Power to PCs

joogs

joogs

joogs

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Joined
17 Apr 2011
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3
Hey there,

Novice question here, I'm afraid.

At the back of my PC, the power supply says 230v. I have various kettle leads, some with 13A and some 10A fuses and these have 250v written on the back of them. It is safe to use the these plugs in my PC?

Sorry, I'm useless at technical stuff.

Thanks,
J
 
Yep that's perfectly fine. Just means the cable can handle up to that voltage and amps. You'll still get ~235v from the socket.
 
Mains voltage varies but is centred currently around 230v where it used to be 240v but considering that equipment must satisfy the +/- 10% rule anything from around 210v to around 250v will power fine.
 
Thanks for the speedy replies.

I was worried that the 13A and 10A would be too much power. I've read elsewhere I should be using 5A so confusion resulted in my question.

I guess my LCD monitors will be okay too using 10A and 13A.

Thanks guys,
J
 
A device will pull what it needs from the plug. It's not possible to over current a device by fitting too high a fuse. A fuse protects equipment from surges but also from overloading. Whether you use 10A or 13A is mostly unimportant as the PC will typically draw less than 3A anyway, unless you have a mega system or live in the USA.

LCD monitors draw <100W so a 3A fuse would be actually fine. As far as I know kettle leads cone with usually a 10A or 13A fuse so you'd probably find that the monitors inerrnal PSU will be protecting the equipment too.
 
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A fuse is designed to blow before your components do. Therefore it is sensible to choose a fuse that closely matches (+ a little bit higher) than the PSU needs.

Something like a 5A fuse is typical for a computer (which in the UK gives a 1.1KW max draw) but very high power PSUs may well have 10 or 13A fuses fitted as standard.
 
I have three PCs, all with 300W power supplies.

Think I will just leave as is then and stick with 13A and 10A, as I'm pretty sure they shipped with my equipment anyway.

Thanks for your advice,
J
 
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