Extension lead fire

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While this house has sadly been badly damaged, the family were able to get out safely after being alerted to the fire.

“The smoke alarms have made a huge difference in ensuring this incident wasn’t much more serious for those involved.”

The fire started after a reel-style extension lead was left plugged in overnight.

Watch Manager Ellis said “The extension lead was still in its drum and had been left plugged in. It overheated and set fire to an armchair.
I understand you should roll it all out but what sort of load would they have had on it, a hot tub or would something a lot smaller cause this and do they put warnings on the reels.
 
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The reason it should have been completely extended from the reel is that the coiled wire acts like a heating element if left coiled up and under power, despite the loading .
 
It is in essence a transformer and resistance plus not much cooling, most either have a over heat cut out, or duel rating one extended and one rolled up.
Specification
Amp Rating 16 A
Brand Masterplug
Cable Length 50 m
IP Rating IP20
Max. Power Unwound (W) 1760 W
Max. Power Wound (W) 720 W
The problem is people don't bother reading instructions on an extension reel.
 
... or duel rating one extended and one rolled up. ... The problem is people don't bother reading instructions on an extension reel.
Even if they read that, they might be confused ...
Amp Rating 16 A
Max. Power Unwound (W) 1760 W
Max. Power Wound (W) 720 W
Some people might take the 16 A 'rating' as applying regardless of whether the cable were wound or unwound!

I presume that what you are quoting relates to 110V, since that's the only way I can square "1760 W" with "16 A". How would you interpret that in terms of what load ('power') was acceptable (wound or unwound) at 230V ?

Kind Regards, John
 
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Yes, that description matches
https://www.screwfix.com/p/reel-110v/21981
sfixcable.JPG
 
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Its easily done.

I had a humidifier running to accelerate the drying out of a screed out before a wooden floor went down. Thought i'd assist the drying process by plugging a greenhouse fan heater onto the same extension lead but hadn't fully unrolled the lead. 2 days later and this was the the result.
 
The forum re-direct was using links to screwfix to collect commission for diynot.com . When screwfix stopped paying commission, diynot.com decided to substitute competitive links so they could continue to earn commission. Copy and paste the screwfix link to see where it was intended to go.
 
I selected the 110 volt version as all the 230 volt versions had a thermal reset button built it.
Fair enough (although it begs a question as to why 230V ones have thermal cutouts, but 110V ones do not).

Is the only (other) difference between a "230V" one and a "110V" one the connectors? On the face of it, 16 A is 16 A (and, if anything, one could even understand the 110 V one having larger CSA cable, since the VD at 16A {regardless of supply voltage} would represent a higher percentage of 110V).

Kind Regards, John
 
All my 110V extensions are 1.5mm² cable.

VD can be an issue on sites as long runs and multiple splitter boxes are commonplace. It’s not unknown for a vacuum or grinder starting up to extinguish all the fluorescent lights
 
All my 110V extensions are 1.5mm² cable.
That makes sense - and so, presumably would be a "230V" one if it were 'rated' at 16A (which it presumably wouldn't be).

In any event, my implied point still remains - that, other than for the connectors, a 110V one would presumably be OK for the same 'rated current' at 230V (since I doubt they will have found a cable that wasn't OK for 230V) - is that the case?

Kind Regards, John
 
Just to be clear and forgive me for the silly question, but is it ok to use these extensions wound up as long as the tool used doesn't exceed the stated wattage.
i.e. wound max rating 750 watts= is it ok to use a tool of max 500 watts?
 
Just to be clear and forgive me for the silly question, but is it ok to use these extensions wound up as long as the tool used doesn't exceed the stated wattage. i.e. wound max rating 750 watts= is it ok to use a tool of max 500 watts?
If you had one which said it had a 'wound up rating' of 750W, then, yes, that's what it would be saying.

However, personally speaking, and for what it's worth, I generally would not use one of them for any significant load when 'wound up'. I have a selection of extensions ranging from 6m to 50m, so can usually select one which can be completely unwound for the task in hand.

Kind Regards, John
 

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