Planned extension lead for power tools - what do I need?

[Gaogier]

Okay, so at the back of our house, there is a socket that is on the RCD, when we had our kitchen redone to allow my wheelchair access, they moved the oven but kept the socket, this is now just a on/off switch socket. this is a still all connected up, we just have security lights up now.

i have been thinking but not asked mum yet, but I believe we could add an outdoor weather socket box, I can then plug in my extension lead to this plug when I want power to this area. Otherwise I can reel in the lead and act as if nothing was there.

I am extremely unlikely to do any welding often, so do I want the thicker 2.5mm or would the 1.5mm be good enough but have a 2.5mm cable in my electrical storage box for those rare times I would use the welder?

I know the socket that holds the outdoor lights are definitely connected to the main board, as about 2 months ago, our power blew due to a damaged oven socket the new one, they only put in about a year ago as it wasn’t up to code or something like that, but this new switch wouldn’t turn off, but as it was broken, and it blew the main breaker, we had no power, the ”new socket“ fused the plastic together so it was impossible to turn off.

we called the house people, who said… if we need power, open the board breaker, connect an extension lead to the board, and run off the power from there. They didn’t come out for 2 weeks. Lucky my mum knows some electrical stuff, she took the old switch for the outdoor lights (used to Power the old oven) then switch them over, disconnecting the out door lights via the board. The electrician came and checked everything my mum did and we were good to go via the new switch for outdoor lights. The wire was extremely thick, he asked was an oven here before…

so, does this make sense? I think this correct…

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Up to you whether you have 2 cables or 1. Personally I'd just have the 2.5mm.
This socket in the kitchen, presumably it's inside? Yes you can drill through the wall and mount an external 13A socket there, would advise fitting a double pole isolator between inside and outside sockets (so if the outside socket gets wet inside you can isolate it and have power inside).

 

[SimonH2]

Hmm, lots of options here ...
I would suggest keeping things simple. For most tools, an off the shelf reel with 1.5mm² flex will be quite adequate. TBH, if you are using a welder that's going to run through a 13A plug/socket then the 1.5mm² cable won't be a major limitation - though you will need to keep your aspirations down in terms of what you try and weld. Don't try wiring lights into the extension, just plug them in.
If you want to do anything more than quite light welding work then you'll want a 16A BS4343 (a.k.a. Command plug) setup - dedicated radial from the CU, BS4343 socket, extension with something like 2.5mm² (or even 4mm²) flex, and a BS4343 plug on the welder. 4mm² is well over what's needed for current capacity on a 16A circuit, but if you want a welder to manage "cranking up the amps" then you need to minimise the volt drops that would happen with a smaller cable.

If it's affordable, then I think there's an argument for using BS4343 stuff anyway as the connectors are far more robust than just about all "13A" plugs and sockets, and just have a short lead with a BS4343 plug and a number of 13A sockets to plug the tools and some portable lights into.

 

[Gaogier]

I think it was Toolstation, I have seen a work light that you can move around and attach it to a wall, or ceiling, or just placed on the floor. This is what I would use for lighting if any was ever needed as my area is a sun hotspot.

 

[opps]

TBH, if you are using a welder that's going to run through a 13A plug/socket then the 1.5mm² cable won't be a major limitation - though you will need to keep your aspirations down in terms of what you try and weld. Don't try wiring lights into the extension, just plug them in.

I have absolutely no experience of welding, but from what I have seen elsewhere people say that an inverter welder up to 160A will be fine on a 13 amp plug. That said, others say that that they often have to swap out fuses.

running welder off 13amp socket?

Hello everyone, bought a 200amp parweld inverter welder few weeks back to build my silage pusher project for college and I'm unsure as to what plugs/sockets i need. The welder did not come with a plug and I assume it requires a blue 16a round pin plug not a sqaure 13a one. I'd be running it out...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

I guess it may be down to the quality of the inverter.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

I have absolutely no experience of welding, but from what I have seen elsewhere people say that an inverter welder up to 160A will be fine on a 13 amp plug. That said, others say that that they often have to swap out fuses.

running welder off 13amp socket?

