Long Extension for a leaf blower

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Location
Lancashire
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United Kingdom
We are looking at a purchasing a leaf blower for our Village Hall. It is rated at 1450 watts. Because of the distances involved we would need up to 2 x Extension Cables
Specifications:
- Length of cable: 50m
- Cable: 3-core 1.25mm
- Sockets: 4 x 13amp 240v
Apart from safe routing of the cable are there any problems associated with this.

TIA
Amigo para lavida
 
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If it is a village hall then I hate to burst your bubble but this is not a domestic situation...all power tools should be 110V rated and fed via an isolating transformer. Failing that they should be Petrol driven. Contrary to what you often hear, mains rated power tools should not be used in such situations. However I would also urge you or anyone else contemplating such action to consider the following.

You should never plug one extension lead into another, buy a longer extension. Extension leads used outside of a building should ALWAYS be protected by an RCD,

Leads should preferably be rubberised and designed for the purpose to which they are being used, third parties should be excluded from the area during works by the use of physical barriers(Electricity at Work regs 1989 / Health and Safety at Work Act 1974). You will need to have RAMS in place for this work as it is not domestic in nature (regardless of anyone's personal opinion of Health and safety regs..it is a requirement to cover your arse in an accident).

Even if you are doing this as a Volunteer the above still applies, a Village Hall is NOT domestic, is not insured for Domestic purposes and is likely owned by the Parish or Local Council. Seek Guidance from the health and Safety team of the civic authority to ensure you comply with their guidance, ignoring it may be costly or embarrassing.
 
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If it is a village hall then I hate to burst your bubble but this is not a domestic situation...all power tools should be 110V rated and fed via an isolating transformer. Failing that they should be Petrol driven. Contrary to what you often hear, mains rated power tools should not be used in such situations.
Are you high? A village hall is not a construction site. And it's not even a REQUIREMENT on a building site
The law says you must take precautions against the risk of death or injury from electricity during construction work
it does not specifically say 'you must use 110 CTE equipment' granted, that is the best, and safest way, but it is by no means the only way.

There is therefore, no reason the OP cannot use 230V equipment wherever he or she chooses, so long as he/she does so safely. Granted, 110 would be the safest way to go, but your scaremongery post makes it sound like it's the only way

I concur however, that I would advise against using two extension leads plugged into each other using BS 1363 trailing sockets/plugs. I would however, happily plug two extension leads together outdoors proving they used 60309's for the outdoor connections
 
If it is a village hall then I hate to burst your bubble but this is not a domestic situation...all power tools should be 110V rated and fed via an isolating transformer. Failing that they should be Petrol driven. Contrary to what you often hear, mains rated power tools should not be used in such situations.
Are you high? A village hall is not a construction site. And it's not even a REQUIREMENT on a building site

The law says you must take precautions against the risk of death or injury from electricity during construction work
it does not specifically say 'you must use 110 CTE equipment' granted, that is the best, and safest way, but it is by no means the only way.

There is therefore, no reason the OP cannot use 230V equipment wherever he or she chooses, so long as he/she does so safely. Granted, 110 would be the safest way to go, but your scaremongery post makes it sound like it's the only way

I suggest that you re-read the Health and Safety at work Act and the Management of health and Safety at Work Regulations, along with the Electricity at Work Act. Whilst I grant you it does not specifically state 110V CTE equipment MUST be used, it clearly states that in the workplace all duty-holders have a responsibility to take all reasonable and practicable steps to avoid danger. Situations that are considered HIGH RISK will always have a high degree of scrutiny in the event of an accident and the person ordering/doing the work will need to demonstrate they undertook all reasonable precautions...trailing a flexible cable carrying 230V through it for 50m across open ground can never be justified in any Risk Assessment for a high risk workplace. If a third party received an electric shock as a result of a fault or cable damage then there would be serious repercussions. I agree that using 110V CTE equipment is not the ideal and not always practicable--the obvious solution would be a petrol driven unit-- but to be honest costs are practicality are very poor cousins and never a defence when things go horribly wrong.

I concur however, that I would advise against using two extension leads plugged into each other using BS 1363 trailing sockets/plugs. I would however, happily plug two extension leads together outdoors proving they used 60309's for the outdoor connections

Glad we agree on one thing....I would still not agree that plugging multiple extensions into each other is good practice. If you need one 50m long, simply make a single lead 50m long or buy the darned thing instead of messing about.
 
[QUOTE="DrJimFranklin, ...trailing a flexible cable carrying 230V through it for 50m across open ground can never be justified in any Risk Assessment for a high risk workplace. [/QUOTE]

This is done many times over on camping sites all over the country, though admittedly they are 25m leads (and probably 240v).
 
I personally feel yellow bricks to transform down to 110 volt are dangerous. OK with a proper 55-0-55 volt transformer with an MCB on the output but not the yellow brick these even with the smallest to allow 1450W it would mean 26A with a line to earth fault so would require 4mm² cable it would be far saver and have less volt drop problems sticking to low voltage at 230 volt rather than reduced low voltage at 55-0-55.

The length of cable will mean that any MCB will not trip in the required time with a line - earth fault so an RCD is a must. The problem is such a large motor may cause the RCD to trip. It should be OK but only way to be sure is to try it. One would hope a Village Hall would have RCD protection on all sockets, but one can't rely on that.

I would question the idea of having a join in the cable and would consider better to have a single extension lead made which will do the whole length without any joins. Because used for other things it could be a problem I would not use a BS1363 socket and plug to connect to blower BS EN 60309-2 would be better out doors. Also have no fuse in the BS EN 60309-2 means less volt drop which will likely be around 20 volt at 100 meters so blower running on around 200 volt not 230 volt. There is unlikely to be a problem with that volt drop other than tripping times but clearly the motor will not be blowing at full power.

It may be better to use a BS EN 60309-2 protected with a suitable RCBO or MCB so that you can use heavier cable possibly 2.5mm² to reduce volt drop. Also heaver cable will offer more protection. Cable to HOSRN-F (BS 7919) as used with caravans would likely be better than standard flex and likely orange cable would be easier to see so less likely to be damaged by anything else going on at the same time.

As with any non domestic work one would need to make out a method statement and risk assessment personally if I was in the same position I would be considering petrol although the storage of the petrol also causes problems so again risk assessment will be required.

I would have thought if a blower is required so will a lawn mower and/or hedge trimmer and/or chain saw and I would have thought any power method should be the same for all units.

I am sure any risk assessment done by myself would consider 55 - 0 - 55 volt was a non starter. Have you ever carried 100 meters of 4mm² cable? I would guess around 20 kg to 100 meters of 3 core 4mm² trying to stop this from becoming a mess of tangled cable would also be a problem. I would consider petrol or battery is a far better option. Depending on storage it may be battery is only option once a risk assessment is made.
 

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