Garden Socket installation

[RandomGrinch]

Outside the UK those same leads have plugs without fuses and are only protected by 16 amp MCBs. Are those leads really only rated at 5 amps? If so the cable will be smaller than the minimum allowed

There are various leads, with .75 , 1.00 and 1.25 mm conductors, and that's the problem - end users can't tell the difference and don't even know they should be looking for one.
In a lab environment, equipment may be moved continuously. The surfeit of spare leads is always from IT equipment and mostly rated for 5A with .75mm conductors. These end up connected to everything; fuses are changed by the user if the original 5A fails (despite repeated attempts at educating the users! ).

...and from wiki - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320 the maximum rating for standard IEC connector socket is 10A

I bet others have seen these leads with 13A fuses!

 

[333rocky333]

There are various leads, with .75 , 1.00 and 1.25 mm conductors, and that's the problem - end users can't tell the difference and don't even know they should be looking for one.
In a lab environment, equipment may be moved continuously. The surfeit of spare leads is always from IT equipment and mostly rated for 5A with .75mm conductors. These end up connected to everything; fuses are changed by the user if the original 5A fails (despite repeated attempts at educating the users! ).

I find the fuse rating is usually stamped on the back of the moulded plug

 

[winston1]

There are various leads, with .75 , 1.00 and 1.25 mm conductors, and that's the problem - end users can't tell the difference and don't even know they should be looking for one.
In a lab environment, equipment may be moved continuously. The surfeit of spare leads is always from IT equipment and mostly rated for 5A with .75mm conductors. These end up connected to everything; fuses are changed by the user if the original 5A fails (despite repeated attempts at educating the users! ).

...and from wiki - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320 the maximum rating for standard IEC connector socket is 10A

I bet others have seen these leads with 13A fuses!

Indeed. And with Schuko plugs moulded on to them. Yet they don’t seem to cause problems.

 

[sparkwright]

As we all probably know, only 3 and 13 amp fuses seem to be the norm for moulded and pre-fitted plugs. Although I did notice a batch of new hairdryers with 7 amp fuses already fitted, which I thought was unusual. The fuse rating was a perfect match for the appliance rating, even though it is the flex we are concerned with protecting.

As I understand it, on pre-fitted plugs, for flex below 0.75 mm2 they fit a 3 amp fuse
and
for 0.75mm2 flex or larger they fit a 13 amp fuse.

 

[RandomGrinch]

...and just to show the inconsistencies!
At random, I picked up the lead to my multifunction printer: 10A rated plug, 10A rated connector, but .75mm conductors!
No issues in use, but would you be happy using that lead on a 3kW appliance?
And what hope do consumers have if manufacturers have these inconsistencies.

 

[winston1]

As I understand it, on pre-fitted plugs, for flex below 0.75 mm2 they fit a 3 amp fuse
and
for 0.75mm2 flex or larger they fit a 13 amp fuse.

Or Schuko plugs with no fuse and used on 16amp MCBs.

 

[SUNRAY]

...and just to show the inconsistencies!
At random, I picked up the lead to my multifunction printer: 10A rated plug, 10A rated connector, but .75mm conductors!
No issues in use, but would you be happy using that lead on a 3kW appliance?
And what hope do consumers have if manufacturers have these inconsistencies.

I purchased a Radio mic receiver power supply quite recently, power rating 24W, the moulded !EC lead is 0.5mm² flex & plug is moulded with 'Only use 1A fuse'.
As usual at rip-out the IEC lead was dumped in the IEC box with all the others.


Of course further down the line the fuse blew and replaced with something bigger.

The original rating of IEC's as I recall was only 6A and the 'Hot' version introduced for special situations and supposedly restricted to 700mm long. As the only place the general public encountered IEC's was kettles they became known at 'kettle leads'.

A little while back I purchased some C19/C20 leads rated for 16A for some architectural lighting and was very surprised to find they were only 1.0mm². Discussions with CPC revealed the 'standard' for such leads up to a certain length was 1.0mm² so I installed them and shortly after had to return all of them as the overheating had mishaped the cable.
Due to my complaints they altered the listing:

 

[SUNRAY]

Or Schuko plugs with no fuse and used on 16amp MCBs.

Wanna bet? I may still have a damaged lead in my 'rogue box'