Littelfuse, Inc., the global leader in circuit protection, has introduced the PICO® 259-UL913 Series Intrinsically Safe Fuse, the first and only Fuse to be certified under the latest revision of the UL913 Safety Standard for Intrinsically Safe Apparatus and Associated Apparatus for Use in Class I, II, and III, Division 1, Hazardous (Classified) Locations. The PICO 259-UL913 Series is a range of encapsulated, hermetically sealed fuses that are ideal for 125V applications in the oil, gas, mining, chemical, pharmaceutical, and food/beverage processing industries.

The use of devices that are certified to be Intrinsically Safe (IS) is a requirement of operating electronic equipment in potentially explosive areas. The new PICO 259-UL913 Series Fuse is suitable for use in testing, measuring or processing electronic and electrical equipment, motor controllers, lighting, communication handsets, flow meters, process control and automation, sensors and other intrinsically safe apparatus designed to operate in these hazardous locations. The PICO 259-UL913 Series Fuse and its encapsulant prevent heat and sparks from being exposed to the hazardous gases or dust in the environment. The Fuse is suitable for use in intrinsically safe apparatus for voltages not exceeding 125Vrms (190V peak). In addition to the Underwriters Laboratories, Inc standard, these fuses meet ATEx, IECEx, and Baseefa requirements.

“In the past, apparatus manufacturers have traditionally been forced to send fuses to a third-party supplier or create their own secondary process to encapsulate the entire fuse to meet the requirements of the UL 913 standard,” said Juan Morales, Product Director of the Series 259-UL913 Fuse product line. “Now, the PICO 259-UL913 Fuse can help reduce total product cost. It is ideal for applications in a wide range of industries because it is designed to operate within environments where there is danger of gas or dust explosion from faulty circuits.”

The PICO 259-UL913 Series Intrinsically Safe Fuse offers these key features and benefits:

Features
• Hermetically sealed, encapsulated design
• Well suited for 125V applications
• Current rating options from 62mA to 5A
• Designed for operation in a range of hazardous environments
• RoHS compliant

Benefits
• The fuse encapsulation prevents heat and sparks from being exposed to the hazardous gases or dust in the environment
• Eliminates the need for an additional potting, epoxy, or encapsulation process for the fuse, thereby reducing total product cost
• Increases overall safety of the apparatus, which enhances protection of human life in hazardous operating environments

Availability
Littelfuse PICO 259-UL913 Series Intrinsically Safe Fuses are packaged in bulk in quantities of 10 or 1,000 pieces. Samples are available now for bulk orders; sample requests can be placed through authorized Littelfuse distributors worldwide.