Maybe, if you can't find an axial lead fuse as a replacement,
you could pick up a cartridge fuse holder and a cartridge fuse.
(It would depend, on the space constraints around where that
fuse is located. Maybe a cartridge just won't fit.)
Radio Shack seems to like cartridge fuses. The axial ones are
probably available somewhere (like maybe Digikey or Mouser).
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102786
To install that with your soldering gun, you can bend a U-shaped
hook on the bare wire ends of the wire, and hook the U around
the legs of the existing fuse (soldering the cartridge fuse
holder in parallel with the existing fuse). By soldering closer
to the body of the old fuse, it might avoid the heat sinking properties
of the PCB underneath. When done, pop a cartridge fuse into the
holder, and screw on the cover. The old fuse is open circuit now,
so its presence won't matter.
Soldering guns have a limited duty cycle. As a kid, I managed to
burn mine out, even though I had read the warning and knew it
had a 20% duty cycle. Soldering guns really can overheat and
die on you. I've always used soldering irons, after that.
If you're looking for a replacement for your soldering gun,
Radio Shack has lower power irons. For general work, I'd
probably prefer a 35W iron, rather than some of their smaller
ones. For SMT, I have on occasion, used a 25W iron in one hand,
and a 15W iron in the other hand (where the 15W iron is used as
a manipulator or "pusher" while getting the SMT component
into place). The low power irons will only annoy, when it
comes to "macroscopic" soldering jobs. The 15W and 25W irons are
fine for the "microscopic" jobs, where you need a magnifying glass
to see what you're doing
For bigger work, I really like this one. 80W, and the tip has
held up well. I've even soldered 1/4" copper tubing with this
thing (while building a TV antenna). It puts out enough heat,
that most soldering jobs "can't say no" to it's application.
On a microscopic soldering job, this will lift copper pads,
and I can't use this for everything.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...rcraft%2B80W%2BSoldering%2BIron.jsp?locale=en
The biggest iron I've ever used, was in shop class, and was a
200W iron for sheet metal soldering. The tip is a bit too big
on those, for this kind of work. And that makes that 80W, the
next best thing.
I like this quote I found yesterday -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Pease
"My favorite programming language is ... solder."
Paul