John Ward 30 minutes into the experiment, commenting calmly: "As you can see my house is now on fire and the fire is spreading to the roof. Let's increase the current and see what happens."
Thanks for warning the public about the dangerous electrical equipment. Hopefully videos like these will get people to understand the dangers of saving a few cents. Keep it up!
I had a lead a bit like this one - a bizarre story behind it, actually. I ordered, from a supplier in Denmark, a Schuko-to-C5 lead. Assuming I'd made a mistake, they sent me one of these, which they didn't even list on their web site - though they did list a 13A-to-C13 lead. They sent the Schuko one out when I informed them I had not made a mistake and did in fact want that. I had no idea at the time that there was anything wrong with the lead, but the neutral wire failed at some point, at the 13A end. I cut the plug off intending to wire my own on and found the wire to be poor quality and with the internal insulation black, white and grey, rather than the usual colours. Not surprisingly I scrapped it.
A while back I purchased a new laptop power supply off of eBay. due to their default "on eBay" location option I actually purchased from China and received one of these plugs! it proceeded to smoke and spark one day and that was when I chose to take a look and found sure enough that the fuse was bypassed and completely pointless.
pretty spectacular, really dangerous since fuses have a time delay before going off. A ordinary 5x20mm ceramic fuse can take up to 30 minutes on 210% of rated load before popping (Data obtained from Littlefuse 215 series), by that time we already have a bonfire with those cables. That's immedeatly life threatening and should be illegal to sell/ship.
+Paxmax My girlfriend used to live in a poorly maintained flat that had a fairly serious wiring fault *before* the fuse box where the two large grey cables were shorting out against each other behind the electricity meter. Eventually the correct electrician turned up and when he removed the meter there was a large scorch mark on the wall and the two input cables completely missing their insulation. Had those wires gone dead short the only protection is the 400A supply fuse, the wires themselves melting (to protect the probably very expensive main fuse ;-), or whatever overcurrent protection exists on the street supply.
Dodgy wiring. The house was split in two and somehow an extra electricity meter got installed for the upstairs flat. There was even an isolation switch to turn the upstairs flat off... Before the electric meter...
+James Grimwood Wow, that is scary! Here in the USA, we have no or very little protection before the main breaker. I dunno why ... I'd much rather have some sort of fuse and/or circuitbreaker on the output of the pole transformer... BTW, here a lot of people think smart (aka digital) meters cause fires. Indeed they can, but it is a very very very slim chance. The meter box fires usually start because of improper installation, I.E. installing the meter into a socket with weak contacts, and failing to clean/de-oxidize the contacts before installing the meter.
mharris1270 Yeah ... I guess the power company could put one of those tags on the box, like they do with the electrical meter. Or maybe have both in the same box. Yes, you'd have to call the POCO out to come and reset that breaker if it trips, but then again, it's a main, high current breaker ... if that trips, there is either a serious problem, or the breaker is faulty...
took my cable apart after failure,just stopped working after 2 months use, looks like aluminium wire copper coated very stiff and springy the wire was very small gauge with extra insulation that is stiff to support it, question is were can i get a quality one that has copper wire in it?
John, good video. My recently purchased (late 2015) "Rio Rand" self-balancing scooter from Amazon was supplied with the type of "cassette" lead you show, only mine did not even have a fuse in the British "type" plug. I say "type" as it is certainly not BS-1363 compliant, sleeved earth pin, no fise, inadequate size and incorrectly spaced pins - the lot! Your video demonstrates a current level easily supplied by a 32A ring main and you should point out that at 20A a 13A mains fuse will take some time to blow in any case, too long for this type of cable!
With 230V, it'll most likely turn dead short at less than 150C. I had an IEC lead popped after like 30 min with only around 5 Amps load. It tripped the 16A breaker, but the 13A fuse still intact.
Justin Coleman The orange flex is 1.0mm², rather than the claimed 0.75mm² of the black test item, and the orange is solid copper rather than aluminium with copper plating. Even assuming the black flex was actually 0.75mm² , the orange would have a resistance of less than half of the black test lead, so the heating in it is substantially less. In reality, that black lead must have had thinner conductors, as the aluminium/copper difference alone would not result in the measured resistance being 2x - 3x higher than it should have been. The orange flex still got hot, although not enough to melt.
I'm confused, if it was a 13 amp fuse and you put 20 amps on it wouldn't that have tripped? If u put a larger fuse in for demonstration purposes this is actually showing it can go well above it's intended use without catching fire, but adding this much current with it's intended fuse wouldn't cause a fire as it would trip.
wsvitak You're right, the fuse would have blown and if it didn't then the main house fuse or breaker would have. After carefully examining the cord and finding it didn't meet the standard in many ways, JW felt it needed to be destroyed in a fitting manner. JW may have the delivery of a BBC announcer, but he has the heart of Photonic Induction.
It appears that some cheap wind-up extension leads are using this type of flex. My brother once saw a partially wound extension have its flex melt together when used with a power washer and these generally don't draw more than 2kW. Had that extension been used like this indoors such as with a 3kW heater and left unattended, that probably would have caught fire.
Seán Byrne That annoying little safety tag that inevitably get ripped off/falls off of all extension leads warns you to completely unwind the cable before use. Because yes, thermal buildup and failure will result :)
Hi JW, what equipment are you using to do the tests? We need to get hold of something similar for fuse testing. Thanks. I can't find anything that will go from 0-X amps.
+ChompChompNomNom An 8A variac connected to a 3kVA 240-110v site transformer, with only half of the output connected, which gives an output voltage of 0-55V, maximum current from 0 to about 30A. Output is not regulated at all and depends entirely on the resistance of the load, so as in this video the current fluctuates significantly as the insulation melts and the wires short together.
Thanks, anything links for this kind of stiff? My company imports millions of pounds worth of stuff and we're trying to weed this crap out. They even produce fake Intertek / SGS etc certificates
I would like to see this test done with the cable rolled together and with a newspaper on top. That would not be and unthinkable scenario, and it would be interesting to see if 13A or less would be enough to set the paper on fire.
I have a few questions. Firstly, would this cable warm up as quickly if you were using it to power an appliance such as a light bulb or something since the light bulb would use the energy instead of the cable using all of it? and secondly, how would the voltage increases? I've heard of voltage dropping when too many amps are used but not the other way around? Surely, it can't be higher than what you're putting out?
Damn. That was some serious heat there. I hope you was wearing a breathing mask to protect yourself buddy as there may be hazardous fumes from that smouldering mess there. Keep up the great videos as I find these interesting to watch and I respect you for the fact that you are highlighting the dangers of what this cheap tack can pose to human life. You have my respect and I have subscribed.
isnt 0.75 cable rated for 6amp?? so it should be supplied with no higher than a 5 amp fuse in the plug? i have a lead almost identical to this except the earth pin is correctly unsleeved, just looked and it has a 13amp (?) fuse in , plain white - no colouring or BS marking - with just a small black 13A printed on it !
