Shark’s Head press release, May 2022. 

The versatility of the device controller or “DC” by Shark’s Head is often underappreciated by the users: in many cases, DCs are being used as wireless switches only. However, these controllers can also be used in dimmer mode for particular end devices. For example, dimming a fan can greatly reduce the noise level of the blades.

The web interface then shows the current flowing to the device and combined with the voltage it calculates the power usage, allowing a direct comparison of different consumers.

Lastly, the DC can be used as a configurable fuse, or e-fuse. The maximum current can be set via the web interface while also allowing short bursts of overcurrent during startup.

“This current fine tuning allows early detection of cabling or connector problems” says Heinz Zerbes, hardware developer and founder of Shark’sHead. “Just recently, the e-fuse on our test vessel prevented a wire overheating because it wasn’t sized appropriately for the currents being drawn by the laptop computer.”

“The 10A fuse in the cigarette lighter connector didn’t trip, but the losses in the wire leading up to the fuse caused it to heat up too much. Several times our e-fuse tripped until we were able to identify the root cause; then it was a simple fix to replace that wire”.

Shark’sHead and many others have published before how important it is to match the fuse correctly to the wire that comes after it, towards the consumers, as the fuse only protects that part of the circuit. With e-fuses this can be accomplished much more accurately and flexibly for each individual circuit.