Would it overload the socket?

[Paul6756]

I have a spur socket which has been converted to a double socket.

I would like to use this socket to power my TV, video, satellite system and other devices, possible totalling some 5 or 6. Would it be possible to use a small extension lead with the required number of sockets to power all of these devices to the above socket or is it going to be overloaded.

The spur comes from another socket which is only occasionally used.

Also, Can the plastic junction boxes be buried in the wall and covered with plaster or is a different type required?

Many thanks.

Paul

 

[HDRW]

I have a spur socket which has been converted to a double socket.

I would like to use this socket to power my TV, video, satellite system and other devices, possible totalling some 5 or 6. Would it be possible to use a small extension lead with the required number of sockets to power all of these devices to the above socket or is it going to be overloaded.

The spur comes from another socket which is only occasionally used.

Also, Can the plastic junction boxes be buried in the wall and covered with plaster or is a different type required?

Many thanks.

Paul

Since the extension lead will have a 13A fuse (at a maximum) in the plug, and perhaps another in the socket strip itself, then you can't draw more than 13A and the socket is perfectly safe from overload. Plugging an extension into each socket of the pair, though, gives the chance of drawing 2 x 13A which is too much, but unless you're running 3-bar fires on each one, you're going to be under the limit - televisions and hi-fi don't draw anything like enough to be a problem.

Check the service plates to see the wattage needed by each device, then add them up - you have a budget of about 3000W, and I'd bet folding money that you're nowhere near that. I just had a quick look at some of my stuff (DVD, VCR, Digibox, 26" TV) and they are 17, 23, 25, 95W giving a total of 160W. A bigger television would draw more, but still not much. You could fit a 3A fuse in the extention-lead plug if this was your setup (allows up to about 700W).

As long as the socket that the spur comes from is on the ring-main, not a spur itself, then you have a single spur from the ring which is fine.

Which type of junction box do you mean - the circular ones with cable-entries at the 4 points of the compass? If so then you certainly can't embed these in a wall! They must be accessible, and there are discussions here as to whether being under floorboards is accessible enough...

Cheers,

Howard

 

[Paul6756]

Thanks Howard.

Paul

 

[Paul6756]

The spur is fed by 2 sets of wires, to a junction box and then by a single wire to the double socket. If I wanted to do away with the junction box completely, could I wire up the double socket with the two sets of wires by joining all of the same coloured wires together.

Paul

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

Yes, would be on the ring (you'd have to establish that it is the ring though) instead of a spur

 

[HDRW]

The spur is fed by 2 sets of wires, to a junction box and then by a single wire to the double socket.

Warning, Will Robinson, Warning! This is sounding a tad weird...

Why are there two sets of wires? I read that they are wired in parallel (at each end all wires are connected together like-for-like) - is that what you're saying?

If so, the question is: Why?

Possible reasons that come to mind:

1) It used to be part of the ring, but someone changed that and made it a spur, but kept both cables in use (maybe they were adding or taking out another socket)
2) The cables are too small (less than 2.5mm²) - in which case the Regs are being bent a tad...
3) The cables are particularly long (having a different postcode at each end!) and this is to reduce voltage drop
4) Someone didn't know what they were doing!
or
5) You have made a mistake in tracing them - the socket is actually part of the ring, and the two cables don't both go between socket and junction box.

If it's 2.5mm² cable of reasonable length, there's no reason to have more than one to run the spur. Can you confirm how you traced the cables? I think we need a bit more information here to be sure what the situation is.

If I wanted to do away with the junction box completely, could I wire up the double socket with the two sets of wires by joining all of the same coloured wires together.

Yes, but that makes 4 wires in each terminal, and it may be difficult to do, depending on their sizes and how much working space you have.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

televisions and hi-fi don't draw anything like enough to be a problem.

And it's a monoblock, BTW, so you'd need 2 for stereo....

 

[Paul6756]

I beleive that I've resolved it. It would seem that the 2 sets of wires were originally to a socket, but this was replaced with a junction box and a spur taken from it. The junction box was then stuffed under a brick and wooden plinth upon which stood the TV. I've just recently unearthed it when I removed the brick and wood plinth. Thanks for your concern

 

[HDRW]

televisions and hi-fi don't draw anything like enough to be a problem.

(Picture of 6000W amplifier removed for brevity)

And it's a monoblock, BTW, so you'd need 2 for stereo....

OK, so if you're Rick Wakeman and need 6kW of sound to even hear it these days, then maybe it's possible. But for us mortals whose ears still work, "HiFi" means a couple of hundred watts *Maximum* !

Incidentally, 6000W at 84V gives over 70A through the cables and binding posts... I hope they tighten them up well...

Oh, and I did advise Paul to check the ratings!

Cheers,

Howard[/i]

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I beleive that I've resolved it. It would seem that the 2 sets of wires were originally to a socket, but this was replaced with a junction box and a spur taken from it. The junction box was then stuffed under a brick and wooden plinth upon which stood the TV. I've just recently unearthed it when I removed the brick and wood plinth. Thanks for your concern

Make sure that what you have are the two cables of a ring or radial, not a multi-socket spur....