Hello everyone, bought a 200amp parweld inverter welder few weeks back to build my silage pusher project for college and I'm unsure as to what plugs/sockets i need. The welder did not come with a plug and I assume it requires a blue 16a round pin plug not a sqaure 13a one. I'd be running it out...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

I guess it may be down to the quality of the inverter.

My cheap MIG is much easier to use when I use a 2.5 extension cable- more consistent arc mainly. Had all sorts of problems using it on a 1.5. 13A fuse is no problem, suspect the issues are volt drop related.

 

[RandomGrinch]

My cheap MIG is much easier to use when I use a 2.5 extension cable- more consistent arc mainly. Had all sorts of problems using it on a 1.5. 13A fuse is no problem, suspect the issues are volt drop related.

Yes, 2.5mm would be better for a welder. However, in this case as @SimonH2 has said, I would prefer that on a commando plug.

As I said earlier, 2.5mm is difficult to wire (properly) into a standard plug.

I'm not saying I totally agree, but this tends to mirror my experience...

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Yes, 2.5mm would be better for a welder. However, in this case as @SimonH2 has said, I would prefer that on a commando plug.

As I said earlier, 2.5mm is difficult to wire (properly) into a standard plug.

I'm not saying I totally agree, but this tends to mirror my experience...

Yeah, I've got 16a sockets inside and outside the garage -outside to power the caravan, inside mainly for the MIG.
I've even been good and stuck FCUs in front of them

 

[ericmark]

I have installed an extension lead, flex to adaptable box, and SWA from there to double socket, it will likely never be unplugged, however as done should water ingress happen, I can simply unplug.

I could have used a FCU instead, but plug and socket is more flexible. I can do more with it, for example a smart socket adaptor so I can turn outside light plugged into socket on/off, although at moment using a smart bulb.

As to using a welding set, suppose could use a 120 amp inverter, but not really suitable for the cheap simple transformer type.

A lot depends on distance, and drilling walls, I went for flex until outside as could get it through a smaller hole than the SWA, and terminating SWA in a plug would not be easy.

A 16 or 32 amp caravan type blue plug and socket will allow a little more power, but they need supplying from the CU not the house hold ring final, but at the end, one designs things to do what you want, it is not a case of everything forward and trust to the Lord.

I likely will fit a 16 amp socket behind the house, but the 13 amp sockets are designed to seal on the cable of anything plugged in, the 16 amp is not as well sealed, even a simply spider can cause a RCBO to trip, but behind the house easy to reach the consumer unit so can have the garden supply on it's own RCBO, when front of house powered from ring final.

Largest load in my case is the leaf blower, also tend to cheat with BBQ and use a single ring induction hob for some of the cooking, but never multi items together, I may in the future get a motor caravan and park it behind the house, so 16 amp socket would then be handy, however house is TN-C-S so really should not plug in a motor caravan to that, needs a TT supply, this is going a bit beyond the simple extension lead job.

 

[securespark]

I have a 16A caravan supply extension wired in 2.5.

I had some spare, so made 16A to 13A conversion leads with 2 short pieces of 2.5 flex.

It's possible to get it into a 13A plug.

OP...

Could you post some pictures of your situation?

It may help us if we can see what's what.

 

[chivers67]

Yes, 2.5mm would be better for a welder. However, in this case as @SimonH2 has said, I would prefer that on a commando plug.

As I said earlier, 2.5mm is difficult to wire (properly) into a standard plug.

I'm not saying I totally agree, but this tends to mirror my experience...

A colleague of mine fitted a 4mm Artic into a Rubberised plug with a different type of clamp - it's only a test cable to use to check the operation of an emergency DB RCD that most of the time is unused.

 

[ebee]

I have a 16A caravan supply extension wired in 2.5.

I had some spare, so made 16A to 13A conversion leads with 2 short pieces of 2.5 flex.

It's possible to get it into a 13A plug.

OP...

Could you post some pictures of your situation?

It may help us if we can see what's what.

YES 2.5 flex into a decent make of 13a plug and a little care is quite do-able