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Other Vintage Household Electrical or Electromechanical Items For discussions about other vintage (over 25 years old) electrical and electromechanical household items. See the sticky thread for details.

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Old 6th Jun 2018, 4:33 pm   #121
Refugee
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Default Re: 13A Twin sockets.

Air con installers will not go ahead unless there is a suitable power socket close by or they are given the go ahead to install one.
I have seen two 13 amp plugs connected to either end of a bit of twin and earth being used to power a bank of sockets that had been salvaged from a scrap work bench by a small time DJ. It looked lethal to put it mildly.
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Old 6th Jun 2018, 4:34 pm   #122
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Default Re: 13A Twin sockets.

@G6Tanuki
"The obvious problem with fusing both sides of the feedpoint of a ring is that if one fuse fails..... I can forsee a situation where a high-current appliance plugged into an outlet at one end of the ring, or a fault at that outlet would preferentially blow the fuse between that outlet and the nearby feed-point (because the resistance on that path is lower), the current on 'live' thereafter flowing the entire way round the ring to the other fuse/feed-point whereas the neutral current would still have two paths to follow...."

Yes, Brigham's post got me also thinking about unbalanced loading on the ring. But if the 15A fuse at the heavily loaded end of the ring blew, surely the current would then all flow around the ring the other way and blow that 15A fuse as well. The 20A cable (now a radial circuit) would be protected by that 15A fuse. You might get a lot of nuisance fuse blowing and lots of fuses to replace, but would it actually be a safety issue?

Mike

Last edited by Boulevardier; 6th Jun 2018 at 4:44 pm.
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Old 6th Jun 2018, 5:43 pm   #123
Graham G3ZVT
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Default Re: 13A Twin sockets.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brigham View Post
If ring circuits had been fused at 15 Amps at each end, rather than 30 Amps before the ring, then they would still be safe even if the ring parted.
I suppose the cost of the extra fuseways was taken into account, the whole thing being a safety/economy compromise.

Talking about two fuses per circuit...
My Grandparents house had a big metal clad double pole fuse board. All radial circuits, serving Wylex sockets with a fuse in each live and neutral. I wonder if the board was intended for DC mains?
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Old 6th Jun 2018, 5:47 pm   #124
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Default Re: 13A Twin sockets.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Refugee View Post
I have seen two 13 amp plugs connected to either end of a bit of twin and earth being used to power a bank of sockets that had been salvaged from a scrap work bench by a small time DJ. It looked lethal to put it mildly.
There is even a name for that sort of cable, typically used to hook up a genset in a power cut.

A Widowmaker.
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Old 6th Jun 2018, 5:58 pm   #125
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Default Re: 13A Twin sockets.

In my 'workshop kit' I had a 'MIGger' - two 13A plugs with the fuses/live-pins replaced by neutral-pins salvaged from other dead plugs. The cables from these were paralleled into a 32A 'Commando' socket for the MIG.

Put the 2 13A plugs into a dual socket, and away you'd go - no more worrying about pesky 13A fuses blowing part-way through a weld.

Do not try this at home.
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Old 6th Jun 2018, 6:06 pm   #126
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Default Re: 13A Twin sockets.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rambo1152 View Post
Talking about two fuses per circuit...
My Grandparents house had a big metal clad double pole fuse board. All radial circuits, serving Wylex sockets with a fuse in each live and neutral. I wonder if the board was intended for DC mains?
Somewhere I have a book on installing domestic electric lighting from around 100 years ago. It says that the regulations in force then requried both live and neutral to be fused.
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