FCU melting?

[HamishMcSqueeze]

Hi guys,

I posted a thread a few days ago shout a friend who has taken over a restaurant and called me to say that the food warmer is melting the plug.

HOWEVER, I’ve been in today to see him and what he has is a food heater controlled by a 13A FCU which is spurred from a lower double socket using 2.5m T/E.

So basically the FCU is acting as a switch for the heater so they can easily turn it off at night.

But he’s telling me that the original FCU melted.

I’ve checked the amperage and wattage of the heater and it’s 3KW at full load with an amps of around 12.5A.

Any ideas why it’s melting?

Would he be better with a 20A rotary isolator?



Thanks in advance.

 

[jj4091]

What supplies the socket.

 

[HamishMcSqueeze]

32A MCB.

 

[Murdochcat]

Probably a cheap and nasty FCU that doesn't like the constant load from the oven

 

[HamishMcSqueeze]

Thanks. That’s what I was hoping.
I’ve told him to get an MK one and try that.

Or is there a better one?

Thanks again.

 

[Adam_151]

I'd go with the MK one for now. Remember to cut back any head damaged copper and ensure you nip the terminals up properly

Longer term / If you have problems with it overheating still then it might be an idea to put it on its own 16A cirucit, with either a rotary isolator or 20A DP switch as local isolation

 

[HamishMcSqueeze]

Thanks. That’s exactly what I’ve done with the MK FCU.

I ran it for 2 hours and it seemed fine.

I’ll tell them to keep an eye on it and see how it goes over the long term.

Thanks for your help.