Absolute amateur wants to know if I'm overloading

[ninebob]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Just to give a joe-public's perspective - I always assumed that because a double socket allows you to insert two 13A plugs, you could use both to capacity. Reading these posts, that's clearly not the case, and should be much better publicised.

Putting aside my original query with my lounge, this raises a new issue in my kitchen. Presumably when in the morning I am making a cup of tea and microwaving my bacon at the same time, I am overloading the double socket into which my kettle and microwave are plugged. I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of kitchens up and down the country have the same situation occuring and assumed to be perfectly safe?

 

[plugwash]

microwaves are rarley more than a kilowatt kettles rarely more than 2 so it's not a big issue

also both are short duration loads....

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Just to give a joe-public's perspective - I always assumed that because a double socket allows you to insert two 13A plugs, you could use both to capacity. Reading these posts, that's clearly not the case, and should be much better publicised.

I think you're absolutely right. As there is no warning on the front of sockets, and no overload protection built in, I think it's utterly appalling that the BSI (as in Bl**dy Stupid Imbeciles) did not make it mandatory that double sockets should be able to deliver 26A indefinitely.

 

[Big_Spark]

I think you're absolutely right. As there is no warning on the front of sockets, and no overload protection built in, I think it's utterly appalling that the BSI (as in Bl**dy Stupid Imbeciles) did not make it mandatory that double sockets should be able to deliver 26A indefinitely.

Ban, your 100% spot on. It is a bl**dy disgrace that this is not the case. It causes so much confusion it is unreal and is certainly an issue I want the AE3 to address.

Edit

OK OK..I know I'm going senile early

 

[breezer]

 

[securespark]

Jim...

BREEZER

BAN

BREEZER

BAN

Spot the difference?

Only kidding fella!!

 

[ninebob]

So, from reading the earlier post which quoted MK's opinion, I could load one side of a double socket with 13A, the other side with 13A, neither of the plug fuses would blow, nothing in the CU would blow, but after a while my flat might catch fire! This strikes me as something which desperately needs to be made more aware to the public.

Going back to my original post, I assume that for the most part I will be OK running all the mentioned appliances from one double socket. The obvious exception is the 2.4kw fan heater, however it is unlikely that I would have that on at the same time as everything else.

 

[Big_Spark]

Ninebob, I think this situation has arose because generally people do not load double sockets to anything like their maximum stated capacity. In reality most users will be unlikely to draw more than 20A through a double socket at any one time, and this tends to be for short periods only.

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

Ninebob, I think this situation has arose because generally people do not load double sockets to anything like their maximum stated capacity. In reality most users will be unlikely to draw more than 20A through a double socket at any one time, and this tends to be for short periods only.

That's ok then!

Presumably, this limit has something to do with the resistance between the small contact area of the plug and socket recepticles (ooh er).

If this is the case, then all these tests were carried out in laboratory conditions with new equipment. So you could reduce this factor considerably for old dirty contacts???

That reminds me, must clean the plug of my vax after having a bath in the sea!

 

[kendor]

Ban all sheds wrote: I think you're absolutely right. As there is no warning on the front of sockets, and no overload protection built in, I think it's utterly appalling that the BSI (as in Bl**dy Stupid Imbeciles) did not make it mandatory that double sockets should be able to deliver 26A indefinitely.

If that was the case i'd be worried about the cable and protective device feeding them!
On a serious note, there has to be allowances made otherwise all houses would be wired in cables of impracticle size with huge accessories to accept the larger cables etc, joe public is going to do whatever he likes and you can't cater for all eventualities. You could blame the regs for allowing so many sockets on rings in the past but they were only trying to accomodate the number of appliances in a standard house these days and to get away from the serious misuse of stacking adaptors out of sockets.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That's not the point - ignoring seriously unbalanced loads, the device in the CU protects the ring cable from overload and short circuits.

The fuse in the plugtop protects the flex from overload and short circuits.

It seems entirely reasonable that if you present someone with a 2 x 13A socket that he ought to be able to plug in 2 x 13A devices, and not have the socket be the thing that fails....

 

[securespark]

I know this aint the answer, but instead of the manufacturers putting something like "Total Load 13A Max" on the reverse side of the outlet (visible to noone when installed), it could be moulded onto the front, hidden when a plug is inserted.

 

[AdamW]

How hard would it REALLY be to redesign double sockets to handle 2 x 13A? Not very hard at all. The contact terminals between the cables on the ring and the socket don't need to be much bigger (compare to a 30A JB terminal). The cables are already chunky enough to carry more than 26A. The conductors inside the socket, well, they would need to put a bit more metal in to carry the load... but not much, after all they have to be able to carry 13A to one outlet. The only bit to be upgraded would be between where they branch and the terminal.

So basically, I think this comes down to the fact that someone realised they save 5p of metal by making double sockets 13A instead of 2 x 13A.