Can a 250v kettle cable power a 230v power supply?

m5rcc

This may be a stupid question, but in my previous post I posted that I assumed that my PSU blew up on return from holiday when I switched the mains on. Having said this, I have tried three separate cables on the old PC, a new PC and a monitor and none work on any device, despite the mains plug working and other devices on other plugs working fine.

May it have to be with the cable producing excessive voltage, even though the same cable did power the PC and monitor previously?

*j*

If it fits, then yes. It will still supply the same 230 ish volts.

Don't, though, try to power the kettle with the psu or monitor cable...you'll just blow its (probably 3amp) fuse!!

*j*

redped

The cable can't produce excessive voltage - your house will have one mains voltage, so using a 250V cable instead of a 230V one will be fine. As *j* rightly points out, the fuse in the cable must have the correct rating - if your kettle draws (say) 10 amps, but your computer cable has a 3 amp fuse, then you'll blow the fuse when you switch on the kettle, no matter whether you're using a 230V or 250V-rated cable.

m5rcc

Ignore the kettle, I dont have one. The cable is simply called a "kettle cable".

I assume that PCs run on 3A?

NeverAgain_2

Look on the PC, it will have a sticker on it somewhere showing its power consumption.

You might need a magnifying glass because the printing is often tiny.

redped

What are the ratings of the fuses in the 3 cables that don't work?

m5rcc

Two grey ones that I have used previously for my old PC and monitor are 5A/250V. The black one I found today in my back room is 10A/250V.

Im awaiting a few 3A ones I bought online.

redped

Are those ratings stamped somewhere on the cables, or are they the actual ratings of the fuses themselves?

I'm confused as to your setup - are you saying that you have 3 pieces of equipment (2 PCs & 1 monitor) none of which work when connected via any of these three cables? If so, have you tried swapping a known working fuse from something else, and using that in one of the cables?

It might be time you nipped down to B&Q and bought some spare fuses.

m5rcc

They are on the flat side of the plug itself. The plugs of the cable are sealed and show ratings, BS standards, etc....

I had a PC which suddenly didn't work when I came back from holiday. I heard what was thought as a a 'pop' and thought the PSU went. In the meantime, I borrowed a PC from work and attempted to use the cable from the old PC. Neither the two PCs nor the monitor work with any of the three cables, even though other devices like my cordless phone, lamp, router, do work from the same mains socket.

redped

Most (all?) sealed plugs will allow you to change a fuse - there's usually a red bit of plastic underneath, which you can pop out with a screwdriver - this holds the fuse itself, allowing you to change the fuse if it blows - it's only a 10 second job to replace one.

At a guess, I'd say the fuses in the three cables are blown (probably by trying them all on the PC with the dodgy PSU), and you'll need to replace them. After replacing them, try them all on something other than your dodgy PSU, as that'll just blow them again.

Bear in mind that fuses only blow when there's a problem with the equipment it's protecting, so you'll also need to replace your PSU.

I assume your plug is like the ones this page - pop the red fuse holder out to change it.

m5rcc

So what should the fuses be? 3A? I can't find any detailed description on the PSU other than "230v 50Hz".

Also the new PC can't have it's PSU blown as it was working yesterday at my workplace with the cable