Fuses - again

[Andy Burns]

Plus many older ones had a 13A fuse in an carrier of the extension block itself (I see a *few* still do).

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Because of the chance of someone else using that piece of equipment. Maybe even in the distant future.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Was the 13 amp fuse bit beyond you?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Until someone else fits it with a 13 amp fuse. ;-)

[whisky-dave]

No.

When you don;t know what your lead might be connected to you should go by the latest regs not invent your own, especailly in a workplace.

[Scott]

That's a good point, actually, especially if the extension could continue working with the fuse running hot. I'll change them back to

13A.

I especially like your footnote (now disappeared) which I can pass on to certain people :-) .

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If I were in charge of your electricals, you'd not be using anything fundamentally unsafe.

But since I'm not, carry on as you are.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If that extension lead is of sufficient gauge to blow a 13 amp fuse in event of a fault, there is no reason not to fit a smaller fuse if you want.

What I'd not have is a lead made with undersized cable which could melt before blowing a 13 amp fuse. And, of course, the minimum size of cable needed varies with the length of the extension lead.

There will be a different one this time. ;-)

[John Rumm]

With some 4 way leads made from Chinesium, its becoming quite common for them to be supplied that way (i.e. with 10A fuse pre-fitted), since it has been demonstrated many do not fare well when subjected to a moderate overload on a 13A fuse (e.g. a continuous load of 18A or so).

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It does rather prove the point. No-one with any sense would load up an extension lead to 18 amps. They would likely be the same person who would replace a 2 amp fuse in a plug top with a 13 amp one - because after all it gets it working again, the only important thing?

[Scott]

I thought your reasoning was that if you overloaded the fuse it might keep working but get very hot and damage the plug (though I thought they were packed with sand to prevent that happening). .

Yes, but I can go back in history :-)

[ARW]

So does the Scudo and Skoda (well not the passenger side of the Scudo as the switch broke last month). But the windows back off if your put your fingers in them.

You can override that function by keeping your finger on the button. Handy when closing a window with ice on it or travelling at speed.

[Steve Walker]

I have four very short (6") cables with a 13A socket on one end and an unfused 5A plug on the other. Of course these the 5A sockets are provided for switched lighting and are protected by the lighting MCB. The reason for them is that when plugging Christmas lights in, most these days are LED and come with 3-pin wall-warts and so need the 13A socket. For the rest of the year, these leads reside in the Christmas decorations box.

SteveW

[Bob Eager]

I had at least one of those in my University of Essex study bedroom, as they didn't provide 13 amp sockets.

Worse were the study bedrooms in Darwin College at Kent. They had a 2.5A circuit breaker for the whole room, but located in the room. This wa sbecause the wiring was installed at a time of high copper prices, as I recall.

[tabbypurr]

you plainly have no ability to discern the safe from the unsafe. ICBA, this is too dumb.

[tabbypurr]

So welding is something else you also don't understand. Yawn.

[charles]

at boarding school, I had a two-way adaptor from the bayonet light fitting which gave me a lead from which I could run my radio.

[Scott]

I think irons used to run this way. An added benefit was that it was particularly convenient to have the cord dropping from the ceiling. I think we connected the Christmas lights by this method.

[whisky-dave]

Sand doesn't stop things getting hot, think of a desert and even beaches in this country. Sand also has the effect of lenghing the possible life-time of a fuse running close or even exceeding it's rated value. The sand will conduct the heat away from the fuse wire so it doesn't melt quite so easily.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Not me. I leave that sort of thinking to others. ;-)