One for the poms

[Phil Allison]

**Hi,

an Alesis power amp ( Matica 500) arrived the other day, with a fixed AC
lead ending in a UK 13A plug.

I have a simple adaptor for such occasions - so used it until finally
fitting an Aussie 3 pin plug as requested by the owner.

The UK plug had a 10A BS1362 fuse inside, all fine and dandy.

Then I wondered if the same amp had used an IEC inlet, that creates a
problem for UK owners in that they must use a correctly fused IEC lead with
it.

Does this create many false alarms when an IEC lead with a low value fuse is
used by mistake ?



.... Phil

 

[Phil Allison]

"Martin Crossley"

"Phil Allison"
Not many, but by no means unkown...


There's a history (from 1947 when BS1363 for the plugs and BS1362 for
their fuses were issued) of plug fuses providing both overcurrent and
short-circuit protection that wasn't immediately abandoned with the
introduction of IEC leads in the 1970s, but generally was by about 1995
with European harmonisation, "230V" and "CE" marking. .
Early ones were 0.75mm**2 rated at 6A and fused at 3, 5, 7, 10 or 13A
depending to some extent on the load's steady and surge requirements
compared to the characteristics of the fuses and to some extent on the
designers's whim and whether he was still trying to provide the old
overcurrent or the newer idea of just s/c protection.
Later ones were 1mm**2 rated at 10A because the IEC connector had also
been uprated to 10A, and generally fused at 10A ( a non-preferred value by
then) or 13A.
Though the one supplied with a de-soldering station last week has a 3-A
fuse...
In a lot of Europe, both types are fitted with EU CEE 7/7 plugs and used
on circuits fed from 20-A circuit breakers.

** Thanks for the info - very interesting.

Are many 0.75 mm**2 leads pushed to 10A in Oz?

** 10As current flow in a 2x 0.75mm*2 lead does not cause dangerous heating,
unless some aggravating condition also exists.

0.75mm*2 IEC leads are common, but few appliances that accept them draw 10A
continuously.

Room heaters tend to have fixed leads and most jugs/ kettles draw only 8A.

It ain't the big issue some think.



.... Phil