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Appliance Ratings and 13A plug tops

Hello

I looked last year for portable heating and not surprisingly there was little above 2.5kW rating.  All the old 3kW stuff has long gone.

I was surprised however to find a wide range of steam irons rated at 3000W and even 3100W.  (that's almost 13.5A at 230V).  I realise of course that irons are likely to be much more intermittent than heating and that 13.5A is very unlikely to blow a 13A fuse but it cant be good practice to overload plug/ socket like this.  A decent ironing session can still be hours ……   OFC at 240v its under 13A but 230v has been the standard for ages now.   In my experience many socket/ plug combinations are marginal approaching their rating so deliberate overloading will only make matters worse over time.  I would have thought that these appliances wouldn't qualify for CE marking and couldn't be sold legally?  Does anyone know if there is a BS or EN for small appliances?


Thanks


Peter
Parents

  • Denis McMahon:




    Chris Pearson:




    Denis McMahon:

    Another jargon term is "luminaire" for light fitting.



    Or just plain French. As far as I can determine, "une prise" is used for both a plug and a socket.


     

    If you want to see the French aspect of this discussion, then this site is interesting reading.

    https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prise_%C3%A9lectrique


    This seems to confirm Chris's point: just as we over here sometimes hear power sockets referred to as "plugs", something similar happens in France. They do have a proper word for it - le socle.


    However I can see no mention of le sommet de la prise.


    Ah but a cache-prise is a socket cover. ?


    That Wikipedia article muddies the waters a treat. Mon dictionnaire tells me that un socle is a base or plinth, which has perhaps come to mean an electrical socket by association with a pattress box. Le dictionnaire de l'Académie Française tells me that the derivation of the word is by metonymy from something which captures (think la prise des la Bastille) something else and that une prise is the female bit which is attached to the fixed wiring.


    Une fiche (feminine noun, but male bits) may be used for a whole plug, or just the prongs.


    I shall seek further advice.

Reply

  • Denis McMahon:




    Chris Pearson:




    Denis McMahon:

    Another jargon term is "luminaire" for light fitting.



    Or just plain French. As far as I can determine, "une prise" is used for both a plug and a socket.


     

    If you want to see the French aspect of this discussion, then this site is interesting reading.

    https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prise_%C3%A9lectrique


    This seems to confirm Chris's point: just as we over here sometimes hear power sockets referred to as "plugs", something similar happens in France. They do have a proper word for it - le socle.


    However I can see no mention of le sommet de la prise.


    Ah but a cache-prise is a socket cover. ?


    That Wikipedia article muddies the waters a treat. Mon dictionnaire tells me that un socle is a base or plinth, which has perhaps come to mean an electrical socket by association with a pattress box. Le dictionnaire de l'Académie Française tells me that the derivation of the word is by metonymy from something which captures (think la prise des la Bastille) something else and that une prise is the female bit which is attached to the fixed wiring.


    Une fiche (feminine noun, but male bits) may be used for a whole plug, or just the prongs.


    I shall seek further advice.

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