Appliances with the wrong fuse in plug.

Discussion in 'Electricians' Talk' started by Cheburashka, Dec 10, 2013.

  1. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

    Is there any regulations about manufacturers selling appliances with too large a fuse in the plug? I have emailed the company in question and have yet to receive a reply. But, IMHO a 13 Amp fuse for a device with a 1 Amp requirement and a 3 Amp rated flex is not good.
     
  2. Sean_ork

    Sean_ork Screwfix Select

    name and shame, someone on here might have the same item and be unaware
     
  3. Bazza-spark

    Bazza-spark Screwfix Select

    Need more than that to advise. What is the appliance :

    Kind regards

    BS
     
  4. Coloumb

    Coloumb Screwfix Select

    My understanding is the fuse is only to protect the cable to the appliance. I guess the manufacturer would use their own fuse inside the appliance to protect it, should that be a requirment.
     
  5. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select

    But is there actually a 13A fuse in the plugtop, or is it just a 13A rated plug?

    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
    unphased likes this.
  6. sparky Si-Fi

    sparky Si-Fi Screwfix Select

    The C.O.P.states under 700Watts of load its a 3Amp, above and beyond its a 13 Amper. . .
     
  7. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

    The company involved is CTEK, They are manufacturers of high quality vehicle battery chargers and they boast that they supply chargers to Ferrari, Mercedes etc.

    They have replied in what I feel is an unacceptable ignorance of the issue
    It is quite incredible that a company that are designing and manufacturing microprocessor controlled devices have such a lax attitude to using the incorrect rating of fuse. I expect it is because in Europe they don't have fuses in plugs but, None the less WE do in the UK and I'm sure that trading standards might be interested in this.
     
  8. unphased

    unphased Screwfix Select

    Battery chargers! Surely they NEED a 13A fuse.
     
  9. Sean_ork

    Sean_ork Screwfix Select

    CTEK do a very small maintenance charger with a max output of 0.8A - wonder if that's the one he's got
     
  10. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

    It is the XS7000 which is a 7amp output and is marked as having an input current of 1 Amp. I misjudged the flex, It is 0.75mm2. Even still, Why to have a fuse rated 13 times higher than the operating current?
     
  11. seneca

    seneca Screwfix Select

    Probably because the 0.75mm cable will be protected against short circuit by the 13a fuse and being a fixed (maximum) load there's no chance of overload?
     
  12. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

    Out of curiosity I checked what fuse is in my Halford's car battery charger ( of approx same output), Seems they are more realistic - A 5 Amp fuse.
     
  13. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select

    I bet your Halfords one has only 4A output max!

    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
  14. Bazza-spark

    Bazza-spark Screwfix Select

    If you check the technical data it states that the inrush current is <40A. I would suggest that the 13 amp fuse is to prevent fuses blowing through the inrush and is perfectly adequate for the job.

    Kind regards

    BS
     
  15. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

    a little bit more! 11Amp RMS.
     
  16. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

    I can't find this listed. Where did you find it?
     
  17. Bazza-spark

    Bazza-spark Screwfix Select

    Cheburashka likes this.
  18. Cheburashka

    Cheburashka Active Member

    That's interesting Bazza, The information on CTEK's own site and the booklet supplied with the charger has different info to this from an Australian site.
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2013
  19. Bazza-spark

    Bazza-spark Screwfix Select

    The requirement for Au may be different. If you have purchased this you should have a Declaration of Conformity with it. That will tell you what EU Directives and Standards they have complied with. If you can quote the Standards I may be able to give more, but I suspect as I said before, the surge is why they have installed a 13A fuse.

    Kind regards

    BS
     
  20. Sean_ork

    Sean_ork Screwfix Select

    that might be the case for an old fashioned charger, using a traditional wound transformer - these CTEK chargers are all SS and processor controlled, there might be a few tiny inductors on the input but certainly nothing that'll produce a large inrush - these things are tiny beasts
     

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