On 18/12/15 19:10, Tim Watts wrote:
(Spun off from Chris' thread).

Just noticed my water heater isolator (about 45A load) gets rather warm
after 15-30 mins of operation.

Tightened the terminals - but it seems to be the switch element - the
toggle base gets to perhaps 40-50C by feel. Never noticed before because
I'd never really gone around feeling shower/water isolators under high
sustained loads!

Personally I'd expect a simple switch to be stone cold even under
permanent full load.

Is this reasonable - or time to replace? It's a GET plate - only 6 years
old.

Cheers,

Tim

Well, replaced after some hours with a Crabtree 50A isolator - and after
filling a bath, it is virtually stone cold. The rocker has a hint of
warmth, but you'd be hard pressed to tell.

So the ultimate answer to the subject is "hardly at all".


Apparently according to a sparky I was talking too (not Adam) have have
also been making a mistake of twisting the strands in 10mm2 cable -
something my dad always did....