I know for a fact ('cos I prepared the data sheets for them twenty odd years ago) that Volex 9000 range 2-gang sockets were rated at (and it was moulded into the back of the faceplate) 29A. If I could be bothered unscrewing one from the wall, I could take a picture, but I can't be bothered going that far just now!
SteveW
Your statement is self contradictory. If it works (i.e. disconnects sufficiently quickly under fault conditions), then it by definition protects against any fire caused by those conditions.
Volex are a quality item :-)
I meant the electrical device functions.
If it should, then it would. However since there is no reason why it "should", it doesn't!
You tell me.
Once you understand why, you will find many of your other misunderstandings will clear up.
Some 13A fuses will carry 20A indefinitely. Many 4 way strips are not of adequate construction quality to withstand even that (hence why lots are getting rebranded as 10A max total load devices)
So you can tell by the number on the side what it does.
Because people like to make things more complcated than they have to be.
It's only logical to have a strip that says it will take 13A outlast a fuse that says 13A (which is what is supplied in the little container at the end of it).
There were only two sockets in the room, I gave her two new strips and told her to put one washer and one drier on each.
Its a fairly safe bet that its generally superior to most other countries (and our accident rates would back that up), but that is not to say that every aspect of other systems is inferior.
If you take an old appliance that was not designed for general sale in other EU countries, then indeed all bets are off. However for anything more recent, it will have a flex CSA (e.g. usually 0.75mm^2 or more) and length selected by its designers (often under 1.8m) such that even a 16A MCB will offer fault protection.
If the device itself needs overload protection then it will need to be built in to it.
Nothing is impossible, but in general very unlikely.
If you ignore the cases where the appliance has a plausible overload scenario, which could cause it to draw an abnormal current for an extended time (i.e. those which mandate it should include its own overload protection), we are really interested in are the hard faults that result from cable damage etc. Most of the typical ones will be a hard short or near enough, and should allow enough fault current to flow to activate the protective device. But, there will also be a very small chance of getting a fault that is borderline - what happens then will depend on other factors.
There are more uses for BS1362 fuses than just in plugs. Note also, that on old UK targeted appliances, they may well require external overload protection, and may also expect the plug fuse to provide it. So for those you will have to use an appropriate fuse.
Its also good practice to match the fuse to the load in some cases since it will reduce the let through energy in the event of a blow. But as an equipment designer you also need to recognise that fuses are user changeable, and more importantly, the ratings interchangeable. Hence having a 13A fuse stuck in is a foreseeable circumstance, that you may as well just deal with.
The same fuses are also used in other circumstances. Devices that are designed to be hard wired, may still stipulate external fused protection at say 3A. So a 3A fuse in a FCU would be the way to go.
20 odd years ago certainly... whether the modern ones are as good is another question.
That answers my question too.
An option is to replace the current twin box with a dual surface box and two sockets which gives you 6 terminals and allows two spurs (one from each socket) so 3 wires per terminal. e.g.
I see that's an MK product. :-)
Thanks. I guess that "plausible overload scenario" doesn't apply to a table lamp (for example) --- I don't recall ever seeing one with any additional protection beyond the plug fuse --- but to more complicated appliances.
How can one tell whether a "13A" strip is really a 13A strip? Without taking it apart & measuring the internal conductors?
I think the filament itself rather tends to act as a fuse.
Indeed, there is not much that can go wrong with a lamp to make it want to suck 10A for hours on end...
If you get inventive with one of those old flex to BC plugs you could probably find a way to cook up something dangerous, but then you probably deserve all you get ;-)
In some respects its safer to assume it never is... especially if it only cost £2.99 To an extent you get what you pay for.
Having said that, it really comes down to a question of load duration. If it was for a 3kW kettle, then I would be less worried, since its only short term. I would be less keen with a couple of larger kitchen appliances on one though.
A good quality one, should handle an indefinite 13A load... (I used a decent 4 way one with a 3kW pool heater, and a small pump. It got warm to the touch as you would expect, but nothing more than expected).
Although you'll find that many incandescent bulbs also have a fuse in one of the leads. It's easier to see (and probably more necessary) on big bulbs like the
1.5kW one I acquired a little while ago. (No, I've never actually tried to use it...)In article , John Rumm writes
I had to smile when I came across an old iron whose flex ended in a BC plug at a car boot sale last weekend...
Mission now accomplished - well, the electrical part of it, anyway - see
It was easy enough to to find which of the original 3 cables was the spur, by separating them and using a multimeter in resistance mode to detect which one wasn't connected to either of the other two. [I'm pleased to say that the other two *were* connected to each other via the CU!] I discovered that the spur is for a long-forgotten socket which we arranged to be installed inside a cupboard just in case SWMBO later decided to install a wine chiller next to it.
There was plenty of cable looped up at the back of the units to pull one of the ring cables through enough to go into the end of the top box (as before) and then down into the bottom box. A short piece of new cable between the two boxes completed the ring - and the spur is still connected into the top box, as before.
As you might expect, I had to temporarily remove the waste disposal unit and the cap off the trunking in order to gain access.
So we're now ready for the new arrival!
On Friday 05 April 2013 14:41 Mike Tomlinson wrote in uk.d-i-y:
"Restored and Tested Vintage Bakelite BC Bayonet Lamp Adaptor Plug Connector B22"
Lovely...
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