Beware of fake mains cables.

[Radio Wrangler]

Those extension reels even witht the right copper cross section and the right fuse are in trouble if used almost all reeled in. Cable ratings assume cooling availability from free air. Reeled up each cable turn in the middle sees nothing but warm cable around it and the temperature in the roll goes higher until plastic melts.

Cables buried underground get a generous rating pes square mm. Twin and earth clipped to boards get the familiar current ratings, and cables grouped tightly in conduits have to be de-rated quite a lot.

The reels usually carry a warning to only use them fully reeled out. The warnings aren't read and nobody does anyway.

David

[AC/HL]

Fake is a bit of a catch-all here. If it says 13A, and clearly isn't capable, then it is a "fake", or at least unsafe. On the other hand, if it says 10A and someone deliberately overrides that, it's their negligence. We tend not to look at the user instructions (for a cable!, must be too nannying for me) but in my experience they do usually warn about extending the cable for heavy duty use. Multiple high current connections really should be carefully considered in any case, and only top quality fittings used, within their max ratings. Multi-way connectors are really only for light duty use.

[Lucien Nunes]

I agree that a light duty application could be served with a cable of small cross-section appropriately fused, and it is up to the user to ensure that only the correct fuse is fitted. However the 'undersize' substandard flexes invariably fall into the 'fake' category because they usually have the 'official' cable gauge embossed or printed down the side but fail to contain the corresponding amount of copper. I recently found a cordset of around 0.5mm², which would have been ample for the device it was supplied with, embossed with 1.0mm². As such all approvals are invalid and other characteristics unknown, even though the CSA was not itself an issue here.

What we need worldwide is a low current (say less than 2A) plug/socket/lead standard for 90 to 270V AC/DC double insulated. Fused sockets (at the socket with a new style of fuse, or better a built in MCB) and as safe as a good old 13A shuttered socket.

A dream I know, most stuff we plug in is much less than 180W.

[Radio Wrangler]

They'll fake those too!

A socket with a fake MCB will still be cheaper to make than a real one

David

[Sideband]

Working in a test lab, we checked loads of cables just before Christmas. We were specifically checking certain electrical items that had been seized by Trading Standards. When checking the supplied cables, we found fake plugs, fuses and leads. Most of these had faked safety markings on them. Some were better than others. After a while, you get expert at noticing a fake plug as soon as you see it. The most common give-away is the part-insulated earth pin....not allowed in BS1363. Once you see that, chances are the whole thing is fake even if it has a BS Kitemark...

[PaulR]

I do marvel at the cheapness of some of these mains adapters, presumably this is the reason why they are so cheap.

[evingar]

Originally Posted by Sideband

The most common give-away is the part-insulated earth pin....not allowed in BS1363. Once you see that, chances are the whole thing is fake even if it has a BS Kitemark...

Seen a few of those !
I suppose the inability to comply with regs is slightly double edged - at least, as you say, a sleeved earth pin is a very obvious sign that all is not as it should be - at least to those that know its significance!

It's a real shame that we appear to be sliding down a slippery slop of increased risk with household electrical items (drier and fridge fires, unfused "wallwarts" and other unaccredited rubbish seeping in etc)

[Oldcodger]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

Anything that sells for actual money will be being faked by someone, somewhere...

Used to be a saying about that in some older (ancient ?) wireless/electronics mags
"Anything out of Hong Kong, will only too readily go wrong".

Originally Posted by AC/HL

To wire a domestic lightswitch, you should slip brown sleeving over the blue wire to indicate that it may or may not be live. It could similarly be used over the green/yellow.

Older installations would have (usually ) a band of red tape on the black wire of a cable from the rose of a light fitting to indicate that that the black marked wire could be live.

Originally Posted by Station X

I'd better watch out. I'm quite fond of reusing mains leads with moulded on plugs. I'll do continuity tests on them in future.

I've a nice selection of power cables from routers/modems over the years. These are the Continental version of the "kettle " type connectors, but fitted with TWO PIN AND POSSIBLY EARTH plug. I ALWAYS test out which colour goes to which pin in the "kettle" connector before putting a 13A plug on.
But then, I still remember good old fashioned German test gear ( as approved by GPO/PO(T) ) being used in UK GPO/PO(T), TRS with a foreign colour code ( i.e not red/black/green) wired cable, and from memory something like white /grey/black.

[Refugee]

I once tested a fuse-less plug mains lead and was unable to destroy it due to the resistance being too high for me to get the amps from the earth bonding test on my PAT tester. It did get a little bit toasty though.
I managed to acquire a significant number of American C13 mains leads. These once cut have black L white N and dark green E and are rated a lot higher than the usual UK offering. They were chucked in a skip and were replaced with RS or Farnell ones with UK plugs moulded on. They chose not to fit repairable UK plugs and left that to skip divers.