Interesting to see the BT branded meter. I knew some people who joined BT in the 70s. It must have been a brilliant career then. Now, well, nothing more to say I am afraid. I am glad that I found this channel as I have a huge pile of these cables and will start checking them all before anything nasty happens.
I'm a couple of questions if I may, 1. Why 8v? Would there be any difference between 8v and 240v both at 20v? Since it looks like a mains lead shouldn't it have been tested at mains voltage? 2. I'd have thought 12-16 Guage cable lower or less but I can safely pull 20a 12v across 12 Guage for my HF radio.
At 240V you would be putting kilowatts of power into the cable. It would completely disintegrate within a second or two, possibly with a bang and pieces flying everywhere.
That said, our heater runs 2400w 240v which is 10amp when it's running at full (will sometimes kick a cheap powerboards overcurrent protection. So ok it's 2.4kw @240v and the power lead is fine at that. So I fail to see what you are pointing at. I agree that over 12-15amp the lead should disintegrate in a regular appliance but this was showing heat and failure at 10amp and who in the real world will be running at 8v (likely DC) for an appliance?
8 volts was just the voltage which resulted in the required current flowing through the lead. Higher voltage would result in higher current. In normal use with an appliance connected, most of the 240 volts is across the appliance, not the lead. Unknown what the actual wire size was, but it was far smaller than any lead of that type should be.
***** I still fail to why you would use 8v instead of 240v when the lead would normally run at 240v xAmp. Your wall socket is not 8v. So wouldn't a better test have been if it can handle current at its used and rated voltage? I realise I made a mistake in my original post, should have read @20a not 20v. But anyway if the lead is supposed to be able to handle 10a (that's the fuse rating?) then the power @240v 10a should still be not enough to cook. Else it would normally cook a lead to a heater which runs at 2400w or 240v 10a. Either way it's disappointing the lead couldn't handle 160w or there abouts ASSUMING you applied AC. If you applied DC 8v that's another story all together and that nullifies the results of this.
+Glen O'Riley You keep confusing what goes *through* the cable (rated for 240VAC/13A or about 4000W) and what is lost *in* the cable (in this case a few volts at 13A). It's the loss that is too big, causing the cable to eat 100W or more and overheat. Then to make a point, JW also tested what would happen if someone sabotaged the fuse and drew 25A (6000W), causing the loss to exceed 200W, melting and burning the cable.
The thumbnail image made me click the video. I see flames! :D Ooooh, that was a nice long torturous burnout. Given the temperature that this rose to, I'd seem to think that if this was sat on a carpet with a wooden floor underneath that, the cord would have melted into the carpet. (Mr. Photon knows a bit about power cords melting into carpets! :D) 20A wasn't an unreasonable amount of current, and as seen by the orange flex in this vid (which did take the juice) it's pretty obvious that a genuine power cord would take 20A for a short while, even if it does become uncomfortably warm, but without any deformation or discolouration, not to mention thick smoke with the inevitable flaaaames! In reference to Part One, the alarm bells start going as soon as it is seen that the Earth pin has sleeving on it (so the plug of course isn't made to BS 1363) and that the fuse has 'FUSE' wrote on it. I mean..... what else could it be? Battery? Capacitor? Diode? No, it's a fuse (or at least it's supposed to be!) In a way, it's bit of a shame that you opened that fake fuse, as you could've rigged that up for poppage in some kind of way, just to see how much current it would really take until it let loose. Either way, the resistance of that flex is waaaaay too high, so let's say that it was made to catch on fire. Good job, that's another fake product removed from service and therefore can't harm anyone. The manufacturer should be ashamed of themselves. They obviously don't care about quality and even 'fiddle' British Standard numbers (in this case BS 1362 and 1363) just to make a quick buck. These people should be tracked down and prosecuted. Thanx for showing, -BoomBoxDeluxe. _2nd January 2015, 15.05_
My Fluke 177 doesn't measure below 1 ohm very accurately - just the test leads on their own measure 0.2 ohms with nothing attached. Is there a simple way of measuring low resistance using a multimeter?
***** With a multimeter, the only method is to measure the resistance of the leads, then deduct that value when measuring the component. Some have a 'zero' function built in which does the same thing. To avoid the problem of the test lead resistance completely, a meter which has 4 wire capability can be used.
I'd love to have a go at such experiments but lack John's knowledge so might burn the house down. Still it would annoy next door neighbours which isn't always a bad thing.
10:32, do you hear the fire engines in the background, on their way to an electrical fire!? HAHAHA!!!. Hey John, did you get a visit from the fire brigade by any chance?
can you please if possible do a vid on how you created the power supply before you tested the leads maximum amps and voltage before it started smoking then later, on fire.
I have 2 major issues with this video. Before I state them I should say that the cable is clearly substandard and dangerous, I have no arguments there. The high resistance of the cable you demonstrated in part 1 is definitely a bad thing and I was interested to see how hot it got at 13 amps with just a few volts. I have no problem with the demonstration up to that point in the video and part 1 was well presented. The 1st issue I have a problem with is that you deliberately overloaded the cable beyond what is considered "above average use" to force the cable to dramatically overheat. You can do this with any cable, poor quality or not, and get the same results. Of course, with better quality cables that conform to standards the levels to get them to overheat will be a lot higher, but still. The 2nd issue is the fact that you have placed the cable on a highly combustible surface, I.E. corrugated cardboard! This guarantees flames a lot sooner than you would get if on a noncombustible surface thus adding 'drama' to the demonstration. I have viewed a few of your videos showing bad products and the majority of them seem to over hype the dangers of the products. One in particular you even created implausible issues with the product to increase the sense of danger when using it. Yes, the products are substandard and should not be used, they can even be dangerous in many cases, but this type of over hyping is something that I would expect to see in tabloid news, not in an informative video. Take this as constructive criticism as I really do think you are doing a good job showing us dangerous products, it's just that there is no need to stoop to tabloid levels by over hyping and dramatizing the dangers.
Andy Merrett Lighten up? This is presented as a serious safety video so why should I take it lightly? Deliberately overloading a cable to demonstrate how unsafe it can be is pointless. As I pointed out before, even cables that meet the safety standards can fail when overloaded enough. UK safety standards mean that carpets for one are not easily combustible, so your point there is somewhat moot. You have failed to present a reasoned and valid argument here. Try again when you have a valid point to make instead of trolling badly with silly hat puns that don't work!
Fish productions When you can learn the difference between 2 simple words and use them correctly only then can you correct me. If you are smart enough then you might be able to work out which 2 words. Here's a hint: you used a wrong one in your comment :P
I thought that the point was in the UK the ring main can deliver up to 32 amps before cutting out, therefore anything plugged in needs to handle a fault such as a short circuit *without catching fire*. Safety is not just concerned with every day use, but what happens in the event of a fault - properly designed and built systems will "fail safe", there should be no part of the system that could catch fire in the event of a fault.
