"Stefek Zaba" wrote in message
...
snip
It's entirely INAPPROPRIATE to use that guideline to say 'how should
I
size the cables and overcurrent protection for the cooker final
circuit'! Since the bleedin' thing's capable of drawing 5kW = 20A
peak,
it should freakin' well be connected through an arrangement which
can
safely provide 20 of the finest amperes in the land. A 13A
plug-n-socket
setup *can't* do that. No, the integral 13A fuse won't blow - it'll
allow a mere 50% overload of nominal to pass for 30 minutes or more,
and
there's no way the hob will draw its 5kW for that long, as the
individual simmerstats cut in and out. But that doesn't mean you
have
'good practice' here - each time the hob does draw its full load,
the
flex and the pressure connections between plug and socket are
overloaded, where overloaded means 'heating up above sensible
temperature limits', the insulation's getting softer than it should
and
potentially flowing/creeping away from the conductors, and the
effective
life of your installation is being shortened.

If that really is what is happening then the protection should have
bloody well cut the supply, or are you saying that the whole frigging
regulations and design of components are total crap in letting such a
situation to happen were the protection is rated to the supposed
maximum for the components...