10 Amp fused plug missing

[Aurum1966]

Hi
this feels like such a stupid question, but I've read and researched till my eyes are foggy......
I've bought a 2nd hand miele dish warmer. The plug was probably taken out to remove it. I've downloaded the instructions and it says it requires a 10 Amp fused plug. Every plug I've found is 3 or 13 amp. I have found 10 amp fuses so is it safe to just swap over the fuse OR go with one of 10 amp plugs which has been taken off another appliances?

thank you gurus

 

[stillp]

is it safe to just swap over the fuse

Yes.

 

[winston1]

A 13 amp fuse will be OK. The fuse is to protect the cable not the appliance and I'm sure the cable will be rated above 10 amps.
Just another example of a manufacturer or his marketing gurus not knowing what they are talking about.

 

[JohnD]

it's possible it was designed for use in one of the other countries in the world. Almost all of them lack the world's finest plug, and have to rely on circuit fusing. The person who translated the instructions may not have had the ability or the authority to modify them.

If you have the instructions, and can read foreign, it might be interesting to know what fusing instructions they give for those other benighted countries.

 

[bernardgreen]

A 13 amp fuse will be OK. The fuse is to protect the cable not the appliance and I'm sure the cable will be rated above 10 amps.

That assumes the cable is able to carry 13 amps for a prolonged period. It is not un-common to use the fuse on the plug to protect the internal wiring of the appliance from overheating when there is a fault.

 

[EFLImpudence]

That assumes the cable is able to carry 13 amps for a prolonged period.

Presumably if they call for a 10A fuse, the appliance won't do that.

It is not un-common to use the fuse on the plug to protect the internal wiring of the appliance from overheating when there is a fault.

Mmm.
Why DO they require a 10A fuse?
How do they manage in Europe?

 

[Aurum1966]

Marvellous. thanks all. I did find this list of appliances and the amps used http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/electrical-items/amps-and-watts/
the only specifically 10A plugs I could find had been taken off appliances, but they are usually moulded to the wire aren't they :/ ? I was thinking yet another specialist tool I don't know the name of might need to be added to the constantly growing collection

 

[EFLImpudence]

The plugs are all the same. They are called 13A plugs because that is the maximum they are required to carry.

They can be fitted with any rating of fuse up to 13A - dependent on the size of the cable which will be sized for the appliance - the manufacturer using the smallest they can get away with.

Moulded plugs have a removable cover for changing the fuse. The specialised tool being the screwdriver you will be using to fit the cable.

 

[Aurum1966]

Thanks guys. I do so like not making things go on fire (apologies for assuming you are all guys)

 

[AdrianUK]

Malaysia uses the same BS1362 13A plug/socket that we do here in the UK. However, they do not wire them into ring finals, but wire them as radials on a 10A MCB. So a possible explanation is that the device you have was intended for the Asian market. Many appliances over there are fitted with un-fused "BS1362" plugs... this isn't an issue in the intended country since the cable is protected by the 10A MCB. However it would be a problem here in the UK.

 

[JohnD]

I believe that kettles, dwrs, washers and tumbledriers made for sale throughout Europe are designed to be 10A. Some UK-market kettles are 13A and boast about it.

I couldn't find a definition of the current their circuits are designed for though.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Not sure what you mean - they may BE 10A (2.3kW - probably smaller) but that doesn't necessarily relate to the circuit supplying them, nor the OPD.

The circuits are usually 16A.

Are you saying they are advised not to plug them into 16A circuits?

 

[JohnD]

No, I was speculating on why they specify 10A for this appliance. I have a feeling it might be their overall instruction for the European market, most of which lacks our wonderful fused plug.

I don't know the rating of the common versions of Schuko plug.


I have seen an electric cooker wired through an (earthed) Schuko in Germany, which made me very uneasy.

 

[JohnW2]

No, I was speculating on why they specify 10A for this appliance.

Maybe because (as seems probable) 10A is 'more than enough' for the OP' dish warmer? Whilst we often hear it asserted that fuses (indeed, OPDs in general) are 'only there to protect the cable', in the case of a fuse in a plug, it does no harm at all (and some would say that it 'does good') to limit the rating of the fuse to whatever current is required by the connected appliance/equipment. As I've said before, I think I must be one of very few people who uses lots of 1A BS1362 fuses

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnD]

I keep a few 3A and 5A packs handy, it seems to me good practice for table lamps and other small devices.

But 10A and 13A are "near enough" IMO