PSA - CERAMIC FUSES ARE A THING
 

The plastic cored fuse on the right did everything under the sun except blow. The plastic absorbed some serious heat which helped the fuse hold on. It was also poorly made and possibly rated too low. The fuse eventually did break the circuit because the plastic changed shape so much that it pulled one end of the metal to the side and disconnected itself. I can't remember what the issue was because it's been years. Maybe blower motor. I saved the fuse and when I found it again decided it might make for a helpful visual. If you're on other forums besides diesel consider linking to this thread for others.

Flosser is the OE ceramic fuse supplier but from what I can tell their new production is now made with plastic cores. Maybe those are ok. I don't know. They should atleast have more precise ratings if that's all you can find. Either way just because it's the Flosser brand doesn't mean it's ceramic. I found 16A and 25A in bulk from Pelican that were ceramic at the time.

This is also a quick eBay search string to cut/paste.

(flosser,ceramic) (gbc,ats,euro,european) (gbc,ats,fuse,fuses) -(fuji,littelfuse,ato,ats,atm,mcase)

I excluded the word 'littelfuse' from the search because they seem poorly made plus you have to fix each one where it wasn't secured on the ends. Select 'worldwide' search if you're really digging. Make sure the listing says "ceramic" and then when they arrive make sure they're ceramic. It's hard to tell by looking. I usually press a razor blade or some other cheap knife against it if I'm not sure. If it's plastic it digs right in. Ceramic doesn't budge.

Ya, I had one of those too. In the end, the wiring sacrificed itself to save the fuse. The dash fire was a feature, not a bug.

I am on my dial up internet and it won't let me post the picture. There is actually the glass tube Buss fuses that have pointed ends. I had one on my Volvo and when I go to the junk Yard I usually pull some fuses (10 years since I have been to the junk yard) an some of the Euro vehicles had a few of the pointed buss fuses.

Off topic but on my US Cars I had occasionally bought fuses from the 99 Cent type stores. But apparently the plastic they are using within the last two years is poor stuff. I was stopped on the road 2 times because the plastic melted and warped in a similar manner to the Euro plastic bodied fuses.

For my US Cars I went out and bought a selection of Fuses that were made in Japan from of all Places Auto Zone.

Some VW partshaus' still sell the proper ceramic fuses and cheaper too .

This sucks and I'm glad you didn't have a FIRE ! .

You see many with the #8 fuseholder position melted. That is for "blower high". In my 2 300D, I ran a wire straight from BATT+ to the Blower Speed box (above glove-box), with a 30A relay. It powers that box when the normal 12 V source wire is hot. I removed that wire and ran it to coil+ (term 85) of the new relay. Not just a M-B issue. I did the same in my 1960's Chrysler cars long ago since they liked to melt the switches in the "blower high" position.

I remember someone on here selling pre-fab inline 20A? fuses that plugged directly into the harness at the blower motor. I think I'll just put that on the list of things that needed to be done on day 1 but weren't.

Inline Fuse
 

Those were for the auxiliary water pump, I hope no one used a 20 ampere fuse in one ! .

I posted this before, but I once had a short in the wiring to the window switch on my driver side passenger door. The illumination on that switch was on same fuse circuit as the cluster lighting. The traces on the cluster blew before the fuse did. Looking at them, that was not surprising. I believe this was due to a design fault rather than a fuse fault.

Mercedessauce say that ceramic fuses are in short supply, especially with copper/brass strips.

Anyone know of a reliable source for the usual sizes we need?

Nate, do you have a link to a VW vendor who has these?

ADDED: I did find this source. Prices seem good, but they wanted $38.50 to ship me $12.50 worth of fuses!

Ceramic Fuses In So. Cal.
 

This is the place I use : https://www.ipconlinestore.com/

Shipping / freight is always the bugaboo ~ I just drive over there every so often .

I posted a USA source for ceramic/brass fuses in post #9 above.
www.mofoco.com

In Canada, I found this one: https://germansupply.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1&keep_https=yes

I have ordered a supply from above Canadian source.
Typical spec:
Part Number N 017 121 1
Mfg InGermany
8 amp ceramic fuse.
Brass conductor will not cause galvanic corrosion to the fuse panel contacts the way aluminum fuses will do. Sold in a blister pack of 10 fuses.

I have asked them to confirm they are actually ceramic before shipping.

Actually the eBay search string I posted above brings up quite a few.

When I bought a box each of two of Flosser fuse ratings in bulk from Pelican they were ceramic - part numbers 114816-INT and 114816-INT. Of course search across the web with those numbers as well.

The bulk 25A is alot of low demand fuses but you can always use them in other applications like 25A inline fuse holders if that ever comes up. I could not find 8A sold in bulk.

Another observation, since the cores are becoming the hardest part of the equation when you blow one of these fuses keep the core. In the long run you just might end up transferring the metal elements from other brand new plastic cored fuses over to the ceramic cores.

I didn't try that search. However when I have searched on eBay and Amazon myself, I did find fuses listed as ceramic. But when I checked the fine details, I found that they were actually plastic. Or they were not copper alloy/brass. Or they would ship from China in a month or two ;)

Best to check fine details even if title say ceramic.

Yes you just described the process of knowing what you're buying.