I don't understand.... why didn't you do this test with the 13a fuse inline so that we could see the fuse did not protect the cable. The the fuse could have blown before the cable became dangerously hot and prove the fuse was doing its job. I thought the fuse was there to protect the cable, which considering you pushed the cable to 20+Amps before anything actually dangerous happened means it was basically a test of someone replacing the fuse with a link of 1.5 cable. Was the different voltage an element? would the fuse blow at 240v @13A or would the cable burn?
+John Quinton Not a fire risk perhaps but definitely a burn risk. Plus anything the cable is laid on is not necessarily designed to handle 70C+ either.
I agree, the cable is a piece of cheap trash, but it would be interesting to see how it would stand up to a real world test, cheap fake fuse, cheap not-really-as-advertised cable, insulated earth pin, faulty iron or kettle element...
It is not so much whether 70ºC is so dangerous, well unless the power cable becomes unstable and damaged and more likely to short out, but if the temperature gets that high close to the maximum that the fuse can accept, then what keeps the temperature from getting higher? You have to consider the wide range of likely improper usages. People using high-current carrying cables which are still bunched up, so that the heat can not escape. And the test is not so much considering normal operation, but rather, what happens if there is a short circuit in the device. Does the fuse reliably cut off the electricity, or does the power cable overheat at risk of starting a fire? We should also remember, even though the cable itself might not overheat too bad, the device could be in flames because the plug fuse was of too high a current rating. 70ºC, even if you don't want to count that as a failures, leaves too little margin for error. And I would count such a high amount of heat, as a failure, that the cable is not safe. At least not without a lower-amperage fuse. Perhaps what is most inexcusable, is putting a 13 amp fuse on such a poor-quality cable. If somebody thought that that cable was good enough for its intended usage, then why didn't they put in a 3 or 5 amp fuse? A cable designed for 13 amps, surely should have been of better quality.
I agree, you should be on a consumer type program like watch dog. You could have your trusty Chinese vase beside you to make it feel like home. How does all this stuff get into our country? I thought stuff like this was picked up at customs.
Great video JW, I never though of recording the watts loss, the C5 clover leaf connectors are only rated at 5.0 Amps acording to BSI Approval so the test is a bit pointless, the actual load on the cable in real life would be limited by the connected device or it would be a short circuit that would clear the 13Amp fuse in the plug almost imiediatly. That said surely the CCA cable would be more difficult to produce, couple that with the destructive effect of the dissimilar metals I don't see the purpose of making the stuff at all. Keep up the great videos.
If a short circuit developed in the cable flex just before the C5 connector or the connector or appliance, far more than 5A would flow... The current rating of a fuse is the maximum normal non-breaking current. Not the current it will blow at. So you can draw 20A through a 13A fuse for a limited time. The idea of the standards is that if the cable flex and the fuse are correctly rated and manufactured to comply with the standards, the cable flex should be able to cope with an overload until the fuse blows, without the cable flex becoming a danger.
+Hunter “aka” Gman It's because he's doing this in a safe manner. He's outside, away from buildings and other flammable things, has a water source, and has a plug that he can unplug to physically (and visually) isolate the cord from the power source.
Absolutely brilliant experiment this had me at edge of my seat like I was watching a horror film, When you say fake fuse, what actually makes it fake? At what current would a genuine fuse have blown?
+Prawnchowmein Fake fuses are typically either poorly designed, and/or poorly constructed. They might blow at too low of a current, which is a nuisance. But the real danger is when they blow at a higher than specified current. Think of it as putting a jumper wire instead of a fuse XD I'm from the USA, and actually some of the old fuses here are very dangerous, because one can stick a penny behind the fuse, and screw in a blown fuse. The circuit will then work, because the penny bypasses the fuse altogether!!!! (pennies have a copper surface)
+Benjamin “Ozias” Esposti That is not the fuse being dangerous though, just people being idiots. You can't design the human element out of everything. There will always be a way to bypass safety features, the important thing is to make sure those features work as designed.
Regarding the measurement of "Almost zero ohms", you can adopt the Kelvin Measurement Method (aka. 4-Wire Measurement). Please refer to: th-cam.com/video/0vMvCVyOp9g/w-d-xo.html
I have a question - Is this cable not rated for 230V / 13A ? That means it would have melted in a heartbeat under actual workloads (like 230V / 5A). Wouldn't it ?
That cable should have never been rated for 13 amps, but more like 10, maybe just 5 amps. In fact, why should it even pass a safety rating? Considering what that cable probably connects to, it likely would never exceed 5 amps under normal usage. However, the heating effect of the cable becomes worse, if it is bunched up or if something, a piece of carpet or a box or something, is put on top of it. A proper cable might have so little heat, that heating building up, would less likely present a problem.
Shaunak De no, because the cable only got up to 73° when passing 13amps, and had a 3 volt drop across the cord. If an appliance were drawing 13 amps it would have seen slightly lower voltage, (3v less than mains) and the cord would have been hot enough to be unsafe 73° but not bursting into flames unsafe.
Well.. the insulation is probably still ok for 230v at 73°. That's the only thing with a random Chinese products, it could be something that goes from OK to dangerous unexpectedly.
Robert Szasz A power cord is not supposed to be a heater, and if there was any bunching up of the cord, wouldn't it overheat all the more? Why didn't they simply put a lower-capacity fuse into the plug?
In theory it shouldn't matter because if 230v was supplied the voltage drop on the cable would be the 3v and the other 227v would be "used" in the device itself. The resistance of the cable is constant (almost) so the voltage drop is linked to the current. On the other hand I would be curious about the same test but with the original fuse installed, does the fuse pop before it starts a fire? Of course in my country and pretty much anywhere else in the world we use unfused plugs. In the case of the schuko style plugs these cables should be rated to 16amps but I have not seen many.
I'm wondering how much of the voltage drop and hence power dissipation was in the 13A plug/socket - remember it started off as a 15A design but had to be derated.
I agree that is a junk cable, but it seems to be capable of preforming its intended use. If the fuse was less than 13 amp to protect the wire it would be acceptable, except for the flames(wire insulation is supposed to be flame retarded)
I presume you're surprised that water was used to extinguish an electrical fire, but electrical fires are no different to any other type of fire, except that there *might* still be live electricity running through the bits that are on fire. So if you put water on it, the electricity might run through the water, back to you, and give you a shock. Or the water might connect two wires that weren't connected and cause a short circuit, immediately boiling the water and causing an explosion as it instantly turns to a large amount of steam. But the point is that the danger comes from pouring water onto an energised device, whether it's on fire or not. Once you remove the supply of electricity, it's no different to any other type of fire so putting water on it is just fine. In this case doubly so because the voltage was so low that there's no shock risk even if the water was put on when it was live.
