In article , Nick Odell
wrote:
On 26 Jan 2021 14:00:48 GMT, Tim+ wrote:

NY wrote:


Here in the UK, if the plug is rated for 13A, that means it is safe to
run a 3-bar electric fire (3 kW, which is 12.5 A at 240 V) through
that plug and socket without it overheating to dangerous levels
(melting of insulation) no matter how long it is left running.

I don’t believe that this is the case. Real life experience indicates
that they DO frequently overheat with 3kW continuous loads

Electric vehicle “Granny chargers” designed to plug into a standard 13
amp socket are all de-rated to 10 amps for this reason.

That certainly indicates that more thought has gone into the problem than
I've put into it. In my, rather limited, experience hot plugs have always
been caused by loose connections between the wires and the pins. Whether
they've worked loose or were never tightened up properly in the first
place, screwing them down firmly has always fixed it for me.

I once met it where the screws in the socket hadn't been properly tightened
- with a permanent winter load of 2kW. It was a timber listed building,
too.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle