No earth wire in 2nd hand reptile heat matt

[tryme]

Perhaps the plug was changed but doesnt require earthing. How can i tell for sure?

 

[lxboy]

Can you google and see if you can find a supplier ? At least you will know if it should be earthed by looking at the spec for a new one.\\


Regards,

Lxboy

 

[tryme]

Good idea

Look at the pics no earth wire appears to be inside the sheath

 

[lxboy]

Strip the outer sheath back and check if there is an earth, no harm done.

Don't panic about it !


I think your mat is double insulated i.e. no earth required.

Lxboy

 

[lxboy]

Hi, i have just checked online all the mats I have looked at had a pre fitted 2pin euro plug fitted.

When you fit the 13a plug to your mat just remember to put a 3a fuse in the plug.

Hope this helps.

lxboy

 

[tryme]

Cheers thank for the reply. Just out of interest what would happen if you used a 13a fuse instead of a 3a?

 

[bernardgreen]

If you had a 13 amp fuse and the mat went faulty the worse case would be 3 kWatt of heat being generated at the fault for several minutes before the fuse blew.

A three amp fuse would limit that to about 750 watts before the fuse blew.

Note that whatever fuse is fitted the fault might generate several kWatts for a split second until the wires in the mat melt. This is the flash bang that happens when a short circuit occurs.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Cheers thank for the reply. Just out of interest what would happen if you used a 13a fuse instead of a 3a?

If you use a 13amp fuse, then in the event of a fault, the cable and the mat will melt and fry little gatorchap.
If you use a 3 amp fuse, the fuse will blow.

Your choice, George Foreman lizard grill, or the correct fuse..

 

[lxboy]

cracker !

 

[Jackrae]

Urban Myth ; Fuse is there to protect the device on the end of the flex. Wrong !! The fuse is actually there to protect the flex between the plug and the device.

The flex has a current carrying capacity determined by the amount of copper in it. If the flex is quite thin, with a 13A fuse is fitted in the plug, and a fault develops in the device then the flex is required to carry enough current to blow the fuse.

However in a thin flex, the fault current may be high enough to actually melt the flex before the fuse blows and hence initiate a fire.

 

[JohnW2]

Urban Myth ; Fuse is there to protect the device on the end of the flex. Wrong !! The fuse is actually there to protect the flex between the plug and the device.

Yes, that the primary reason for the fuse being in the plug. However, electrons don't know about myths and human intent, so that doesn't stop the fuse also affording some protection to the 'device' connected to the end of the cable.

Kind Regards, John

 

[tryme]

Jesus that cracked me up!

Im still concerned about the plastic snapped off in the socket. If i flick the switch in the circuit breaker im deffinately not going to be fried?

 

[SimonH2]

Im still concerned about the plastic snapped off in the socket. If i flick the switch in the circuit breaker im deffinately not going to be fried?

As long as the breaker supplying that socket is off then it will be fine. If in doubt, switch off the main switch - it's often not hard to switch off the wrong circuit and I'm assuming you won't have the right tools and knowledge to check the socket is dead.

But in any case, just don't stick anything in the other open holes in the socket.

 

[lxboy]

No, you won't be fried!, switch off the circuit and remove the plastic pin.


good luck,

Lxboy