I have a healthy fear of high current electrical equipment. Anything over an amp and I’m looking for a way to disconnect the mains and insulate myself. I don’t mess with microwaves or the internals of old CRTs without serious trepidation.
But some people are built different… like this guy, on the Youtube channel “Photonicinduction“, who demonstrates how to destroy a 5000 amp fuse…
What does it take?
A 5000 amp fuse doesn’t just go kablooey at 5001 amps. To get it to really give up the ghost you have to go really big- somewhere in the 100,000 amp range. As the creator of the video says, 200,000 amps ought to do the trick. But how do you get 200,000 amps?
Capacitors. Lots of gigantic capacitors with quarter-inch thick copper power busses, inch thick power cable, and a sacrificial 12,000 amp switch. I love the meticulous way the creator (I still haven’t found his name!) creates the rig and tests it.
He uses a fuse that he cut open and he incrementally increases the power to confirm everything works before the big ‘kaboom!’ This is the way I like to see things done: bravo! Also more than a little bit crazy…
UPDATE: I found this “Electrician Reacts” video responding to the above that gives some additional technical information: