20A BS1362 Fuses!

[eveares]

Link's below, anyone fancy buying them and testing to see what current on average they fail at. Now I knew there were dangerous and non compliant 15A BS1362 style fuses on the market, but now we seem to have 20A rated BS1362 style fuses to!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Pcs-AC...016738&hash=item1c55ddc620:g:TRYAAOSwKoRZY4uH

Or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ceramic-D...hash=item3d2b8e4110:m:mO4_I9lAi8fIeR6ErVX2eGQ

Regards: Elliott.

 

[JohnW2]

Link's below, anyone fancy buying them and testing to see what current on average they fail at. Now I knew there were dangerous and non compliant 15A BS1362 style fuses on the market, but now we seem to have 20A rated BS1362 style fuses to!

We went through this a year ago - see this thread

I bought some!

Kind Regards, John

 

[sparkwright]

All three listings from China, I see.

Chinese counterfeit tat.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Never mind.

It's what people want.

More than want - actually crave to the point where they shout down anybody who suggests that we should actually do something to stop them being sold.

I expect one of those people will be along soon - he usually is.

 

[sparkwright]

Do you think there is a demand for BS1362 15 and 20amp fuses?

I can imagine people with welders etc which have had 13amp plugs fitted would certainly think they need some.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I meant the desire for eBay and Amazon etc to continue to be purveyors of dangerous tat, not this specific item.

But yes - someone with a welder as you describe might want some, but I don't know anybody any more who has one.

 

[ericmark]

I do not think you should be able to buy a BS1362 15 and 20amp fuse. However there has long been a need for a 16A fuse connection unit so we can use equipment designed for Europe. The typical BS88 fuse

as used in fuse boxes and consumer units needs a holder which can be locally mounted on the wall and look reasonable. We should be able to take a 45 amp supply to a kitchen then split it with a fused 16A to oven and 32A to hob without having to use a bulky consumer unit.

Until such a unit is marketed we will have unofficial methods of getting around the problem.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

We've voted not to use equipment from Europe any more.

 

[ericmark]

We've voted not to use equipment from Europe any more.

I see so if I go into any shops today all ovens will be 13 amp we don't have 16 amp ovens any more!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

We do at the moment, but come April 2019 (subject to any transition periods), will we?

The vote was to take back control, wasn't it?

So no more acceptance of non-UK standards, as they are outwith our control, so unless we create a new standard for appliances which cannot be installed without a bulky CU....

 

[EFLImpudence]

We should be able to take a 45 amp supply to a kitchen then split it with a fused 16A to oven and 32A to hob without having to use a bulky consumer unit.

Why would anyone want to do that?

Until such a unit is marketed we will have unofficial methods of getting around the problem.

Do you think there is a reason such a thing has not been marketed?

 

[JohnW2]

Why would anyone want to do that?

Presumably because they believe that the OPD is there for reasons other than (in addition to) protection of the cable!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

Link's below, anyone fancy buying them and testing to see what current on average they fail at.

As I said, I have some (somewhere!).

Since it seems that it takes at least ~22A to blow a 13A BS1362 fuse (ever), one might guess that it would probably take around 34A to blow a "20A" one. That means that at well as being illegal (and potentially dangerous in a BS1363 plug or FCU), they would be a bit daft, given that they would normally be connected to a circuit with an OPD no greater than 32A (which would require around 36A to operate).

Kind Regards, John

 

[ericmark]

I think we have all seen the problems with mixing fuses and trips, and even different types of fuse, the problem as pointed out is we want a fuse to rupture in a plug faster than the trip will operate, we can overlay the charts and compare the times, but that means the fuse has to follow what the chart shows, and with fuses made in China there is a good chance they will not follow the charts.

If you try lining up the fuse and the MCB B type you will see even a 13A fuse until over load is down to around double it's rating is unlikely to go before the B32 trip. With a 16A trip it is unlikely the fuse will ever rupture. However I have had 13A fuses fail so it would seem in real life they do not follow the charts. 16 amp third line 32 amp sixth line. The charts don't quite line up, assume one must use a log scale, but good enough to see the problem mixing fuses and MCB's.

 

[JohnW2]

... even a 13A fuse until over load is down to around double it's rating is unlikely to go before the B32 trip.

I think that might be going a bit far but, as I said, the curve indicates that a 13A BS1362 should not (ever) blow with a current less than about 22A.

With a 16A trip it is unlikely the fuse will ever rupture. However I have had 13A fuses fail so it would seem in real life they do not follow the charts.

Do you mean under overload or (negligible impedance) fault conditions? In the latter case, the fault current will be so much higher than either 16A or 13A that either the fuse or the MCB would, alone, operate extremely quickly - so, if one has both, it's pot luck as to one, the other or both will operate. In the presence of faults (e.g. chopped through the hedge trimmer cable, more than once in my case!) I've certainly had a 13A BS1362 fuse, but not the circuit's B32 MCB, operate!

Kind Regards, John