Maximum sustained current perrmitted from 13 amp plug ?

Why was the current drawn being measured?

Why were brand new kettles being PAT tested?

BS 1363 Section 1 Scope: "The plugs and socket-outlets are suitable for the connection of portable appliances, sound-vision equipment, luminaires, etc., in a.c. circuits only, operating at voltages not exceeding 250 V at 50 Hz."


Section 7.6 covers markings, which give the rating as 13 A and 250 V. Have a look on the underside of a plug!


Section 16 Temperature rise says: "The tests shall be carried out at rated voltage."


With an allowance of 4 hours to go from 20 deg C to 70 deg C at 14 A, I don't think that a short overload will do any harm.

Several failures have been found in brand new items.

I'd agree with that - in fact in the days when I did a little portable appliance testing the only failures I ever detected during testing were down to manufacturing errors (mainly L-N reversal in moulded leads). There was some damage that occurred in-service, but that was always detected by visual before it got as far as a test meter.

   - Andy.

I presume they are rated at 3kW.


I have two PAT testers, one mains which will do a leakage test with the appliance under load and one which is battery operated which won’t and has a substitute leakage test.


So it would also depend on which tester I choose to use and which test I choose to run. The testing regime that reveals this “fail” goes above and beyond what is required for a kettle and in this particular situation is being influenced by external factors.


I cannot imagine I would have run a test to measure the current drawn by a kettle in the first place and would not be raising any concerns.


 Andy B

I thought it would not be a bad idea to turn my PAT testers on, not having done so since March, so I thought I would try the test on our kettle.


Bit of an issue,  the kettle needs to be cold, however I had been asleep so it was. The kettle is rated at 2520-3000 watts, the voltage is hovering around 245 volt.


It is not a test I would normally run for a kettle. Maybe a bit of over zealous testing raising unnecessary concerns?

That was the current drawn,  the leakage is 0.22 mA.

Good, or I'd have been suggesting you should be checking for an N-E reversal at the plug, a mistake that RCDs have almost eliminated.

Actually I have a feeling that the leakage to earth figures are also better on modern kit, maybe another effect of RCDs and returns from irate customer is that manufacturers are a bit more careful with the moisture control and sealing of mineral insulated elements in kettles, cookers etc..

On the OP, given that the flex on most kettles is clearly only rated for intermittent operation, I imagine we can extend the same latitude to the plug, though how much I'm not sure - if it says 13.5A well all is OK, but if it was nearer 15 probably not, I can see the concern.

Somewhere I have a photo of a real fast kettle we used on field trials where inclement weather and poor shelter meant the normal arrangement took far too long, basically an ordinary domestic model, but wired between 2 phases on a genset to get 400V instead of 230. Very fast but no issues with the 13A fuse or the plug during the time it took to boil. It lasted the duration of the trials and was very popular.

I'm not recommending that of course, and it hinges on the cold weather, but it does suggest that there is scope for allowing a higher 'short duration' rating.  The corollary is that a 13A plug with a long duration load, like an immersion heater, especially in a place that is already warm and badly ventilated, like an airing cupboard,  can suffer from overheating with a load that is less than 13A, so for  a long duration load, the situation is very different. A similar long overload situation may welll apply to the higher power 13A car  chargers, for which improved 13A sockets and plugs are supposed to exist, presumably with more metal and less plastic, though I am not seeing much evidence of them in use.