So what is this supposed to proove? That if you do something with a thing that it's not desiigned for it will fail catastrophically? hereI think it's 1,5mm2 copper that is rated for 10 amp but you hardly find that in any connection cables since very few domestic appliances that do not run on 3 phase run continuously at 10 amps. If they do they probably have a permanent cable anyway. (Like stoves for example) If you could replicate this resuld with the wire actually attatched to an appliance it would be a vastly more relevant test.
+rimmersbryggeri the point is to show that the fuse doesnt actually do anything. If this was a proper cable with working fuse, it would have blown the fuse way before any of the catastrophic events.
+rimmersbryggeri oh I see........ I'm from USA so I don't know the specifics. In USA there are only some power cables with built in fuses, but it is rare to see.
them cables should have no more then a 3 or 5 amp fuse in them (norm laptop or monitors, under 1amp draw) they should never have 13 amp fuse in that type of cable it was never rated to handle that type of load (also you tested a neutral to earth the earth cable can be thinner the the other 2 cables , be nice to see if you had Cut the cable to see if all the cables are the same size) still you had to put more then 13 amps to get it to catch fire something that would norm not happen in the UK any way ( i could see it been a problem in USA due to poor design plugs by not fusing the plugs to prevent thermal overload of the cable as that is why plugs are fused )
in the US, our regular outlets are 15 amp (sometimes 20) breaker protected in new construction. The voltage is also lower, 120 RMS so about 2kw (2.4 on the 20 amp). Compared to 13 amp 240 volt at 3kw. Trust me, I've overloaded a circuit a few times, and the breaker acts in under 30 seconds. In sum, the breaker will act faster than a British fused plug.
Jacob Wells it should act right away if it's overloaded past the rcd socket rating , 30 seconds would be faulty breaker (unless the overload was just under the breaker trip rating) fuse box should not trip first in an overload the fuse in the plug should blow first witch is missing in the USA as you put to much trust in the fuse box or the mains cabled on the plug melting first the fuse in the plug is rated between 3-13amps (most fuse box are 20-32a depending if your on 110 or 240v) and fuse should blow first in a appliance first so not to take the house out Unless RCD (GFCI? I think is the name in usa) sockets are standard in all houses now witch might be in new house's (it would remove the need in the uk to have the annoying rcd breaker in the fusebox) this cable was purposely overloaded in this video as it should have a 3amp fuse only, but they are coming supplied with 13a (the laptop power packs only pull under 1amp)
+lee x I'd say no. If it operates right away, then turning on lights and transformers, and plugging in chargers will cause nuisance tripping due to the spike of power drawn. (inrush current) lol my mom plugged in two space heaters into one circuit once (she didn't know, cause our house is wired kinda funny), and upon turning the heater on (the other one was on as well), the breaker tripped. I have tripped the breakers before when connecting a large toroidial transformer to the mains, so yeah they can cause nuisance tripping.
+Kacey Anders Use a thicker gauge of wire. I'd say that you still shouldn't use it though, because the aluminum can "cold flow". That is, over many years, it actually flows, as if it were melting, even at room temperature! Also, aluminum is notoriously bad for causing fires when improperly installed. It isn't compatible with all metals, so you can get bad connections (let alone the layer of oxide on AL...)
Yes, I'm aware of both those points with regards alum wiring, and it's use in the USA during the 60's, 70's and maybe 80's. I was meaning more with regards use with leads/cords with factory sealed/moulded plugs (the plugs [hopefully!!] having properly made internal connections to the alum clad wire). But certainly, copper is my 1st choice by a long margin!
Dead ringer for John Major. Have a you thought of making a comedy video sending him up? Hope you not offended. Really enjoy your very educational and entertaining videos.
@@benbaselet2026 these things were build intended to burn down your house. No matter what price they are selling at. If your house get burned, you got no place to hold all the good stuff you mentioned made in china. By the way, NOT everything is made in china.
Twenty one amps @ 230 volts would mean a power drain of 4.8 kilowatts. Surely the protective device would operate long before the cable bursts into flames...
Logan Garrett Now let me see. "I'm going to start an electrical fire. I'll need some water to put it out." Not the sort of sentence you'd expect to hear from an electrician is it!
Andy Merrett What a bunch of moronic responses. Here's an electrical engineer warning us all about dodgy electrical gear and despite all the advice, puts out an electrical fire with water. Why didn't he set a good example and have the proper extinguisher to hand?
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John Ward 30 minutes into the experiment, commenting calmly:
"As you can see my house is now on fire and the fire is spreading to the roof. Let's increase the current and see what happens."
Perhaps the cable is designed to protect the fuse?
It's like listening to an olympics commentary. I would watch it.
Thanks for warning the public about the dangerous electrical equipment. Hopefully videos like these will get people to understand the dangers of saving a few cents. Keep it up!
I had a lead a bit like this one - a bizarre story behind it, actually. I ordered, from a supplier in Denmark, a Schuko-to-C5 lead. Assuming I'd made a mistake, they sent me one of these, which they didn't even list on their web site - though they did list a 13A-to-C13 lead. They sent the Schuko one out when I informed them I had not made a mistake and did in fact want that. I had no idea at the time that there was anything wrong with the lead, but the neutral wire failed at some point, at the 13A end. I cut the plug off intending to wire my own on and found the wire to be poor quality and with the internal insulation black, white and grey, rather than the usual colours. Not surprisingly I scrapped it.
Did you hear in the background the fire brigade coming?
thank you JW for inviting us to your Barbecue, had a wonderful time 😆
What instrument is being used to control the input of current??
Maybe worth pointing out that the current you ran through it isn't unreasonable if the fuse failed to... fail as we run 32A breakers on the mains.
A while back I purchased a new laptop power supply off of eBay. due to their default "on eBay" location option I actually purchased from China and received one of these plugs!
it proceeded to smoke and spark one day and that was when I chose to take a look and found sure enough that the fuse was bypassed and completely pointless.
The power supply cable in orange does not overheat. Is it because they have a lower resistance?
+Tangobaldy Yes, the orange cable is a larger size, so much lower resistance.
pretty spectacular, really dangerous since fuses have a time delay before going off. A ordinary 5x20mm ceramic fuse can take up to 30 minutes on 210% of rated load before popping (Data obtained from Littlefuse 215 series), by that time we already have a bonfire with those cables. That's immedeatly life threatening and should be illegal to sell/ship.
+Paxmax My girlfriend used to live in a poorly maintained flat that had a fairly serious wiring fault *before* the fuse box where the two large grey cables were shorting out against each other behind the electricity meter. Eventually the correct electrician turned up and when he removed the meter there was a large scorch mark on the wall and the two input cables completely missing their insulation.
Had those wires gone dead short the only protection is the 400A supply fuse, the wires themselves melting (to protect the probably very expensive main fuse ;-), or whatever overcurrent protection exists on the street supply.
James Grimwood Geez! that could have turned out to be a negligent homicide/endangerment! glad it was caught in time.
Dodgy wiring. The house was split in two and somehow an extra electricity meter got installed for the upstairs flat.
There was even an isolation switch to turn the upstairs flat off... Before the electric meter...
+James Grimwood
Wow, that is scary!
Here in the USA, we have no or very little protection before the main breaker. I dunno why ... I'd much rather have some sort of fuse and/or circuitbreaker on the output of the pole transformer...
BTW, here a lot of people think smart (aka digital) meters cause fires. Indeed they can, but it is a very very very slim chance. The meter box fires usually start because of improper installation, I.E. installing the meter into a socket with weak contacts, and failing to clean/de-oxidize the contacts before installing the meter.
mharris1270
Yeah ... I guess the power company could put one of those tags on the box, like they do with the electrical meter. Or maybe have both in the same box.
Yes, you'd have to call the POCO out to come and reset that breaker if it trips, but then again, it's a main, high current breaker ... if that trips, there is either a serious problem, or the breaker is faulty...
took my cable apart after failure,just stopped working after 2 months use, looks like aluminium wire copper coated very stiff and springy the wire was very small gauge with extra insulation that is stiff to support it, question is were can i get a quality one that has copper wire in it?
John, good video. My recently purchased (late 2015) "Rio Rand" self-balancing scooter from Amazon was supplied with the type of "cassette" lead you show, only mine did not even have a fuse in the British "type" plug. I say "type" as it is certainly not BS-1363 compliant, sleeved earth pin, no fise, inadequate size and incorrectly spaced pins - the lot! Your video demonstrates a current level easily supplied by a 32A ring main and you should point out that at 20A a 13A mains fuse will take some time to blow in any case, too long for this type of cable!
With 230V, it'll most likely turn dead short at less than 150C. I had an IEC lead popped after like 30 min with only around 5 Amps load. It tripped the 16A breaker, but the 13A fuse still intact.
were you testing the flammability of cardboard?
How did then Orange lead cope with it? Would be good for a compare with good and bad cable. The Orange cable must have got to the same temp?
Justin Coleman The orange flex is 1.0mm², rather than the claimed 0.75mm² of the black test item, and the orange is solid copper rather than aluminium with copper plating.
Even assuming the black flex was actually 0.75mm² , the orange would have a resistance of less than half of the black test lead, so the heating in it is substantially less.
In reality, that black lead must have had thinner conductors, as the aluminium/copper difference alone would not result in the measured resistance being 2x - 3x higher than it should have been.
The orange flex still got hot, although not enough to melt.
Very interesting as a matter of fact I had a power lead like this with a c5 connector but only 2 core flex and a 13 amp fuse
Did the plug have a proper 13A fuse in it?
I'm confused, if it was a 13 amp fuse and you put 20 amps on it wouldn't that have tripped? If u put a larger fuse in for demonstration purposes this is actually showing it can go well above it's intended use without catching fire, but adding this much current with it's intended fuse wouldn't cause a fire as it would trip.
wsvitak You're right, the fuse would have blown and if it didn't then the main house fuse or breaker would have. After carefully examining the cord and finding it didn't meet the standard in many ways, JW felt it needed to be destroyed in a fitting manner. JW may have the delivery of a BBC announcer, but he has the heart of Photonic Induction.
It appears that some cheap wind-up extension leads are using this type of flex. My brother once saw a partially wound extension have its flex melt together when used with a power washer and these generally don't draw more than 2kW. Had that extension been used like this indoors such as with a 3kW heater and left unattended, that probably would have caught fire.
Seán Byrne That annoying little safety tag that inevitably get ripped off/falls off of all extension leads warns you to completely unwind the cable before use. Because yes, thermal buildup and failure will result :)
Glad to see that dangerous power lead go. Very good video and excellent explanations as always. Cheers JW :)
Good video, and I like your 80s, British Telecom multimeter.
If possible please include a description of your experiment in the details section.
Interesting how a short with only perhaps 10VAC or 15VAC can cause a fire. I think the resistance was about 390 milli Ohms near the end using R=V/I
Hi JW, what equipment are you using to do the tests? We need to get hold of something similar for fuse testing. Thanks. I can't find anything that will go from 0-X amps.
+ChompChompNomNom An 8A variac connected to a 3kVA 240-110v site transformer, with only half of the output connected, which gives an output voltage of 0-55V, maximum current from 0 to about 30A.
Output is not regulated at all and depends entirely on the resistance of the load, so as in this video the current fluctuates significantly as the insulation melts and the wires short together.
Thanks, anything links for this kind of stiff? My company imports millions of pounds worth of stuff and we're trying to weed this crap out. They even produce fake Intertek / SGS etc certificates
I would like to see this test done with the cable rolled together and with a newspaper on top. That would not be and unthinkable scenario, and it would be interesting to see if 13A or less would be enough to set the paper on fire.
I have a few questions. Firstly, would this cable warm up as quickly if you were using it to power an appliance such as a light bulb or something since the light bulb would use the energy instead of the cable using all of it? and secondly, how would the voltage increases? I've heard of voltage dropping when too many amps are used but not the other way around? Surely, it can't be higher than what you're putting out?
Damn. That was some serious heat there. I hope you was wearing a breathing mask to protect yourself buddy as there may be hazardous fumes from that smouldering mess there. Keep up the great videos as I find these interesting to watch and I respect you for the fact that you are highlighting the dangers of what this cheap tack can pose to human life. You have my respect and I have subscribed.
+BritishRail60062 These are all done outside, the camera is actually a fair distance away.
Ah I understand.
I have numerous similar cords in use ATM. I'm itching to build a milliohmmeter to test if (or better yet, which) ones are dodgy.
isnt 0.75 cable rated for 6amp?? so it should be supplied with no higher than a 5 amp fuse in the plug? i have a lead almost identical to this except the earth pin is correctly unsleeved, just looked and it has a 13amp (?) fuse in , plain white - no colouring or BS marking - with just a small black 13A printed on it !
Interesting to see the BT branded meter. I knew some people who joined BT in the 70s. It must have been a brilliant career then. Now, well, nothing more to say I am afraid.
I am glad that I found this channel as I have a huge pile of these cables and will start checking them all before anything nasty happens.
i hop you did not damage your test equipment with the water at the end of the test .was this lead a china special ? good demo
I'm a couple of questions if I may,
1. Why 8v? Would there be any difference between 8v and 240v both at 20v? Since it looks like a mains lead shouldn't it have been tested at mains voltage?
2. I'd have thought 12-16 Guage cable lower or less but I can safely pull 20a 12v across 12 Guage for my HF radio.
At 240V you would be putting kilowatts of power into the cable. It would completely disintegrate within a second or two, possibly with a bang and pieces flying everywhere.
That said, our heater runs 2400w 240v which is 10amp when it's running at full (will sometimes kick a cheap powerboards overcurrent protection.
So ok it's 2.4kw @240v and the power lead is fine at that. So I fail to see what you are pointing at. I agree that over 12-15amp the lead should disintegrate in a regular appliance but this was showing heat and failure at 10amp and who in the real world will be running at 8v (likely DC) for an appliance?
8 volts was just the voltage which resulted in the required current flowing through the lead. Higher voltage would result in higher current.
In normal use with an appliance connected, most of the 240 volts is across the appliance, not the lead.
Unknown what the actual wire size was, but it was far smaller than any lead of that type should be.
*****
I still fail to why you would use 8v instead of 240v when the lead would normally run at 240v xAmp. Your wall socket is not 8v.
So wouldn't a better test have been if it can handle current at its used and rated voltage?
I realise I made a mistake in my original post, should have read @20a not 20v. But anyway if the lead is supposed to be able to handle 10a (that's the fuse rating?) then the power @240v 10a should still be not enough to cook. Else it would normally cook a lead to a heater which runs at 2400w or 240v 10a.
Either way it's disappointing the lead couldn't handle 160w or there abouts ASSUMING you applied AC. If you applied DC 8v that's another story all together and that nullifies the results of this.
+Glen O'Riley You keep confusing what goes *through* the cable (rated for 240VAC/13A or about 4000W) and what is lost *in* the cable (in this case a few volts at 13A). It's the loss that is too big, causing the cable to eat 100W or more and overheat. Then to make a point, JW also tested what would happen if someone sabotaged the fuse and drew 25A (6000W), causing the loss to exceed 200W, melting and burning the cable.
I love that British Telecom device before it became British Telecon as my dad used to call it. A company that is beyond unethical.
The thumbnail image made me click the video. I see flames! :D
Ooooh, that was a nice long torturous burnout. Given the temperature that this rose to, I'd seem to think that if this was sat on a carpet with a wooden floor underneath that, the cord would have melted into the carpet. (Mr. Photon knows a bit about power cords melting into carpets! :D)
20A wasn't an unreasonable amount of current, and as seen by the orange flex in this vid (which did take the juice) it's pretty obvious that a genuine power cord would take 20A for a short while, even if it does become uncomfortably warm, but without any deformation or discolouration, not to mention thick smoke with the inevitable flaaaames!
In reference to Part One, the alarm bells start going as soon as it is seen that the Earth pin has sleeving on it (so the plug of course isn't made to BS 1363) and that the fuse has 'FUSE' wrote on it. I mean..... what else could it be? Battery? Capacitor? Diode? No, it's a fuse (or at least it's supposed to be!)
In a way, it's bit of a shame that you opened that fake fuse, as you could've rigged that up for poppage in some kind of way, just to see how much current it would really take until it let loose.
Either way, the resistance of that flex is waaaaay too high, so let's say that it was made to catch on fire.
Good job, that's another fake product removed from service and therefore can't harm anyone. The manufacturer should be ashamed of themselves. They obviously don't care about quality and even 'fiddle' British Standard numbers (in this case BS 1362 and 1363) just to make a quick buck.
These people should be tracked down and prosecuted.
Thanx for showing,
-BoomBoxDeluxe.
_2nd January 2015, 15.05_
My Fluke 177 doesn't measure below 1 ohm very accurately - just the test leads on their own measure 0.2 ohms with nothing attached. Is there a simple way of measuring low resistance using a multimeter?
***** With a multimeter, the only method is to measure the resistance of the leads, then deduct that value when measuring the component. Some have a 'zero' function built in which does the same thing.
To avoid the problem of the test lead resistance completely, a meter which has 4 wire capability can be used.
Right on the cusp of what is acceptable. The very definition of the majority of Chinese manufacturing.
I'd love to have a go at such experiments but lack John's knowledge so might burn the house down. Still it would annoy next door neighbours which isn't always a bad thing.
For household 61v is the safest limit...?
10:32, do you hear the fire engines in the background, on their way to an electrical fire!? HAHAHA!!!. Hey John, did you get a visit from the fire brigade by any chance?
can you please if possible do a vid on how you created the power supply before you tested the leads maximum amps and voltage before it started smoking then later, on fire.
Already done: th-cam.com/video/V75YZnIhJHc/w-d-xo.html
Hi John,
What's the power supply you are ussing for this test?
How exactly was this lead dangerous?
I have 2 major issues with this video. Before I state them I should say that the cable is clearly substandard and dangerous, I have no arguments there. The high resistance of the cable you demonstrated in part 1 is definitely a bad thing and I was interested to see how hot it got at 13 amps with just a few volts. I have no problem with the demonstration up to that point in the video and part 1 was well presented.
The 1st issue I have a problem with is that you deliberately overloaded the cable beyond what is considered "above average use" to force the cable to dramatically overheat. You can do this with any cable, poor quality or not, and get the same results. Of course, with better quality cables that conform to standards the levels to get them to overheat will be a lot higher, but still.
The 2nd issue is the fact that you have placed the cable on a highly combustible surface, I.E. corrugated cardboard! This guarantees flames a lot sooner than you would get if on a noncombustible surface thus adding 'drama' to the demonstration.
I have viewed a few of your videos showing bad products and the majority of them seem to over hype the dangers of the products. One in particular you even created implausible issues with the product to increase the sense of danger when using it. Yes, the products are substandard and should not be used, they can even be dangerous in many cases, but this type of over hyping is something that I would expect to see in tabloid news, not in an informative video.
Take this as constructive criticism as I really do think you are doing a good job showing us dangerous products, it's just that there is no need to stoop to tabloid levels by over hyping and dramatizing the dangers.
Andy Merrett
Lighten up? This is presented as a serious safety video so why should I take it lightly?
Deliberately overloading a cable to demonstrate how unsafe it can be is pointless. As I pointed out before, even cables that meet the safety standards can fail when overloaded enough.
UK safety standards mean that carpets for one are not easily combustible, so your point there is somewhat moot.
You have failed to present a reasoned and valid argument here. Try again when you have a valid point to make instead of trolling badly with silly hat puns that don't work!
if the cardboard was the cause for the flame research how hot can cardboard get before it combusts...
than complain
Fish productions
When you can learn the difference between 2 simple words and use them correctly only then can you correct me. If you are smart enough then you might be able to work out which 2 words. Here's a hint: you used a wrong one in your comment :P
I thought that the point was in the UK the ring main can deliver up to 32 amps before cutting out, therefore anything plugged in needs to handle a fault such as a short circuit *without catching fire*.
Safety is not just concerned with every day use, but what happens in the event of a fault - properly designed and built systems will "fail safe", there should be no part of the system that could catch fire in the event of a fault.
