hazymat
-
- Reaction score
- 6
I've set up a workroom in our building site, but because there are walls missing in the basement it's ruddy freezing. So I'm going to burn some energy whilst I work here in the evenings.
I'm about to tell you that I'm breaking every rule in the book, and you're about to tell me to stop behaving like an idiot, and I will say "you're right", but humour me for a bit.
Extension lead runs from a spur directly off a newly installed consumer unit (installed and certified by a good sparky, note: I'm not a sparky, I'm Joe public), with a 16A RCBO (type B). This 5m extension lead has a fuse in that's rated at 13A, but the cable feels a little on the flimsy side. It's an oldish cable. From there I run another 13A 8 way extension lead (2m long). In turn, I run another extension lead (1m long). From there I run a 2kw heater on full, plus another extension lead, fully wound up. From the other extension lead I run a 2kw heater on full, and I keep my hand on the wound-up cable. Sure enough the cable heats up, but it stays on for a good 10 minutes without that cable getting ridiculously hot. Definitely not something you'd leave on, and walk out of the room. But also I can keep my hand on the cable - it's only a bit warm. This cable is a lot thicker, although I guess that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
I then go around and touch all the leads that go back to the mains outlet, and the others (the non-wound ones) are all fine (i.e. no noticeable warmth), with the exception of the older 5m extension lead that feels a bit flimsy.
(Meanwhile, the room is hardly heating up. It barely takes the edge off the cold.)
NB I have 2 types of fire extinguisher to hand, and I'm touch-testing all the cables every 5 minutes. Also, I've now turned off the second heater, because clearly leaving it on will set the house on fire. Finally, I also understand that checking cable temperature is not a reliable means of knowing whether something is safe or not.
My question is this: why the hell has not a single fuse OR the new RCBO for that matter not tripped? 4kw / 240V is over 16A. I can only assume that the heaters aren't actually drawing 2kw each.
Any ideas / advice?
(Save from the obvious "don't plug 2 heaters and stop using extension cables... which I will clearly have to do.)
Do I need to invest in a gas fire?
I'm about to tell you that I'm breaking every rule in the book, and you're about to tell me to stop behaving like an idiot, and I will say "you're right", but humour me for a bit.
Extension lead runs from a spur directly off a newly installed consumer unit (installed and certified by a good sparky, note: I'm not a sparky, I'm Joe public), with a 16A RCBO (type B). This 5m extension lead has a fuse in that's rated at 13A, but the cable feels a little on the flimsy side. It's an oldish cable. From there I run another 13A 8 way extension lead (2m long). In turn, I run another extension lead (1m long). From there I run a 2kw heater on full, plus another extension lead, fully wound up. From the other extension lead I run a 2kw heater on full, and I keep my hand on the wound-up cable. Sure enough the cable heats up, but it stays on for a good 10 minutes without that cable getting ridiculously hot. Definitely not something you'd leave on, and walk out of the room. But also I can keep my hand on the cable - it's only a bit warm. This cable is a lot thicker, although I guess that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
I then go around and touch all the leads that go back to the mains outlet, and the others (the non-wound ones) are all fine (i.e. no noticeable warmth), with the exception of the older 5m extension lead that feels a bit flimsy.
(Meanwhile, the room is hardly heating up. It barely takes the edge off the cold.)
NB I have 2 types of fire extinguisher to hand, and I'm touch-testing all the cables every 5 minutes. Also, I've now turned off the second heater, because clearly leaving it on will set the house on fire. Finally, I also understand that checking cable temperature is not a reliable means of knowing whether something is safe or not.
My question is this: why the hell has not a single fuse OR the new RCBO for that matter not tripped? 4kw / 240V is over 16A. I can only assume that the heaters aren't actually drawing 2kw each.
Any ideas / advice?
(Save from the obvious "don't plug 2 heaters and stop using extension cables... which I will clearly have to do.)
Do I need to invest in a gas fire?
Last edited: