Hi,
Can any of you electrician/diy types tell us about fusues and kettle leads?
I understand what a fuse does (roughly) though you could explain that as well!
Anyway, I have 3 boilers, 2 x Electrims and one fermenting bin with an kettle element. One Electrim I bought early nineties. The other two were given to me recently. 'My' Electrim has it's own lead already attached to the thermostat with the lead/plug coming out of that. The other Electrim and the FB boiler have seperate kettle leads.
'My' Electrim has a 10amp rated plug which has a 10amp fuse and the other has a 13amp plug and has a 13amp fuse on it's kettle lead.
The other FB boiler has a lead with a 13amp plug and 13amp fuse.
All the leads are of the 'Hot Mains' IEC C15 type which looking at online leccy shops seem to be 10amp rated.
Questions, does the plug have to be 10amp rated and if so why and, what fuse should be used and why?
Is it best to have the fuse rated more than the lead or socket so that if it gets too much power it blows?
Very confused so apologies for maybe obvious questions.
Cheers,
Dave
Kettle lead fuse qustion
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grmills
Re: Kettle lead fuse qustion
If your plug is rated for 10A then the maximum fuse you should put in it is 10A. If, say, you put a 13A fuse in and the boiler (or whatever) starts drawing 12A then the fuse won't blow but the plug is carrying 20% more power than it's rated for, so may melt or catch fire etc etc.
In general, the fuse should always be the lowest rated item in the circuit so that it's the fuse which melts first in the event of an overload. The fuse is designed to melt (inside the plastic sleave) without causing a fire, your leads etc are not, so might. Also, the fuse is the cheapest and probably easiest item in the circuit to replace.
The manufacturer will have fitted a 10A plug/fuse to the boiler for a reason, I would expect that it's because some other part of the circuit is rated less than 13A.
In general, the fuse should always be the lowest rated item in the circuit so that it's the fuse which melts first in the event of an overload. The fuse is designed to melt (inside the plastic sleave) without causing a fire, your leads etc are not, so might. Also, the fuse is the cheapest and probably easiest item in the circuit to replace.
The manufacturer will have fitted a 10A plug/fuse to the boiler for a reason, I would expect that it's because some other part of the circuit is rated less than 13A.
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dwhyte
Re: Kettle lead fuse qustion
Thanks grmills,
Great help.
I think the one Electrim with the 10amp plug is an older model as it has 2000w - 240v on it.
The other has 2750w - 220-240v and the plain FB boiler I presume is just like a kettle. My kitchen has a 13amp plug and fuse and is rated 2500-3000w - 220-240v.
I have the right kind of 'Hot' lead (c15) for the FB boiler but it's too short really. I haven't seen any over 1metre. Would a heavy duty extension lead be ok, would it also be able to take the heat?
Maybe this topic could be posted in the FAQ section as many people seem to be looking into making their own boiler with a kettle element and IEC C15 lead.
Thanks again,
Dave
Great help.
I think the one Electrim with the 10amp plug is an older model as it has 2000w - 240v on it.
The other has 2750w - 220-240v and the plain FB boiler I presume is just like a kettle. My kitchen has a 13amp plug and fuse and is rated 2500-3000w - 220-240v.
I have the right kind of 'Hot' lead (c15) for the FB boiler but it's too short really. I haven't seen any over 1metre. Would a heavy duty extension lead be ok, would it also be able to take the heat?
Maybe this topic could be posted in the FAQ section as many people seem to be looking into making their own boiler with a kettle element and IEC C15 lead.
Thanks again,
Dave