Galbi 3000 I think the cardboard illustrates how quickly an electrical fault could set your home on fire
I don't understand.... why didn't you do this test with the 13a fuse inline so that we could see the fuse did not protect the cable. The the fuse could have blown before the cable became dangerously hot and prove the fuse was doing its job. I thought the fuse was there to protect the cable, which considering you pushed the cable to 20+Amps before anything actually dangerous happened means it was basically a test of someone replacing the fuse with a link of 1.5 cable. Was the different voltage an element? would the fuse blow at 240v @13A or would the cable burn?
+John Quinton Not a fire risk perhaps but definitely a burn risk. Plus anything the cable is laid on is not necessarily designed to handle 70C+ either.
I agree, the cable is a piece of cheap trash, but it would be interesting to see how it would stand up to a real world test, cheap fake fuse, cheap not-really-as-advertised cable, insulated earth pin, faulty iron or kettle element...
It is not so much whether 70ºC is so dangerous, well unless the power cable becomes unstable and damaged and more likely to short out, but if the temperature gets that high close to the maximum that the fuse can accept, then what keeps the temperature from getting higher? You have to consider the wide range of likely improper usages. People using high-current carrying cables which are still bunched up, so that the heat can not escape. And the test is not so much considering normal operation, but rather, what happens if there is a short circuit in the device. Does the fuse reliably cut off the electricity, or does the power cable overheat at risk of starting a fire? We should also remember, even though the cable itself might not overheat too bad, the device could be in flames because the plug fuse was of too high a current rating.
70ºC, even if you don't want to count that as a failures, leaves too little margin for error. And I would count such a high amount of heat, as a failure, that the cable is not safe. At least not without a lower-amperage fuse.
Perhaps what is most inexcusable, is putting a 13 amp fuse on such a poor-quality cable. If somebody thought that that cable was good enough for its intended usage, then why didn't they put in a 3 or 5 amp fuse? A cable designed for 13 amps, surely should have been of better quality.
I agree, you should be on a consumer type program like watch dog. You could have your trusty Chinese vase beside you to make it feel like home.
How does all this stuff get into our country? I thought stuff like this was picked up at customs.
Great video JW, I never though of recording the watts loss, the C5 clover leaf connectors are only rated at 5.0 Amps acording to BSI Approval so the test is a bit pointless, the actual load on the cable in real life would be limited by the connected device or it would be a short circuit that would clear the 13Amp fuse in the plug almost imiediatly. That said surely the CCA cable would be more difficult to produce, couple that with the destructive effect of the dissimilar metals I don't see the purpose of making the stuff at all. Keep up the great videos.
If a short circuit developed in the cable flex just before the C5 connector or the connector or appliance, far more than 5A would flow...
The current rating of a fuse is the maximum normal non-breaking current. Not the current it will blow at. So you can draw 20A through a 13A fuse for a limited time. The idea of the standards is that if the cable flex and the fuse are correctly rated and manufactured to comply with the standards, the cable flex should be able to cope with an overload until the fuse blows, without the cable flex becoming a danger.
It was supplied with a 13A fuse, so the test was valid. The whole lot was supposed to cope with a 13A fuse and its overload.
You used a Class A Extinguisher. But you started a Class C fire. But of course, you turned it into a class A fire first, so at least there is that. :)
Why do people use flammable materials to burn stuff on? Do you not have concrete?
+Hunter “aka” Gman
It's because he's doing this in a safe manner. He's outside, away from buildings and other flammable things, has a water source, and has a plug that he can unplug to physically (and visually) isolate the cord from the power source.
Absolutely brilliant experiment this had me at edge of my seat like I was watching a horror film, When you say fake fuse, what actually makes it fake? At what current would a genuine fuse have blown?
+Prawnchowmein
Fake fuses are typically either poorly designed, and/or poorly constructed. They might blow at too low of a current, which is a nuisance. But the real danger is when they blow at a higher than specified current. Think of it as putting a jumper wire instead of a fuse XD
I'm from the USA, and actually some of the old fuses here are very dangerous, because one can stick a penny behind the fuse, and screw in a blown fuse. The circuit will then work, because the penny bypasses the fuse altogether!!!! (pennies have a copper surface)
+Benjamin “Ozias” Esposti That is not the fuse being dangerous though, just people being idiots.
You can't design the human element out of everything. There will always be a way to bypass safety features, the important thing is to make sure those features work as designed.
I thought it was over just past the halfway through mark then he was like lets turn it up more xD That's quite a high temperature too.
Regarding the measurement of "Almost zero ohms", you can adopt the Kelvin Measurement Method (aka. 4-Wire Measurement).
Please refer to: th-cam.com/video/0vMvCVyOp9g/w-d-xo.html
I have a question - Is this cable not rated for 230V / 13A ? That means it would have melted in a heartbeat under actual workloads (like 230V / 5A). Wouldn't it ?
That cable should have never been rated for 13 amps, but more like 10, maybe just 5 amps. In fact, why should it even pass a safety rating?
Considering what that cable probably connects to, it likely would never exceed 5 amps under normal usage. However, the heating effect of the cable becomes worse, if it is bunched up or if something, a piece of carpet or a box or something, is put on top of it. A proper cable might have so little heat, that heating building up, would less likely present a problem.
Shaunak De no, because the cable only got up to 73° when passing 13amps, and had a 3 volt drop across the cord. If an appliance were drawing 13 amps it would have seen slightly lower voltage, (3v less than mains) and the cord would have been hot enough to be unsafe 73° but not bursting into flames unsafe.
Thank you for the explanation. :)
Well.. the insulation is probably still ok for 230v at 73°. That's the only thing with a random Chinese products, it could be something that goes from OK to dangerous unexpectedly.
Robert Szasz
A power cord is not supposed to be a heater, and if there was any bunching up of the cord, wouldn't it overheat all the more?
Why didn't they simply put a lower-capacity fuse into the plug?
At 13 Amps, 3V it reached 72 degrees. How about 230v?
In theory it shouldn't matter because if 230v was supplied the voltage drop on the cable would be the 3v and the other 227v would be "used" in the device itself. The resistance of the cable is constant (almost) so the voltage drop is linked to the current.
On the other hand I would be curious about the same test but with the original fuse installed, does the fuse pop before it starts a fire? Of course in my country and pretty much anywhere else in the world we use unfused plugs. In the case of the schuko style plugs these cables should be rated to 16amps but I have not seen many.
I have seen lamp cords melt and burn carpet.
I'm wondering how much of the voltage drop and hence power dissipation was in the 13A plug/socket - remember it started off as a 15A design but had to be derated.
mharris1270 Missed point? I was referring to this test, not in use.
I agree that is a junk cable, but it seems to be capable of preforming its intended use. If the fuse was less than 13 amp to protect the wire it would be acceptable, except for the flames(wire insulation is supposed to be flame retarded)
stevmoon I think you missed the point.
Let's just errr... put the fire out here, one moment..... Love it.
