Plug fuses – assistance s'il vous plait

Fuse in my office radiator has died but I’m a little concerned it has died in a spectacular fashion.

Photos below of the fuse and charring on the socket. Is that normal when a radiator fuse goes or signs of a bigger problem?

The two sockets run a pc, monitor and paper shredder plus the radiator (radiator and shredder share the same socket).

[/url]image by sandwicheater1[/url], on Flickr[/img]

[/url]image by sandwicheater1[/url], on Flickr[/img]

That is not normal at all.

I’d bin that junction block for starters and put a new plug on the radiator.

It looks like the plug has been overloaded for some time, hence the melting.

The fact you’ve probably over loaded the multi socket shouldn’t have caused the fuse to go like that. They also normally burn out inside, that’s where the fuseable wire is. Could it have got wet?

Actually it’s rare for fuses to blow at all if you have modern breakers and RCDs in your fuse box.

Cheers footflaps, thought it was odd, never come across burning before when a fuse has gone.

All new electrics/consumer unit when I opened the business 12 months ago.

I’ll pop a new plug on it tonight and keep an eye on it.

EDIT: Cheers guys. Plant near buy that i water regularly. Water may have dripped down on it but i’m vary careful to make sure that doesn’t happen (normally).

I’ll not share the socket with another appliance from now on. New RCD fitted when re-wired.

What footflaps said at a minimum , **** hate those adaptors necessary evil in some cases but certainly should not be used in conjunction with a high load appliance like the radiator.

“Actually it’s rare for fuses to blow at all if you have modern breakers and RCDs in your fuse box.”

Not true, i melt 13amp fuses for fun when im welding out on the road at friends or family and they dont have a 16amp outlet….

Very occasionally ill melt an old wire fuse in old boards , ive never tripped an rcd or breaker

Just realised the pc/monitor have been running from the same socket as the radiator, whoops.

Radiator never on unless I’m here so i’m not worried about it burning the place down. Another 13amp or 16amp?

16 amp fuses dont exist for domestic plugs more so your radiator was designed for a 13a system , you dont just go uprating the fuse , you dpfind out why its blowing 13amps anything else is utterly retarded.

This is a 16 amp output for welding – or other high drains.

http://www.meteorelectrical.com/garo-16-amp-ip67-3-pin-220v-switched-rcd-protected-socket.html?tax_val=1&currency=GBP&country_id=222&gclid=CI3D2NL6msMCFaHHtAod9mEA0Q

Right’o, 13amp it is. Have seen the little RCD socket shields when I was last looking at plugs, worth it or pointless if you’ve got an RCD already in the consumer unit?

Sorry to keep asking questions.

If you haven’t done it recently I’d test the RCD in the consumer unit anyway if I were you. We had one fail recently, it was discovered when we had some rewiring done and it failed the part P tests for not tripping when it should have. These people[/url] recommend you test them every 3 months but I doubt if anyone does.

Actually it’s rare for fuses to blow at all if you have modern breakers and RCDs in your fuse box.

Not really e.g. I popped a 13A fuse in a Chop Saw last WE, was chopping through a mass of firewood and it went (probably overheating a bit). The MCB is 32A so the 13A fuse will pop long before the 32A MCB trips.

ohh The number of fires I see with cube adapters. Bin that and don’t overload your sockets.

Loose fitting fuse carrier has caused high resistance and heat, leading to looser connection and more heat… Eventually the carrier looses its spring altogether and the fuse just rests against the carrier and burns up. Thermostatically controlled heaters are especially brilliant at this as the load switches quite often.

You’ll probably find the fuse hasn’t actually blown, just degraded to the point where the circuit is broken within the plug.

Agree with the sentiments about the multi plug though – they add extra stress to the socket and cause similar issues but to your fixed wiring!

What lerk said. Saw one similar on a washing machine.

As above, bin the cube. Plug the radiator in on its own and get a trailing lead for the rest. Chop the plug off the rad and fit a new one, too.

Is it just you or a bigger company? Might be HSE stuff to consider too in terms of testing of kit and circuits.

Plug the radiator in on its own and get a trailing lead for the rest.

This. You don’t want to be sharing the rad with anything else on the same socket, it’s a big enough load on its own.

chop plug off and fit new. looks like a problem between the fuse and clip rather than fuse going

Radiator never on unless I am actually here so i’m not worried about it burning the place down.

Ah – easy words, but think about it the other way round:

– would you rather there was a fire with people in the building or when it is unoccupied?
– how sure are you that if there was a fire you could spot it and extinguish it that quickly? really, what if you were in the toilet when it first started? or popped out for lunch?
– can you imagine explaining to the insurance loss adjuster that it was a bit dodgy but it was ok because you were there to put it out?
– what if you forgot to switch it off (I never believe anyone who tells me they don’t forget) – things happen in life, whether its a family emergency, a customer crisis or getting held up in traffic / public transport / bad weather which means people’s plans change or they have to rush off in a hurry.
– where do you turn it off? at the socket or on the heater control panel?