overloading plug sockets?

lookitsjonno

lookitsjonno

lookitsjonno

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Joined
10 Sep 2003
Posts
5,021
Location
Midlands
Hi there,

After upgrading my fishtank i'm a bit concerned as to the number of electrical appliances I am powering off 2 plug sockets.

Socket 1 - fishtank

200W fishtank heater
1000lpr Powerhead
55W light
36W light
58W light

Socket 2 - PC
PC
24" monitor
Hifi
Printer
BB Modem

Should i be concerned, 149W of lights in 1 socket being my main worry?

Jonno.
 
Yes, you should be worried... the martians are coming..

as for your sockets, the wattages isnt usually a problem, it's the number of amps
 
You probably should be worried. But I would think that every person on this site have overloaded sockets. Im running 10 things of the one plug (mostly computer stuff and a heater) never had any problems for a good few years.

Speak to the sparkies they will tell you the official figures and how much it will cost you to put right ;)
 
pff you can get about 3kW out out of a normal socket. Don't worry about it as long as you have a FUSED extension lead. If you exceed 13 amps (which is LOADS) the fuse will blow and it will all switch off. Even if you try and take 3kw from all the sockets in your house the master fuses will pop to stop you setting the cable in the walls on fire.

Either way 150w is nothing, 200w is nothing, a pc isn't a great deal and if it was you'd blow the fuse and be safe anyway.

All the fuss was about people using those unfused square block multiadapter jobbies. If you daisy chain them not only do they become structurally unstable but you could draw the entire rings allowed current through one socket, which is bad. With a fuse this won't happen.
 
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Ceryndrion said:
Yes, you should be worried... the martians are coming..

as for your sockets, the wattages isnt usually a problem, it's the number of amps
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volts * amps = watts.

Its most definitely the watts you should worry about although everything will be rated in amps because the voltage is constant. But seeing has he has very few watts, or amps for that matter its neither here nor there.
 
Ceryndrion said:
Yes, you should be worried... the martians are coming..

as for your sockets, the wattages isnt usually a problem, it's the number of amps
Click to expand...

wattage = amps when your working with a fixed voltage. well not literally but you know what i mean lol the maximum you should attempt to pull from one socket is just over 3kw, or 13amps. as said as long as any extensions used are fused, you wont have any problems:)

i have a fused, overload-protected 8 way strip and i run a high end pc, ps3, my monitor and lcd, wii......all that stuff on it. its well within the limits:) tbh you arent ever going to hit those limits unless you are trying to run fridge frezzers or electric heaters, hoovers ect alongside other appliances form a single socket.
 
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TheCrow said:
You probably should be worried. But I would think that every person on this site have overloaded sockets. Im running 10 things of the one plug (mostly computer stuff and a heater) never had any problems for a good few years.
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Believe it or not, I take great care not to overload sockets.

And my computers run through UPS for clean electricity and surge protectors.
 
The problem with this situation is not really the amount of power being drawn but the connections themselves, cheap extension cables with poor connections is what will cause a fire.
 
As long as the cable of the extension lead is thick and well insulated and rated for 13A you should be ok. however check the power rating i.e. how many Watts the extension lead can take. Personally I'd suggest getting yourself a small UPS for your computer and distribute the load more evenly. Once the UPS is charged it'll draw a lot less.
 
I have a freezer, two computers with monitors, a printer, modem and a tumble drier running off a big extension block running off one plug. Has been like this for a few years and have never once caused any problem.
 
Admin's bitch said:
Then you've been lucky, I'd remove the tumble drier from there personally.
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Can't. Only two plug sockets in the Computer/Utility Room and the other runs a dehumidifier.

It's all correctly fused so I am not worried. I should point out that the electrical items are never all on at the same time.

Lordsplodge lives on the edge!
 
My partner called me at work 2 days ago to saying that the master switch had tripped cutting all the electrics in our house. I asked what she had been using and found that she had been doing loads of washing and drying.

On getting home I found that the cause was the Tumble Dryer in our shed. Somehow I hadn't fully realised that the Tumble Dryer was connected to the mains socket via 2 extension cables (although there were no other devices connected). I tried to remove the plug from the wall socket and it didn't come out. I ended up having to really pull at it to make it come free. When it did I saw that the black plastic bit at the base of one of the three prongs had melted away and the actual socket was charred brown :eek: I was very thankful I still had a shed!

Apparently the Tumble Dryer was on its 3rd run and I guess the plug had become too hot. I also think running it via 2 extension cables probably didn't help either?

So, I would be aware of adding a Tumble Dryer to an extension plug with lots of other appliances as they do use a lot of power and can get hot!
 
mark66 said:
So, I would be aware of adding a Tumble Dryer to an extension plug with lots of other appliances as they do use a lot of power and can get hot!
Click to expand...

I had this happen to a perfectly normally loaded plug (TV + DVD) and I had to replace the whole socket. Smelt real bad of burning too.
 
mark66 said:
My partner called me at work 2 days ago to saying that the master switch had tripped cutting all the electrics in our house. I asked what she had been using and found that she had been doing loads of washing and drying.

On getting home I found that the cause was the Tumble Dryer in our shed. Somehow I hadn't fully realised that the Tumble Dryer was connected to the mains socket via 2 extension cables (although there were no other devices connected). I tried to remove the plug from the wall socket and it didn't come out. I ended up having to really pull at it to make it come free. When it did I saw that the black plastic bit at the base of one of the three prongs had melted away and the actual socket was charred brown :eek: I was very thankful I still had a shed!

Apparently the Tumble Dryer was on its 3rd run and I guess the plug had become too hot. I also think running it via 2 extension cables probably didn't help either?

So, I would be aware of adding a Tumble Dryer to an extension plug with lots of other appliances as they do use a lot of power and can get hot!
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Well the Electrician has been and found the cause of the melt down to be....a wire from my girlfriends bra had come loose and had managed to find the heating element and had shorted the machine out. Apparently the sparky said he had seen it a few times before!

She is well embarrased :D
 
Over Clocker said:
If the cable flex is not warm, then it's fine!!
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:D Lol :D

I have a frankly absurd amount of stuff running on my ring here. NAD Power amp, preamp, 3 PCs, Laptop, Compaq Proliant server, 14 disk SCSI array, router, 2 switches (1 of them is a Cisco Catalyst 2950) as well as lamps, phone chargers, 3 TFT Monitors etc.

Never blown a fuse :p
 
If you want to check how much ampage a appliance is pulling then simple maths will show you.

Say you have.. 3 appliances rated at 200w,500w and 350w

add them gives 1050w divide them by 240v

1050/240 = 4.375a

Should be fine.. Try not to use cheap extentions. :) Even on a single radial circuit the 2.5mm cable will take upto 16a safely before melting. :)

as for your ring you are looking at 32a. It takes abit to pull 32a in daily use. :)
 
DRZ said:
:D Lol :D

I have a frankly absurd amount of stuff running on my ring here. NAD Power amp, preamp, 3 PCs, Laptop, Compaq Proliant server, 14 disk SCSI array, router, 2 switches (1 of them is a Cisco Catalyst 2950) as well as lamps, phone chargers, 3 TFT Monitors etc.

Never blown a fuse :p
Click to expand...

That is truely a powerful ring.

*whistles* :p
 
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