liveaboard

Do these old type ceramic bottle fuses exist in Portugal?

I used to see them Holland; in fact, I even had a few in my things, but I threw them away because I didn't have any such in the house here in Portugal.

But my new old German milling machine uses them and I need a few, or I'll have to rewire the mains board.

ceramic bottle fuse EU

Fredbargate

Hi liveaboard there are lots of them on the internet
A supplier in Ireland is

https://ie.rs-online.com/web/c/fuses.../bottle-fuses/

Not Portugal but at least a supplier

Midgo

Google gave me this:
https://muroplaco.pt/pt/iluminacao/p...d-do3-35a/5492

Electrical suppliers in Lisbon, old school and have been helpful in past, worth an email I would think
https://www.lenave.pt/Defaulta116.html?_Locale=pt&sec=7

Or Farnell?

liveaboard

Thanks guys; what I really want to know is if I'll find them in the shops locally?

Midgo

Where are you?

If I was going to try to find them I would:
a) ask if anyone has a contact (like you are)
b) go to a local machine shop who probably have old machines and ask them where they get them

I have found that, in cases like this, trawling round internet contacts of local suppliers to be a wild goose chase as they often dont answer phone or email / are defunkt / say they have them when they dont / say they dont have them and that no one else will either.

liveaboard

No one has machines this old... but this fuse type was used in domestic fuse boards in Germany and Holland (at least).
I'll make a stop at Roleir when I'm in town tomorrow and I'll be prepared to be embarrassed.

Midgo

Good Luck!

liveaboard

I put it on the counter in the electric supply shop (Rolear) and asked if this exists in Portugal;
"What is that?" he asked.
"You just answered my question" I replied.

Midgo

That's what I often find too, but then if you go into another shop they have them - seems to be a lottery

liveaboard

Really?
I've found the exact opposite. If a decent shop doesn't have an item, no one else does either.
I stopped wasting time running around.
Anyway, fuses on a 3-phase motor is not good, so I'll upgrade the machine with a 4-pole circuit breaker.

But I'm curious; I've never seen a domestic fuse in Portugal, what type did they use?

Midgo

Yes, that's what I have found too, but I meant that the problem was always finding that one decent shop.

In Lisbon there are (or at least were) areas or even parts of roads,where all or at least most of the similar shops were clustered
And often the shops were so specific in their contents - e.g. there are/were shops that only sold springs (of every imaginary kind) or 'rubber things'

I found the protectionism very strong so people would refuse to give quotes or availability over the phone.
Or just say yes, and then when you turned up, they didnt have it.
Also, in the beginning I had to virtually beg for some shops to sell to me, especially when they were the only agent in the country - I would arrange multiple times meetings that the guy never turned up to and just said he forgot, and they talked to me as if I was an insect. And then the prices were extortionate. Many of the supplier companies in the UK would tell me that they were 'having problems' with their PT agent.

So, really I meant that I would often waste weeks trying to source something, only to finally find out that there were 5 shops next to each other selling only just that item.

If I possibly could, I would always source from UK or Germany etc as the service was so much better and quicker. But Spain was even worse. Italy I have always found to be very good. All anecdotal of course, small sample size.

It didnt help as building the test machines etc isn't in my expertise so I was learning about 3-phase and hydraulics and electronics etc as I was going, and was used from the UK to the supplier being helpful in offering / helping make the appropriate choices. Here it was just a frosty 'yes, but what do you want?' after I explained what I was trying to do and my ideas of solutions but please help me out here .....

And because of my foreigner's Portuguese, people (subconsciously or otherwise) would immediately assume I was slightly retarded (this I have found can happen anywhere, especially in the UK)
I often didnt help myself tho - I remember leaving one hardware shop full of builders very red-faced after a slip of the tongue (pun intended) led me to ask for a 'Broche' instead of a 'Broca'

Of course, its changed a lot in the last 10 or 15 years

Fuses? I dont really know; some of my rented houses in the old parts of Lisbon had those old ceramic ones where you replace the wire from a cardboard reel. Almost all had trips tho - which tripped if you had more than one appliance running
In some, all of the wiring was just that '70's lampshade twin thin wires' (like very cheap speaker wire) tacked around the skirting boards! Nails replacing fuses - water running down ceiling lamp wires from leaks in the above apartment - scary, but kind of exciting

liveaboard

I found some pictures of old Portuguese fuse holders on OLX antiques area. like you said, ceramic holders with screws.
I've never seen that type before, I wonder if it's specific to Portugal?

I've been here for a few years now, so I know where the good shops are for the things I want; however some things just don't exist down here.
The one professional shop for machine and garage tools folded in 2010.
The only bearing supplier in the western Algarve closed last year (their main shop in Faro is still open).

I was sourcing most things from the UK until brexit, even when I could buy semi-locally.
Portimao is 1 hour drive and 10 euros driving cost.
If the shop didn't have the part in stock and had to order it, I needed to drive twice.
Mail order from the UK took 4 or 5 days, had more choice, and was cheaper.

It's not just us foreigners, I know a Portuguese machinist up in Porto who bought components from the UK too.

Recently I mail ordered some gears from Portuguese retail shops in other parts of the country. Prices were ok, postage very reasonable. it took time though.
They don't have online ordering systems, I had to send an email requesting prices for items I actually saw in UK webshops.
Maybe PT online / mail order will improve. Even though the country isn't all that large, a lot of people live hours away from urban areas where brick and mortar supply shops exist.

That's rural life for the DIY nut in Portugal.

Midgo

I always wondered what it must be like living out in the sticks if it was like that in the capitol.
Even for basic goods. In the 90's I remember going home and going to 'up town' to Colchester and feeling like I was in Aladdin's Cave just going to a department store there. In Colchester! Was very Romantic tho - now everything is homogenised - Lisbon isnt that different from any other Eu city.