2 Amp round pin plug wired to trailing socket?

[SUNRAY]

It is NOT crap. It has always been said the fuse in a 13a plug is to protect the cable not the device on the end of it which the manufacturer should internally protect.

So you are saying I don't need a 13A fuse in my 4mm² extension leads. Wow thanks winston that will save me a few heartaches in the future. Please let me know the regulation concerned.

 

[EFLImpudence]

What is going on?

Have people's personal preferences now taken precedence over the actual regulations?

 

[SUNRAY]

What is going on?

Have people's personal preferences now taken precedence over the actual regulations?

No not at all, as has been mooted already the regs are only advisory and list minimum standards.
The actual design is to a great extent left to the designer.

 

[JohnW2]

Lets put it another way then .... When you select a fuse for a manufactured appliance you must fit the fuse to protect the cable (usually flex) capacity, ...

Indeed so - you must fit a fuse which is at least low enough in rating to adequately protect the cablle/flex.

the manufacture must design to protect the appliance from all occurrences within the appliance. ..

One would hope so, but it seems that some manufactures prefer to rely on insisting that the user provides such protection by an an OPD outside of the appliance.

However, there is no reason why, one should not fit a fuse of lower rating than would be required to satisfy both protection of the cable and whatever the manufacture may 'require', if one perceived a reason for doing that. As you go on to say ...

.... When you fit a fuse on something you might also want to protect the appliance (say you designed and manufactured it yourself) from other occurrences/considerations and therefore fit a fuse below the size rating of the flex.

Agreed, but that may well also apply to things designed and manufactured by someone else if one perceives a reason for wanting 'greater potential protection' of the device than the manufacturer provides (if any) - which is the most common situation in which I use 1A fuses.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ebee]

However, there is no reason why, one should not fit a fuse of lower rating than would be required to satisfy both protection of the cable and whatever the manufacture may 'require', if one perceived a reason for doing that

Yes agreed John

 

[ebee]

There might be times when you want to/need to put a 4mm flex on a 13A plug, it`s not always impossible but is more difficult than putting a 1.5 or even 2.5 flex on it. Making the choice of the actual plug and flex makes will make the job easier but it`s not for the faint hearted though

 

[EFLImpudence]

I ask again:

What is going on?

Is it the daftest post competition?

 

[ebee]

Of course it is. Anyone is quite welcome to join in. We do not discriminate against anyone writing a daft post. It is their fundamental right to do so.

 

[JohnW2]

So what happens when you take your appliance abroad and change the plug to a local one which does not have a fuse? Quite simply it is protected by the local MCB at 16 amp. I never hear of massive fires or electrocutions abroad.

Well, it depends on how puny the cable is. If, for example, it were 0.5mm² flex, that theoretically has a maximum current-0carrying capacity of 3A, whereas a 16A MCB will allow about 23A to flow for an hour. That could result in a very hot cable, but quite possibly not enough to start a fire.

Perhaps appliances designed for use in non-UK countries don't have 'puny cables'.

However, that's all about cable protection. As we've been discussing, one might also want to have protection which stands some chance of reducing or preventing damage to a (potentially expensive) appliance connected to the end of the cable.

Kind regards, John
Edit: (some of!) my typos corrected!

 

[SUNRAY]

You are making things up. A 4mm extension lead won’t fit a 13 amp plug so stop posting rubbish.

Please stop these stupid pathetic know nothing immature replies.
I can assure you I have put 13A plugs and sockets on 4mm² flex on a number of occasions.
Just because you can't terminate cable into plugs it doesn't mean the rest of us can't.

 

[SUNRAY]

Why on earth would you want to anyway?

Because I work in a proffessional manner... How about you?

 

[SUNRAY]

I know that one does not need 4mm cable for a max load of 13 amps so I use the correct size cable and save money.

So on that basis I assume you do all of the correct design calculations to enable you to know the correct size cable to use.

 

[JohnW2]

I know that one does not need 4mm cable for a max load of 13 amps so I use the correct size cable and save money.

That would obviously nearly always make sense.

However, he's no fool, so I can but presume that he's talking about a very long cable, such that the voltage drop with 2.5mm² (let alone 1.5mm²) cable would be a problem (with 13A or less flowing), even though either of those small cables would be adequate from the point-of-view of CCC..

Kind Regards, John

 

[ebee]

Years ago (Was it Les Dawson or Benny Hill?) someone said his grandad had built an electric rocket to go to the moon using 10 bobs worth of scrap metal. Only problem was it would cost 100 trillion trillion trillion trillon pounds for the flex

 

[SUNRAY]

It is done for me. The current ratings of cables are tabulated.

Yes I know the characteristics and performances of cables, I have been working with cable for 60 years and I'm capable of making the correct cable choice.

Maybe, but surely the answer then is to use a short cable that fits the plug joined on to the larger cable rather than bodging a large cable into the plug.

Indeed and something I do on a regular basis and have 'stock cables' for such.

Sometimes I find myself in a situation where such is deemed to be inappropriate or even not permitted and some would consider the application of a thinner cable joined to a thicker cable a botch in itself, regardless of how it's done.

Sadly I work in the real world and not in some blinkered corner of it.