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Grid switch ratings enquiry

Farmboy
Had an interesting chat with a tech dept this afternoon after coming across some grid switches in a domestic kitchen.


Four grid switches (sharing a common backbox) are each fed via their own 16A cb's, and each feeds 1G sockets (for a cooker hood, fridge freezer, etc). Ignoring the cable sizes (the focus being on the grid switches), given the 13A plug fuses limits the loads in each cct, would you have the current rating of the grid switches equal to or higher than the 16A cb's (e.g. 20A), or lower (but equal to or higher than the socket rating e.g. 13A/14A)?


F
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    Am I reading this differently from everyone else? If a 'multiple socket outlet' is a combination of two or more socket outlets and the rated current of all socket-outlets shall be 13A, surely this means a multiple socket outlet with two socket outlets must be rated at 13A + 13A, or 26A for the unit. Or is this wrong?



    If that's the wording from the standard it does seem a little ambiguous. " rated current of all socket-outlets shall be 13A" could be read to mean that the current rating of all outlets taken together as a group shall be 13A, or that each outlet individually shall be capable of carrying 13A but says nothing about the total rating (e.g. you could take the full 13A from either the left hand outlet, or the right hand one, but not necessarily both together).


    Consider too that the ring circuit design assumes that unfused spurs can't draw more than 20A from a dual socket - so there does seem to be a long term understanding that 13A+13A isn't what's expected.


       - Andy.
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  • 0

    Am I reading this differently from everyone else? If a 'multiple socket outlet' is a combination of two or more socket outlets and the rated current of all socket-outlets shall be 13A, surely this means a multiple socket outlet with two socket outlets must be rated at 13A + 13A, or 26A for the unit. Or is this wrong?



    If that's the wording from the standard it does seem a little ambiguous. " rated current of all socket-outlets shall be 13A" could be read to mean that the current rating of all outlets taken together as a group shall be 13A, or that each outlet individually shall be capable of carrying 13A but says nothing about the total rating (e.g. you could take the full 13A from either the left hand outlet, or the right hand one, but not necessarily both together).


    Consider too that the ring circuit design assumes that unfused spurs can't draw more than 20A from a dual socket - so there does seem to be a long term understanding that 13A+13A isn't what's expected.


       - Andy.
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