Did you really just put water on it? :D
I presume you're surprised that water was used to extinguish an electrical fire, but electrical fires are no different to any other type of fire, except that there *might* still be live electricity running through the bits that are on fire. So if you put water on it, the electricity might run through the water, back to you, and give you a shock. Or the water might connect two wires that weren't connected and cause a short circuit, immediately boiling the water and causing an explosion as it instantly turns to a large amount of steam. But the point is that the danger comes from pouring water onto an energised device, whether it's on fire or not. Once you remove the supply of electricity, it's no different to any other type of fire so putting water on it is just fine. In this case doubly so because the voltage was so low that there's no shock risk even if the water was put on when it was live.
now imagine it in a 240V outlet
I've got far less impressive cables than that on my house, I'd be worried passing 5A through some of mine.
So what is this supposed to proove? That if you do something with a thing that it's not desiigned for it will fail catastrophically? hereI think it's 1,5mm2 copper that is rated for 10 amp but you hardly find that in any connection cables since very few domestic appliances that do not run on 3 phase run continuously at 10 amps. If they do they probably have a permanent cable anyway. (Like stoves for example) If you could replicate this resuld with the wire actually attatched to an appliance it would be a vastly more relevant test.
+rimmersbryggeri the point is to show that the fuse doesnt actually do anything. If this was a proper cable with working fuse, it would have blown the fuse way before any of the catastrophic events.
Ashraj Dhindsa
Most countries however don't have the fuse in the plug.
+rimmersbryggeri should they not? Or is it just to save time and money by manufacturer? I think there should be a fuse no matter what country.
Ashraj Dhindsa
No ther shouldnt. The fuses place in a modern system is on the distrubution board. British modernisation is just very slow.
+rimmersbryggeri oh I see........ I'm from USA so I don't know the specifics. In USA there are only some power cables with built in fuses, but it is rare to see.
I swear I could smell it
Love the video especially the fact you set it on fire on 'cardboard' and then continued to put it out with 'water' xD other than that good video
+max995pc What's wrong with putting it out with water? He'd already turned off the power to it.
them cables should have no more then a 3 or 5 amp fuse in them (norm laptop or monitors, under 1amp draw) they should never have 13 amp fuse in that type of cable it was never rated to handle that type of load (also you tested a neutral to earth the earth cable can be thinner the the other 2 cables , be nice to see if you had Cut the cable to see if all the cables are the same size)
still you had to put more then 13 amps to get it to catch fire something that would norm not happen in the UK any way ( i could see it been a problem in USA due to poor design plugs by not fusing the plugs to prevent thermal overload of the cable as that is why plugs are fused )
in the US, our regular outlets are 15 amp (sometimes 20) breaker protected in new construction. The voltage is also lower, 120 RMS so about 2kw (2.4 on the 20 amp). Compared to 13 amp 240 volt at 3kw. Trust me, I've overloaded a circuit a few times, and the breaker acts in under 30 seconds. In sum, the breaker will act faster than a British fused plug.
Jacob Wells it should act right away if it's overloaded past the rcd socket rating , 30 seconds would be faulty breaker (unless the overload was just under the breaker trip rating)
fuse box should not trip first in an overload the fuse in the plug should blow first witch is missing in the USA as you put to much trust in the fuse box or the mains cabled on the plug melting first
the fuse in the plug is rated between 3-13amps (most fuse box are 20-32a depending if your on 110 or 240v) and fuse should blow first in a appliance first so not to take the house out
Unless RCD (GFCI? I think is the name in usa) sockets are standard in all houses now witch might be in new house's (it would remove the need in the uk to have the annoying rcd breaker in the fusebox)
this cable was purposely overloaded in this video as it should have a 3amp fuse only, but they are coming supplied with 13a (the laptop power packs only pull under 1amp)
+lee x
I'd say no.
If it operates right away, then turning on lights and transformers, and plugging in chargers will cause nuisance tripping due to the spike of power drawn. (inrush current)
lol my mom plugged in two space heaters into one circuit once (she didn't know, cause our house is wired kinda funny), and upon turning the heater on (the other one was on as well), the breaker tripped.
I have tripped the breakers before when connecting a large toroidial transformer to the mains, so yeah they can cause nuisance tripping.
Is there a way of SAFELY using copper clad/coated aluminium or steel in a similar cable?
+Kacey Anders
Use a thicker gauge of wire.
I'd say that you still shouldn't use it though, because the aluminum can "cold flow". That is, over many years, it actually flows, as if it were melting, even at room temperature! Also, aluminum is notoriously bad for causing fires when improperly installed. It isn't compatible with all metals, so you can get bad connections (let alone the layer of oxide on AL...)
Yes, I'm aware of both those points with regards alum wiring, and it's use in the USA during the 60's, 70's and maybe 80's.
I was meaning more with regards use with leads/cords with factory sealed/moulded plugs (the plugs [hopefully!!] having properly made internal connections to the alum clad wire).
But certainly, copper is my 1st choice by a long margin!
Dead ringer for John Major. Have a you thought of making a comedy video sending him up? Hope you not offended. Really enjoy your very educational and entertaining videos.
JW doesn't sound like Kermit at all.
Pure death trap manufacturers should be in jail
great effort
To explain it the easy way just say "made in china"
Everything is made in China. Some of it is cheap garbage, some of it is very, very good stuff indeed.
@@benbaselet2026 these things were build intended to burn down your house. No matter what price they are selling at. If your house get burned, you got no place to hold all the good stuff you mentioned made in china.
By the way, NOT everything is made in china.
At 10:24 did he put out an electrical fire with water?
With his piss
Chuck G No, he put out a fire. At the time he put it out, there was no electricity flowing through the wiring or equipment.
Twenty one amps @ 230 volts would mean a power drain of 4.8 kilowatts. Surely the protective device would operate long before the cable bursts into flames...
+sadoldgeorge Not quite. The ring main circuits in UK houses generally run at 32A max load, I believe.
am i the only one that could smell this?
That took some time... still those leads are made 4t bin.
Yes. Let's burn stuff.
I love the timing that you mentioned 15c and then it went straight to 14. It’s the mattix
Matrix
I hope you had your hi vis and safety glasses on JW. And.... did you put out an electrical fire with water!!!! Tut Tut Tut.
He turned the power supply machine off
Logan Garrett Now let me see. "I'm going to start an electrical fire. I'll need some water to put it out."
Not the sort of sentence you'd expect to hear from an electrician is it!
Andy Merrett What a bunch of moronic responses. Here's an electrical engineer warning us all about dodgy electrical gear and despite all the advice, puts out an electrical fire with water. Why didn't he set a good example and have the proper extinguisher to hand?
Andy Merrett What, you mean other than arguing about how to put out an electrical fire. Muppet.
(no power = just fire, not electrical)
very informative.
good video.
Good video John wouldn't be doing it on cardboard though
10:20 i also use to take a pee on burning cables
Wouldn't it just be quicker to throw it away. You could then do something interesting with your life.
Ten seconds in the video... that's gonna burn 😎
It's polluting your back garden
bt mate