Is this true? BS1363 current rating.

[Cookie]

I don't understand why no one would think about two 13 amp loads.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

We do think about them, and they seldom occur, and if they do occur, nothing terrible happens. I bet if we took a bunch of average duplex 5-15's off people's walls and loaded them up to 2x15A, and the same for a bunch of double 13's loaded to 2x13A, we would see as much excess heat from the 5-15's as from the 13's.

About the only time I have ever seen two 13A loads regularly plugged into one double socket was back in the 1970s in my dad's shop. There was a ducted warm air heating system but it wasn't really powerful enough for a cold winter and the vents were in the wrong places, so they tended to supplement it with some portable heaters. I remember two 3kW fanheaters used to sit side by side plugged into a double socket in the main sales floor. It lasted all the years I knew the shop, and that is about as exciting as 26A on a double 13A usually gets.

I suppose my main point, as I tried to convey with my priority list of heat sources, is that BS1363 is a safe and reliable connector, although it does tend to heat more that some others due to the presence of the fuse and its contacts mainly if they are of cheap manufacture. Thermal failures due to total loads on doubles in the 20-26A range are utterly insignificant compared to thermal failures due to loads in the 10-13A range on one plug, which are not exactly common either.

 

[Cookie]

But the thing is a NEMA 5-15s are made with 20 amp internals and limited to a 20 amp circuit. Its impossible to overload such a receptacle when wired to code.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

OK, great, that's an extra box you can tick in favour of the NEMA configuation. Now, about those unsleeved prongs...

 

[Cookie]

OK, great, that's an extra box you can tick in favour of the NEMA configuation. Now, about those unsleeved prongs...

Relax, they come in extra large



Its ok if you are jealous of NEMA design. I think we can all admit its just so much more superior in every way including human safety

 

[DPG]

Relax, they come in extra large

View attachment 59827

Its ok if you are jealous of NEMA design. I think we can all admit its just so much more superior in every way including human safety

Unfortunately, the unsleeved pins negate much of the safety aspects. It's a basic onefor me - stop people accidentally touching electrical contacts where possible.

 

[nicebutdim]

Unfortunately, the unsleeved pins negate much of the safety aspects. It's a basic onefor me - stop people accidentally touching electrical contacts where possible.

Especially when those pins are pushed out so close to the plug's egde.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Every system has its pros and cons. The NEMA coding of different supply configurations and specific compatibilities is good, some of the constructional features of the better-quality brands are admirable, etc. But I agree with DPG that the inferior protection against direct contact somewhat overshadows everything else. The Australian solution of sleeving the prongs leaving a wafer-thin metal core has its own drawbacks, so unfortunately that particular issue (flat prongs + compact plug body + non-recessed outlet face) is rather heavily designed-in. We had the advantage in BS546 and BS1363 of a large enough cross-section that adding insulating sleeves did not noticeably compromise the strength of the pins.