Overloaded my sockets?

[Pensdown]

Thanks for that advice pensdown so where can I get a 7a fuse then???

What, like all these Bussmann ones on my desk

Any GOOD wholesaler will stock them.

 

[Pensdown]

Wow, that picture came out a bit big

 

[JohnD]

Haven't heard from Chris with the description of his ?RCD?

Do you suppose he's lying electrocuted in the shower? Should we tell someone?

 

[Spark123]

From his description I thought it sounded more along the lines of the old type of wylex MCB, like the ones on the left hand side of this pic (I just stole from ebay!!)

 

[JohnD]

Yes, the "little red button" made me think of that too. Perhaps he has a mixture of MCBs and rewirables?

I got the idea there was a 63A breaker involved, but on re-reading I think I must have imagined it, or had it in my mind from a different thread.

 

[Simon345]

Computer equipment is known to have high earth leakage and if your 6 way power block was in an Office it would need to be fused at no more than 7amps for this reason. (BS-6396)

Pensdown

Why would you need to fuse it at 7 amps? I have never heard of that before and all our 4 or 6 gangs at work are 13amp!

 

[Pensdown]

Computer equipment is known to have high earth leakage and if your 6 way power block was in an Office it would need to be fused at no more than 7amps for this reason. (BS-6396)

Pensdown

Why would you need to fuse it at 7 amps? I have never heard of that before and all our 4 or 6 gangs at work are 13amp!

It's all to do with section 607 of the regs and BS-6396, Electrical Systems in Office Furniture & Screens. By limiting the amount of high earth leakage equipment that can be connected to 7amps you're effectivly limiting the amount of total earth leakage that can be present at that point

A maximum of 6 sockets can be connected to each 13 amp supply.

No fusing is required on the module if only two sockets are connected to a 13 amp supply.

Individual 5 amp fuses are required for each socket if three or four sockets used.

Individual 3.15 amp fuses are required for each socket if five or six sockets used.

Up to six sockets can be protected by one 7 amp fuse. The fuse should be at the socket end and not in the plug

Appliances drawing over 5 amps should have a dedicated supply from a 13 amp socket.

I would also guess that the sockets you are plugging your 4-6 way blocks into are not either single outlets or high integrity earthed doubles. You can tell whether your doubles are high integrity earthed as the switches are on the outside and not together in the middle as normal. The ring circuit should also be wired differently at the dis board, the earths do not go in the same terminal like on a normal ring circuit

HTH

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You can tell whether your doubles are high integrity earthed as the switches are on the outside and not together in the middle as normal.

Is that a part of BS1363?

 

[Pensdown]

You can tell whether your doubles are high integrity earthed as the switches are on the outside and not together in the middle as normal.

Is that a part of BS1363?

According to MK BS1363 Part 2

http://www.mkelectric.co.uk/product...ETS+WITH+OUTBOARD+ROCKERS+13+AMP&rangeid=1030

Some have dual earth connections for HI (high integrity) circuits and some have a clean earth terminal which segregates the earth pin from the back box earth.

 

[RF Lighting]

From his description I thought it sounded more along the lines of the old type of wylex MCB, like the ones on the left hand side of this pic (I just stole from ebay!!)

Has the breaker on the right died? Maybe it overdosed on kA's.

 

[JohnD]

From his description I thought it sounded more along the lines of the old type of wylex MCB, like the ones on the left hand side of this pic (I just stole from ebay!!)

Has the breaker on the right died? Maybe it overdosed on kA's.

I think it's just put its feet up for a kip. If it was dead its legs would be up in the air

 

[ban-all-sheds]

According to MK BS1363 Part 2

http://www.mkelectric.co.uk/product...ETS+WITH+OUTBOARD+ROCKERS+13+AMP&rangeid=1030

Some have dual earth connections for HI (high integrity) circuits and some have a clean earth terminal which segregates the earth pin from the back box earth.

That's not what I meant.

I doubt if, for example, BS1363 Part 2 mandates styling features such as colour, faceplate profile, rocker shape etc. So the choice that MK have made to put the rockers on the outside may not be an actual requirement of BS1363 Part 2.

In which case you should not assume that any socket with rockers on the outside are necessarily dual or clean earth ones....

 

[Pensdown]

Ahh, now I can see what you were getting at. I don't have a copy of BS-1363 so I can't really comment. What I do know is that to date, I've not come across a dual/clean earth socket with the rockers in the middle.

This forum is a good place to state that fact because if they are made I'm sure someone will point them out

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I've only got a copy of BS 1363:1984 Incorporating Amendment Nos. 1, 2,
3, 4, 5 and 6, the last of which was Feb 1990, and it doesn't mention dual, clean or high-integrity earths....

 

[JohnD]

Ahh, now I can see what you were getting at. I don't have a copy of BS-1363 so I can't really comment. What I do know is that to date, I've not come across a dual/clean earth socket with the rockers in the middle.

This forum is a good place to state that fact because if they are made I'm sure someone will point them out

I did see some ordinary double sockets with the outboard switches, the manufacturer claimed they were easier to operate and you were less likely to switch the wrong one on or off, seemed sensible to me. I think they might have been crabtree.

This may have been ten years ago though.