Rewiring a French plug to UK plug - question about fuse

[eperluette]

Hi everybody!

I have this halogen uplighter which I bought in France years ago and decided to adapt to UK plugs (I was using an adapter before and got fed up).

So, I cut the French plug off (a bulky, 2 pin thing), stripped back the wires (I found 3: a brown, a blue, and a green/yellow one), and rewired it to a 3-pin UK plug.

I had no problem rewiring it (there were some instructions on the UK plug I bought telling me where to wire each colour). But... I noticed something.

On the UK plug, it says 250V / 13A (it is indeed fitted inside with a 13A fuse).
On the French plug, it says 250V / 16A (and I can't tell you whether there's a fuse inside because the darn thing isn't made to be open... see pic).

So, my question to you guys, is: does it matter that the UK is 13A and the French 16A? Will I blow up the house?

Thank you for your comments and thoughts!

Cheers,

Sarah

Read more: //www.diynot.com/diy/threads/european-to-uk-plug-rewiring.81534/#ixzz3n9vX8FOp

 

[PBC_1966]

French plugs do not contain fuses - The 16A rating is the maximum that the plug may be used for. The British BS1363 plug is designed for 13A maximum and contains a fuse, but that doesn't mean that it should always be fitted with a 13A fuse.

Unless your light is rated at more than about 700 watts (unlikely), then a 3A fuse is adequate and the proper selection.

 

[eperluette]

Ha! Thank you very much, that answers my question and also explains why the thing doesn't open! Merci.

 

[winston1]

French plugs do not contain fuses - The 16A rating is the maximum that the plug may be used for. The British BS1363 plug is designed for 13A maximum and contains a fuse, but that doesn't mean that it should always be fitted with a 13A fuse.

Unless your light is rated at more than about 700 watts (unlikely), then a 3A fuse is adequate and the proper selection.

The fuse is to protect the cable not the appliance. One assumes the cable is rated at 16 amp if the original protection is a 16 amp MCB in the CU. So a 13 amp fuse would be technically OK. Halogen lamps have a large switch on surge which could take out a 3amp fuse. No point in using a 13 amp but I would use no less than a 5 amp.

 

[bernardgreen]

One assumes the cable is rated at 16 amp if the original protection is a 16 amp MCB in the CU.

A dangerous assumption. If the socket ( in France ) was designed / intended only for lighting use then the MCB may have been a 6 amp one

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I don't think they do that?

 

[winston1]

One assumes the cable is rated at 16 amp if the original protection is a 16 amp MCB in the CU.

A dangerous assumption. If the socket ( in France ) was designed / intended only for lighting use then the MCB may have been a 6 amp one

Not at all. The plug in question is a standard French/Schuko dual type intended to be used on 16amp protected circuits.

 

[bernardgreen]

I am not sure about French wiring but in Germany when I lived there some sockets were fed from MCBs less than 16 amp and intended for lighting or appliances that needed small, very flexible leads and not a lead rated at 16 amps.

 

[winston1]

You are missing the point. This lamp had a 16amp plug that could be plugged into 16amp circuits so the lead should be a 16 amp rated one.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You're missing the point that in Germany, at least, one might find appliances with "16A" plugs but not "16A" leads.

 

[eperluette]

Thank you all for your comments. I am sorry my lack of knowledge doesn't allow me to fully understand them

Could you just tell me whether it is safe to use this uplighter in the UK now that it is fitted with a 3 pin UK plug with a 13A fuse inside?

(I haven't been able to test it out as there is an inline foot dimer switch that needs replacing, too)

Thank you for you help!

Sarah

 

[winston1]

Thank you all for your comments. I am sorry my lasck of knowledge doesn't allow me to fully understand them

Could you just tell me whether it is safe to use this uplighter in the UK now that it is fitted with a 3 pin UK plug with a 16A fuse inside?

(I haven't been able to test it out as there is an inline foot dimer switch that needs replacing, too)

Thank you for you help!

Sarah

No 16 amp fuses. As I said best to use a 5 amp. And, yes, perfectly safe.

 

[plugwash]

You are missing the point. This lamp had a 16amp plug that could be plugged into 16amp circuits so the lead should be a 16 amp rated one.

It is normal practice across most of the world for the appliance flex to be rated lower than the rating of the protective device. I presume this is justified under the "overloads are unlikely" school of thought. Fused plugs are a UK oddity.

 

[PBC_1966]

It is normal practice across most of the world for the appliance flex to be rated lower than the rating of the protective device. I presume this is justified under the "overloads are unlikely" school of thought.

Precisely - If a cord is damaged in such a way that it's going to increase the current, it's going to be a short circuit which will cause enough current to flow to operate the fuse or circuit breaker anyway and it's considered that the smaller cord is sufficiently protected. Here in the U.S. appliance cords may be as small as 18 AWG (about 0.82 sq. mm) and protected by a 15A or 20A branch circuit fuse or circuit breaker. I believe the smallest acceptable cord size in France is 0.75 sq. mm on their standard 16A circuits.

So while with fused U.K. plugs there's no reason not to go to a smaller fuse for increased protection where possible, realistically even with a 13A fuse it's going to be just as safe as when used in France.

 

[plugwash]

I believe the smallest acceptable cord size in France is 0.75 sq. mm on their standard 16A circuits.

Hmm, has a rule changed somewhere? I have noticed that 0.5mm used to be fairly common but in recent years it seems 0.75mm is the minimum size you tend to see in appliances/cordsets.