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Musing on ring final unfused spur - Regs compliance and more from the EICR slant (but not necessarily)

Good day to all

Probably not an original question, but still...

Is there a Reg. non-compliance (which one(s) ) for having  2 double skts fed* unfused from a socket on a ring final  (presuming the connection is 'good' so to speak) ?

* either with the two on one  short bit of 'spur' cable, or each on its own short bit of cable , from the double socket

If the sockets were used to supply low powered items (chargers, a LED tv, lamp) and perhaps occasional vac. cleaner, or fan heater, then there is no overload concern as such, so what's the issue... is it simply the potential available to overload and for an EICR,  what exactly is the risk to record ...   it seems hardly potentially dangerous   and if its not that, why improve it !  Is that why it's 'informative' and not regulatory .  Musing over .

Regards

Parents
  • You might struggle to get 4 x 2.5 mm² conductors into an ordinary 13 A socket - the BS specifies min 8 mm² , but some manufacturer's terminals will accept 12 mm² (which is quite handy if you want to branch a radial).

    Fig 15A does not preclude multiple spurs from one point, but they must feed only one socket, so daisy chains are out unless you start with 4 mm².

    I suspect that most sockets nowadays feed very little - table lamps, computers, screens, phones, etc., but we still must allow for that 3 kW heater on a cold day.

  • one manufacturer's product I noted specifies max. of 3 of 2.5mm conductors .

Reply Children
  • A 2.5mm2 spur using T&E cable, where the cable is rated at between 13.5 and 27 Amps as per Table 4D5, is affected primarily by the installation method. If two double 13 Amp sockets are connected onto a single unfused spur then at best two 13 Amp loads will cause no problems to the supply cable. (Ref. method C). But ref. method 103# would not be a suitable means of installation and may cause cable overheating. Of course these days many appliances are rated at 2kW rather than 3kW.

    2.5mm2 copper wire if used as a fuse link, is rated at about 80 Amps. But obviously the P.V.C. insulation is the weak link here. So after a length of time in overload conditions the P.V.C. may soften and cause problems.

    If the two double sockets are only ever to be used for small appliances like a 100 Watt aquarium heater and a couple of air pumps then all is well. But that can not be guaranteed to be the case in a home where just anything could be plugged in. And, what about future use if the house is sold?

    Z.