Over taxing uk power sockets?

[Elwood42]

I currently have a dual plug socket in the wall, plugged into this is a radio and a six way extension lead. The six way extension lead has one double plug adaptor in it, so it is running seven plug sockets from it.

Plugged into the extension leads are as follows:

HDTV - 10 amps
Subwoofer - 13 amps
Audio reciever - 13 amps
PS3 - 5 amps
Sky Box - 3 amp
360 - 10 amp
A dual plug extension lead - 4 amp

One of the sockets on the six way extension has a double power socket so I can plug two sockets into one. I am usually only running four of those items at one given time, although on rare occasions I will run an electric fan through the plug extension lead.

It is also worth noting when I'm only running four items the rest usually are on standby. Now how much am I at risk of blowing up the sockets, etc? I can see from looking at it I seem to way exceed the 13 amp rating for dual plug sockets. But I also hear that's only a guide line, most devices don't run that much power. So can someone please help explain is this dangerous, and how to run my devices without blowing up any sockets?

The concerning thing is, I've been running it like this for a month or so now, and while I've not had any problems I figure best not push my luck.

 

[RF Lighting]

You should be fine at that.

 

[Elwood42]

i was wondering, the double extension lead i have plugged into the six way says it uses 4 amps. Is this when nothing is plugged in or what? Say I was to plug two 13 amp rated devices into this, would that risk over taxing the setup?

 

[rebuke]

Although your devices might be fused at those levels, they almost certainly will draw nothing near it - if you sub draws 13A then you must have a bloody big sound system, if your audio receiver does then your room will be getting incredibly hot etc etc...

 

[LiamPope]

Look on the ratings plates of those devices and you might find their actual power consumption (probably in Watts, so divide by 230 to get Amps). It wont be anything like the values you've posted. A 2.3kW X-box Dont think so For example my PS3 says 1.8A on it, and that is probably its absolute maximum current draw.

Liam

 

[Elwood42]

Brilliant, thanks for helping clear that up guys. I did find it concerning.

 

[EddieM]

An Xbox360 drawing 2.3Kw, I don't think so!

 

[RF Lighting]

My Xbox uses 175W

 

[EddieM]

PS3 135W - 380W depending on the version.

 

[Steve]

HDTV - 10 amps
Subwoofer - 13 amps
Audio reciever - 13 amps
PS3 - 5 amps
Sky Box - 3 amp
360 - 10 amp
A dual plug extension lead - 4 amp

These are plug fuse ratings, bar the last one.

The plug fuse is there to simply protect the flex. The flex is not rated at 32 amps (like your permenant wiring), so it must be fused in the plug. You may find some of your kit uses IEC plugs, commonly known as kettle leads, that can be swapped about. On these leads clearly they must protect the cable, but allow enough capacity to supply large TVs, PCs etc, so 10 amps is chosen for these. This is normally the rating of the IEC end anyway.

Cheap extension leads are awful. Throw it away and get a 4-way lead, even the cheapest ones are rated at 13 amps. And I bet that 4 amp extension lead has a 13 amp fuse in its plug. Yuck.

 

[Chri5]

I'm sure if we want to be 4n4l we could give you exact maths, but as a guess (and having had a booze driven s/lunch)

HDTV - 10 amps - 200w
Subwoofer - 13 amps- 60w
Audio reciever - 13 amps -100w
PS3 - 5 amps - 200w
Sky Box - 3 amp -150w
360 - 10 amp -150w
A dual plug extension lead - 4 amp - fan 150w, charger- 50w

In total 1060w / 230v = 4.2a The socket on the wall can take 13a and as long as the extension / multi socket leads are rated the same or better, so can they.

It can go wrong if you do heating, kettles, ironing, tumbe driers on the same lead due to the devices needing far higher loads.

 

[stuartsjg]

You need to watch some consumer electronics quotes a very high current figure, such as 2A making you think 360-380W of consumption when in fact it will only consume 200W.

This isnt a problem, but if you plug in 3kW of name plate rating appliances in, its possible you may be taking more than 13A.

I seen this problem at a TV shop. They had 6 large plasma screens plugged into a 4 way adapter for a window display. All the TV's total power rating was about 2.4kW (average 400W per TV). Shop owner thinks, thats ok, just over 10A (the adapter quotes 13A or 3200W maximum load on the back of it)

Problem is, the 13A fuse blows every few days and the plug/socket is running warm. Shop owner thinks there is a fault behind the socket.

Turns out, the TV's have an average power factor of about 0.68 meaning that the total load was not 10.4A as expected, but just over 15A!

The clue was on the TV name plate, they said:
(for example-cant remember exactly)
400w, 2.5A
385w, 1.9A
440w, 2.9A
etc etc etc
Which totalled 2400W, 15.3A!! Not 10.4A (2400w/230v)

I dont think there will be a problem here Elwoods system, but its worth bearing in mind to ensure you are within the quoted power and current on the appliance name plate. (but obviously not the plug fuse rating)

I think some of the newer TV's and home electronics have a better power factor as the utilities don't like supplying houses with lots of kVAh and not not many kWh! Some ive seen at the 0.9-1.0pf mark which is better than the 0.4 which ive seen before!


Stuart

 

[Steve]

All the TV's total power rating was about 2.4kW (average 400W per TV). Shop owner thinks, thats ok,

You think?

 

[stuartsjg]

The owner thought that he had done well to ensure the power was within the range of the power quoted on the adapter. Its probably understandable that the guys didn't understand the current ratings.

Does make you think about the electricity bill as they have the window TV's on 24x7!! Thats nearly 60kWh per day for these TV's!!

Stuart

 

[Steve]

What I meant was that the shop owner probably didnt think anything about the capacity of the leads.

IMO places like currys and comet should leave the TVs off, and allow the customers to turn them on if they wish to see them working. Remote control on a security wire.