HELLO! How to know how much you uk socket can take?

[Spoon]

Come on people. The OP is not coming back. He's done his one post and most prob doesn't like the sensible replies and questions, so has thrown a wobbler and done a runner..

 

[telectrix]

Come on people. The OP is not coming back. He's done his one post and most prob doesn't like the sensible replies and questions, so has thrown a wobbler and done a runner..

maybe he's tripped over his extension leads and broke his head.

 

[Pete999]

maybe he's tripped over his extension leads and broke his head.

Oh no I can't take any more, well no more than a 1363 socket anyway

 

[Spoon]

maybe he's tripped over his extension leads and broke his head.

Maybe hes just tapped into a nearby street light and solved his problem.....

 

[Taylortwocities]

Or died in the resulting house fire, that will get blamed on an electrical fault, as usual.

 

[Spoon]

Or died in the resulting house fire, that will get blamed on an electrical fault, as usual.

If all his plants have caught fire as well then at least the neighbourhood will be happy and relaxed.....

 

[Generator]

I'm surprised to see such misconceptions about fuses flying about in professional electrical circles!! Fuses are NOT overload devices - they are Overcurrent devices - they provide short circuit protection ONLY. A BS1362 'plug top' cartridge fuse will not protect the equipment connected, nor provide overload protection ( well, not below about 1.6 times the fuse rating). The rating is the safe current the fuse will carry forever. Above that things start to get warm, then hot. A 13A fuse will carry 30A for 6 minutes or so, 50A for 0.1 to 20 secs, and 100A for 10 to 20 msecs. I believe it would take 1.6X rated, ie 20.8 A indefinitely, though things would get rather hot before too long! So, either fit some proper overload device, or a good smoke detector!

 

[HandySparks]

I'm surprised to see such misconceptions about fuses flying about in professional electrical circles!! Fuses are NOT overload devices...

OK, so a BS 1362 fuse won't provide close overload protection. Do you think that domestic power strips, supplied via a 13A fused plug, should be banned?

What's your opinion on BS 3036 semi-enclosed fuses, widely used in distribution boards until recently? Do they not provide overload protection, albeit crude?

 

[UNG]

I'm surprised to see such misconceptions about fuses flying about in professional electrical circles!! Fuses are NOT overload devices - they are Overcurrent devices - they provide short circuit protection ONLY. A BS1362 'plug top' cartridge fuse will not protect the equipment connected, nor provide overload protection ( well, not below about 1.6 times the fuse rating). The rating is the safe current the fuse will carry forever. Above that things start to get warm, then hot. A 13A fuse will carry 30A for 6 minutes or so, 50A for 0.1 to 20 secs, and 100A for 10 to 20 msecs. I believe it would take 1.6X rated, ie 20.8 A indefinitely, though things would get rather hot before too long! So, either fit some proper overload device, or a good smoke detector!

I don't believe it would carry 20.8A indefinitely, from memory it would blow within 4 hours

 

[I2C]

I think you misunderstand. The 20A test current is the sum of the currents through both sides of a double socket.

I'm fully aware of this, perhaps my post was misleading/vague in it's wording? Regardless, the appliance plug-top fuse is limited to 13A and it's highly unlikely that two 13A rated appliances will be used simultaneously from the same socket-outlet.

With this said, I'm a big fan of radial-final circuits for this reason (opposed to ring-final circuits). A radial-final circuit supplying sockets will ensure protection against over-currents in this situation. However ring-final circuits will allow over-currents to exist, and will continue operation even if one of the live-conductors is open-circuit (halving the current-carrying capacity) without any indication of a fault.

Anyone else in favour of following the rest of Europe in banning ring-final circuits to improve safety?

 

[telectrix]

Anyone else in favour of following the rest of Europe in banning ring-final circuits to improve safety?

That's a big NO from me. We're leaving the EU, mainly due to the UK electorate being fed up with the tin-pot dictators telling us what to do (apart from grabbing millions of our hard-earned). long live the RFC, Red/Yellow/Blue, feet and inches, and English real ale.

 

[Pete999]

Anyone else in favour of following the rest of Europe in banning ring-final circuits to improve safety?

That's a big NO from me. We're leaving the EU, mainly due to the UK electorate being fed up with the tin-pot dictators telling us what to do (apart from grabbing millions of our hard-earned). long live the RFC, Red/Yellow/Blue, feet and inches, and English real ale.

What he said with bells on^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[electric al]

Unelected beuracrats meddling in every aspect of this countries affairs . Let's be honest Britain is envied and loathed in equal measure by most of Europe and the French inparticular have never forgiven us for liberating them. Take whatever powers we can back from them

 

[I2C]

Anyone else in favour of following the rest of Europe in banning ring-final circuits to improve safety?

That's a big NO from me. We're leaving the EU, mainly due to the UK electorate being fed up with the tin-pot dictators telling us what to do (apart from grabbing millions of our hard-earned). long live the RFC, Red/Yellow/Blue, feet and inches, and English real ale.

I totally agree with the leaving-EU part! I've never understood how countries which have completely different climates, cultures, and traditions; should be run in the same way. It results in a bland-uniformity without respect for the values held by individual countries citizens. (Only my opinion of course) I digress...

Regardless of political factors, ring-final circuits remain inherently dangerous because during a single-fault condition (such as an open-circuit in one of the live conductors) the circuit remains operational without symptoms, while significantly reducing the total current-carrying-capacity of the conductors - potentially leading to an over-current which will not be protected by the circuit-breaker.

With regards to the change in colours (red/yellow/blue to brown/black/grey), I'm not 100% sure but I've heard that it was harmonised throughout Europe because colour-blind people find the new colours easier to see (generally, not always of course)? If there's any colour-blind members here, I'd love to hear more.