7,300 Watts supplied on a 2.5mm2 T&E.

Nowhere in this thread is there a discussion about conductor temperature. Basically, the values in Table 4D5 are for the conductor being at 70 degrees C.

If the currents are exceeded for the particular reference method, then the conductor can heat up to above 70 degrees C. It only takes a few minutes to do that.

What happens after that?

The possibility of burns aside, this can damage terminals and accessories. It can cause premature failure of protective devices if the cable is terminated to a protective device. Worse still, as I have seen on a shower (similar kind of thing) that should have had 10 sq mm cable because of the cable running for a few m in insulation at the shower end, but only had 6 sq mm (which was OK for the rest of the run) - because the shower is a heating appliance, the terminals were being heated from both sides, and unfortunately the terminals at the shower was the victim, not the cable. I'd been told this happened “every couple of years".

I guess the worst-case scenario is that something heats up behind covers and causes a fire.

So overall, from experience I would correct this issue. It's not OK just to let it be, even if the cable is “clipped direct” and you're only overloading it by a few A (well, that would be about 20 % in this case).

 

Nowhere in this thread is there a discussion about conductor temperature. Basically, the values in Table 4D5 are for the conductor being at 70 degrees C.

If the currents are exceeded for the particular reference method, then the conductor can heat up to above 70 degrees C. It only takes a few minutes to do that.

What happens after that?

The possibility of burns aside, this can damage terminals and accessories. It can cause premature failure of protective devices if the cable is terminated to a protective device. Worse still, as I have seen on a shower (similar kind of thing) that should have had 10 sq mm cable because of the cable running for a few m in insulation at the shower end, but only had 6 sq mm (which was OK for the rest of the run) - because the shower is a heating appliance, the terminals were being heated from both sides, and unfortunately the terminals at the shower was the victim, not the cable. I'd been told this happened “every couple of years".

I guess the worst-case scenario is that something heats up behind covers and causes a fire.

So overall, from experience I would correct this issue. It's not OK just to let it be, even if the cable is “clipped direct” and you're only overloading it by a few A (well, that would be about 20 % in this case).