.Protectionisaccomplishedby
limitingthecurrentflowtosomeleakagelevel.Leakagecurrentcanrangefromarounda
hundredmilliampsatratedvoltageuptoseveralhundredmilliampsatlowervoltages.Thefuse
ontheotherhandcompletelyinterruptsthecurrentflowandthisopencircuitresultsin0
leakagecurrentwhensubjectedtotheoverload.
Interruptingrating:thePTCisratedforamaximumshortcircuitcurrentatratedvoltage.This
faultcurrentlevelisthemaximumcurrentthatthedevicecanwithstandbutthePTCwillnot
actuallyinterruptthecurrentflow(seeLEAKAGECURRENTabove).AtypicalPTCshortcircuit
ratingis40A.Fusesdoinfactinterruptthecurrentflowinresponsetotheoverloadandthe
rangeofinterruptingratingsgoesfromhundredsofamperesupto10,000amperesatrated
voltage.
Thecircuitparametersmaydictatethecomponentchoicebasedontypicaldevicerating
differences.
Voltagerating:generalusePTCsarenotratedabove60Vwhilefusesareratedupto600V.
Currentrating:theoperatingcurrentratingforPTCscanbeupto11Awhilethemaximumlevel
forfusescanexceed20A.
Temperaturerating:theusefulupperlimitforaPTCisgenerally85whilethemaximum
operatingtemperatureforfusesis125C.Bothdevicesrequirederatingfortemperaturesabove
20Candarepresentativecurveforthatpurposeisprovided.
ThePTCReratingCurveslocatedondatapages,shouldbeconsultedfortheproperreratingof
thevariousPTCseriesatambienttemperaturesotherthan20C.
Additionaloperatingcharacteristicscanbereviewedbythecircuitdesignerinmakingthe
decisiontochooseaPTCorafuseforovercurrentprotection.
Agencyapprovals:PTCsarerecognizedundertheComponentProgramofUnderwriters
LaboratoriestoULThermistorStandard1434.Thedeviceshavealsobeencertifiedunderthe
CSAComponentAcceptanceProgram.PTCscan,inaddition,beapprovedtoIECStandard
7301(AutomaticElectricControls)withcertificationbyTUV,VDE,etc.Approvalsforfuses
includerecognitionundertheComponentProgramofUnderwritersLaboratoriesand
certificationfromtheCSAComponentAcceptanceProgram.Inadditionmanyfusesare
availablewithfullListinginaccordancewiththenewSupplementaryFuseStandardUL248
14.
Resistance:ReviewingproductspecificationsindicatesthatsimilarlyratedPTCshaveabout
twice(sometimesmore)theresistanceoffuses.Timecurrentcharacteristic:comparingthe
timecurrentcurvesofPTCstofusesshowsthatthespeedofresponseforaPTCissimilarto
thetimedelayofaSloBlofuse.

OvercurrentProtectionApplications
ThePTCmaterialissuppliedinbotharadialleadedpackageaswellasasurfacemounttype.
ThefunctionoftheresettablePTChasmanydesignapplications.
PlugandPlayapplicationsincludeboththemotherboardandthemanyperipheralsthatcan
befrequentlyconnectedtoanddisconnectedfromthecomputerports.Themouse,keyboard,
audio,network,monitorandUSBportsrepresentopportunitiesforafaultyunitordamaged
cabletobeconnectedandalsopossiblemisconnections.Theabilitytoresetaftercorrectionof
thefaultisparticularlyattractive.Someoftheseapplicationsuseradialleadedwhilesurface
mountunitsaremoreappropriateforothers.
DiskdriveprotectioncanbesuppliedbyaPTCfromthepotentiallydamagingovercurrents
resultingfromexcessivevoltagefromapowersupplymalfunction.Diskdriveapplicationstend
tousethesurfacemountPTC.
Powersuppliesarevulnerabletomalfunctionsinthecircuitsthepowerisbeingsuppliedto.
Withoutprotectionthepowersupplywillattempttoprovidethecurrentrequiredbyalow
resistancefault.IndividualPTCscanbeusedtoprotecteachloadwheretherearemultiple
loadsorcircuits.Typicallythedeviceisplacedintheoutputcircuitandcanbeeitherradial
leadedorsurfacemount.
Motorovercurrentscanproduceexcessiveheatthatmaydamagethewindinginsulationand
forsmallmotorsmayevencauseafailureoftheverysmalldiameterwirewindings.ThePTC
willgenerallynottripundernormalstartupcurrents.Motorsarecommonlyprotectedbyradial
leadedPTCs.
Transformerscanbedamagedbyovercurrentsduetocircuitfaultsandthecurrentlimiting
functionofaPTCcanprovideprotection.ThePTCislocatedontheloadsideofthetransformer
tominimizetheeffectofcircuitfaults.Variousapplicationsuseeithertheradialleadedor

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surfacemountunits.

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