Abstract: In order to reduce the costs of assembled printed circuit boards, a printed board fuse functions with great reliability at low manufacturing costs. By coating a large area of a printed board with metal, for example, by plating, a well-defined thickness of a metal layer may be achieved in which a fuse has been separated. The well-defined thickness also allows well-defined geometry of the fuse cross-sectional area and fuse length to be achieved and therefore its resistance and interruption characteristics will also be very accurately defined. In case of a temperature rise, the metal layer surrounding the fuse will have a heat dissipating effect on the fuse, providing a substantially reduced risk of board fire.