Just picked up a new fridge, and it says you shouldn't plug it into an extension lead...
Why the hell not ?
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14 years ago
Dumb question ? - fridges / extension leads
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- posted
14 years ago
Is it a big American one? Have you seen their extension leads? ;-)
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14 years ago
Perhaps because most fridge compressors have induction motors. These can pull quite high inrush currents (fom 5*In to 9*In). Add too much extra resistance and the motor may stall on startup.
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- posted
14 years ago
Generally it's bad practise .
Plugged into a socket out of sight and sound of the fridge (IE round a corner) it could be unplugged by the cleaner ( or somebody ) and get plugged back in at the end of her shift and nobody would ever know it had spent a few hours warming up. Potentially this could happen every day.
The compressor could take a big surge at start up, many that do are susceptible to low mains voltage. It could potentially sit there in a stalled rotor condition, 'till it burnt out.
The fridge may come with the same set of instructions as it does when sold into a different market which uses radial wiring and not ring mains.
The extension lead may be too feeble for the job.
Or perm any 1, 2 , or 3 out of 4.
Derek
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14 years ago
Nah, standard under-counter larder fridge
Not recently :-}
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14 years ago
Sounds like a reasonable explanation to me - thanks :-)
That said, it wouldn't be dangling off a reel, it'd be the shortest uncoiled extension / adaptor I could find just to assist access, as the socket is behind an adjacent kitchen unit - to get the old one out a few months ago I had to cut the plug off it, as there was no way to get it out otherwise !
(aka no inductive reactance to worry about)
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14 years ago
Reminds me of a problem we had at work years ago. The computer (a DEC VAX) rebooted every night, we could not work out why. Turns out the cleaner's large backside hit the reset button when she bent over to change the nozzle on her vacuum-cleaner. Every night!
Cleaners are a menace around electrics.
R.
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- posted
14 years ago
Just stick it on 1.5mm Arctic - ok for 16A & low resistance. Remember even a small "larder" fridge/freezer is fused at 13A.
Alternatively just create a spur off the existing kitchen unit for it.
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14 years ago
On 10 Oct, 20:45, Colin Wilson
cut the plug off the new one, feed the flex through the hole then, and fit a new plug.
Dispose of the cut-off plug carefully.
Owain
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14 years ago
Its fine to do that. Saying not to can cut their customer calls slightly though, since some issues will turn out to be due to a faulty extension lead.
Startup current isn't an issue. A 1/4A fridge might eat 10x =3D 2.5A or
16x =3D 4A during startup, and even bell wire can handle that.NT
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14 years ago
:-)
You should see the one we have for our drier - like an elephant trunk it is...
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14 years ago
There's a spur already behind it, but it's already sticking out of the unit, and putting the plug in there would make it protrude by another half an inch
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14 years ago
The flex is too short to do that already (it barely reaches the top of the fridge as it is...
Nah, give it to the kids to play with :-p
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14 years ago
"Colin Wilson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org...
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14 years ago
Ferzacerly. Amercans have yet to discover exactly how electricity should be provided.
I have an American ectension lead, looks more like a 1/2" garden hose.
Americans use gasoline powered presure washers.
Americans use truck mounted (engine driven) carpet cleaning machines.
Americans use propane powered floor polishers in shopping malls.
The reason? Their poxy useless 115v spur type electrical system can't hack anything else.
I worked for an American floor cleaning machine company once. We ended up sending them a 13 amp double socket outlet and a 13 amp plug top with relevant details & they were completely & utterly gobsmacked by the concept.
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- posted
14 years ago
Its not damage to the cable you are worried about, but drop in voltage.
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14 years ago
"Colin Wilson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org...
It's bollocks.
Bill
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14 years ago
Had similar at work, but cleanereither unplugging a 19" cabinet with 12" discs in it or plugging a polisher into the next socket - on a UPS! We fitted Electrax plugs and sockets on the UPS circuits - the cleaners couldn't even manage to unplug them!
BTW, Electax are good for 'secure' plugging and are completely child-/rep./engineer-proof
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14 years ago
"Colin Wilson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org...
I cannot see a small extension like that causing a problem.
Adam
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- posted
14 years ago
0.5mm2 bell wire has 88mV drop per amp per metre. A modern 60w fridge thus sees 22mV per metre drop.
Lets say the lead is a huge 10m long, giving 0.44v total drop. So the
230v rated fridge, which must be capable of operating on the lower limit of French 220v, ie only a bit over 200v, thus sees 240v - 0.44v =3D 239.56v.Sensible extension leads have even less effect.
NT