[arjoll]

I can't say I've seen anything really bad here, but don't tend to buy anything mains powered directly from overseas. I've had a quick look at the supplier I use for extension leads, IEC leads and power boards, and all of their extensions are rated at 10 A, with both standard and heavy duty being 1mm2, the difference being the construction of the cable. Extra heavy duty is 1.5mm2 but still only with 10 A plugs.

They do unterminated power cords as well, which would be handy if I ever needed them - different colours and lengths, and even tapon ones. I don't know how you guys survive without tapon plugs

[WaveyDipole]

Low-power extension leads have been around for a long time, and are made by big-name brands supplying well-known shops. I have at home a 20 year-old extension reel with two 13A sockets on it, but it came fitted with a 5 a fuse and was clearly marked with its maximum power rating (as well as warning not to use it unless it was fully unwound). OTOH, I bet most of these got abused and then the fuse replaced with 13A to correct the "fault".

Although I was aware that those roll/wind up reel type extensions that come in various colours also came in various current ratings anything from 5A upwards, but I had been under the impression from a long way back that the white 2/3/4 way bars, adapters and seperate UK mains plugs/sockets were always rated at 13A, hence my post. Clearly that is not neccessarily the case and perhaps has not been for some time, a fact that I have evidently not noticed until now.

[Lucien Nunes]

Just to avoid possible misunderstanding when skimming the thread, Arjoll is in New Zealand where standard 3-pin plugs are rated 10A and hence 1.0mm² cable is correct and sufficient. Here in the UK, 13A accessories require a minimum of 1.25mm² cable for the full 13A rating, while 'heavy duty' applications tend to spec 1.5mm².

[WaveyDipole]

Lucien thanks for that clarification.

Having said that, I'm not sure what happened with the quote in my previous post and perhpas my post was not so clear so apologies for that!

I am referring to goods sold in the UK that one might expect to be compliant to BS1363. Indeed, I checked several white 4-ways that we already have at home and all, including the cheaper ones, are rated at 13A and carry a reference to BS1363 which is as it should be. I'm not sure whether there has been a change in standards, whether this was an error, or whether this is now permitted, but the white 4-way I saw at Wilco was rated at 10A rather than 13A, which I didn't expect. I didn't check whether it was marked as BS1363 compliant. What concerns me is that people usually assume that the white items are suitably rated for UK 13A mains and might go about plugging in any kind of mains appliance into this without any thought, which might lead to problems when one tries to connect say, an iron and a toaster and run them both at the same time into something that employs a length of 1mm2 cable between plug and adapter. The aforementioned appliances usually employ heavy duty cable as the mains lead for a reason!

[Nickthedentist]

10A fuses are virtually never encountered in High Street shops frequented by the public, and I'd be amazed to see one fitted in such an extension lead.

[cheerfulcharlie]

Originally Posted by Refugee

I managed to acquire a significant number of American C13 mains leads. These once cut have black L white N and dark green E and are rated a lot higher than the usual UK offering. They were chucked in a skip and were replaced with RS or Farnell ones with UK plugs moulded on. They chose not to fit repairable UK plugs and left that to skip divers.

Don't the American ones have to deal with more current due to the lower mains voltage?

[WaveyDipole]

I've just been looking at Wilco online. Apparently the 4 way has a 10A and the 6 way a 13A fitted. Both are described as 10A extension leads:
http://www.wilko.com/extension-leads...m/invt/0021777
http://www.wilko.com/extension-leads...d/invt/0342818

My understanding is that to be BS1363 compliant the fuse must match the loading capacity of the cable? However, there is no mention of BS1363 here either.

As you say Nick, and until now I would have agreed, 10A fuses are not usually encountered in the UK high street.

And yet:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/10a-230v-m...IyEaAjv68P8HAQ
http://www.wilko.com/electrical-acce...4/invt/0412203

To my mind, 3A, 5A and 13A have always been standard consumer appliance plug fuse ratings. So when did 10A fuses and products such as these start comming in?

[Nickthedentist]

Very surprised that Wikinsons do them, but I stand corrected.

[emeritus]

I would guess 10A fuses became available some time between 1956 and 1960. AFAIR they were certainly available by 1960. I remember using some in the transformer of my Hornby Dublo train set around that time. The transformer took two 1 1/4" x 1/4" glass fuses, but the recommended 1A fuses blew every time the train derailed. I now know that Dad should have got antisurge fuses instead of using the fast blow ones he used for his radios, but the 10A fuses I got in Woolworths allowed to circuit breaker of the separate speed regulator to operate before the fuse blew. The 1956 edition of Odhams "Radio TV and Electrical Repairs" only refers to fuses of 3A, 7A and 13A ratings, which corresponds with the external flag settings on some early MK plugs

[Refugee]

Only good American mains leads are thicker. The ones I acquired were originally shipped with huge printers that were rated at 700W so they did pull a few amps.