Internal vs External Fuse: Selecting Your Power Capacitor Bank
Internal and external fuses in Power Capacitor units differ in where the fuse is located and how they protect the bank from faults.
| Features | Internal fuses | External fuse |
| Where（Location） | Inside the capacitor, connect to each capacitor elements | Outside of the capacitor, connect with the overall Capacitor Bank |
| Object of Protection | single capacitor elements | overall capacitor |
| Action consequences | cut-off the fault capacitor element, the overall capacitor bank continues to operate | cut-off the overall capacitor, the whole power capacitor bank out of operation |
| Application | large capacitor bank, high voltage shunt capacitor bank | backup protection for internal fuse, or medium voltage system. |
In general, fuse is a protective design that sacrifices the individual for the greater good the entire capacitor bank. It greatly enhance the operational reliability and service life of power capacitors by cut-off the individual faulty capacitor elements/capacitor bank, preventing the expansion of overall capacitor bank faults (such as explosion,fire etc.)
