How to supply a draw of > 13 amps on a socket - possible?

[Stoday]

3.3kW motor, but what's the power factor? If it's 0.8, the full load current is 18A.

Maybe correcting the power factor by adding a capacitor would stop the fuse blowing problem.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Let's cut to the chase.

The basic problem is that the manufacturer and/or importer are selling goods in this country which are not fit for purpose.

No amount of fiddling around the edges is going to change the fact that they are NOT suitable for connection via a BS 1363 plugs and sockets. You can waffle on all you like about PF correction capacitors, and worst-case inrush currents when mechanical parts are inopportunely arranged, but the fact is that a 3300W rated appliance does imply a current of >13A, and that is that.


digdilem has 2, and only 2, proper courses of action.

1) Provide 16A BS EN 60309 outlets and take legal action against the thieving cowboys who sold him the inappropriate appliances.

or

2) Buy washers which are suitable for the connections he has and take legal action against the thieving cowboys who sold him the inappropriate appliances.

 

[ericmark]

Let's cut to the chase.

No point in repeating it all but what you say is true. However 3 years after buying an appliance is really too long to return to supplier and complain they will not run on a 13A socket. For all we know the rep may have warned that it would need 16A supply.

So only option is to replace them. Maybe they can be sold to some one who does not want to move them.

 

[digdilem]

BAS - that /was/ kind of what I was asking, if there was a way they could be adapted to work properly.

Throwing away a grands worth of pressure washers because somebody bought the wrong ones is not a path I'm willing to take, so we'll carry on swapping fuses and ensure the same mistake is not made again when they need renewing.

(No, vendor did not mention 16a. After the first one I'm told the purchaser did make it clear that it was for 13a supply)

 

[xr4x4]

Did they come fitted with a 13 amp plug?

 

[digdilem]

No. Bare lead.

 

[xr4x4]

Ah, well that tells a different story.

How long have manufactures installed moulded plugs on equipment for?

 

[JohnD]

20 years or more

 

[ajrobb]

Maybe the 'bare' lead originally had a 16 A Continental plug.

I think 15 A round-three-pin plugs are still legal. Put that on a distribution board with a 15 A semi-enclosed fuse...

 

[Spark123]

My preference would be 16A ceeform as opposed to a 15A BS546.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I think 15 A round-three-pin plugs are still legal. Put that on a distribution board with a 15 A semi-enclosed fuse...

My preference would be 16A ceeform as opposed to a 15A BS546.

To add 16a sockets in enough places to allow it to be used would cost several thousand.

 

[Spark123]

To add 15A BS546 sockets will be about the same price as 16A ceeforms.
Think he should invest in a petrol pressure washer

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Throwing away a grands worth of pressure washers because somebody bought the wrong ones is not a path I'm willing to take

We actually have two of these units, both about three years old, and they've behaved in the same way from new

 

[Interrupteur]

One last question - is there any modification that can be made to reduce the power used? Excuse my electronic ignorance - but a "dimmer switch" on the incoming supply, or those power saver plug adapter things that reduce voltage or current? Might that help?

Would a suitably large Variac or autotransformer be good for the job?

 

[mikhailfaradayski]

If you think binning a grands worth of kit is too expensive, then presumably every option suggested so far that would cost more than a grand is also too expensive, so here ya go:-

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/62239/Electrical-Supplies/Plug-Fuses/13A-Fuse-Pack-of-10

200 for £32.80, should keep you going for long enough for the underlying wiring to develop some other kind of fault due to repetitive overloading.

I think continuing to use these devices this way will eventually give you a problem somewhere or other, lets hope it doesn't involve a fire.