Are extension sockets much of a fire risk?

jamesperrett

Save money and stop buying the 'surge protectors'. Any properly designed power supply will be able to handle the sort of surges that we get in the UK (unless you are talking about a lightning strike which will destroy anything - surge protected or not). Surge protected plugs are just a marketing gimmick.

paddyrg

I would suggest a halfway measure - use good quality extension bars with the right length cables and don't daisy-chain. Cheaper bars may have cheaper, thinner cables which *may* be more prone to overheating if by accident (and daisy-chaining) you draw too much current through them. Daisy-chaining is the greatest risk, to be frank, and either stretching or coiling cables is not desirable.

You can get good quality extension bars with upto 10 sockets (eg http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/2m-ten-socket-extension-cable-white-n20gu for a tenner), which will be fine for the computer stuff - none of that kit actually uses a lot of power - then plug heaters etc directly into the wall for safety :-)

onomatopoeia99

Provided your devices plugged into the multi-way extension lead(s) don't add up to more than 13A consumption, then don't worry about it.

Either the extension is safe for 13A or it isn't. I'm not talking about the 20m cable drum types where drawing 13A with them coiled is bad, I mean the 1 or 2 metre long leads with 4 way adapters on the end where coiling isn't an issue. If you daisy chain a few of those and connect routers, blu-ray players, CD players etc, all of which draw negligible current then you're fine. If you start trying to hang a few kettles from them then you're not.

12 raspberry pis plugged into a series of daisy chained leads wouldn't worry me in the slightest, it's a quarter of an amp total!

Edit : I should add that the white "MK" type sockets common in houses aren't designed to handled sustained high current. Leave a 3KW fan heater running all day and the socket material will start to break down internally and emit a smell of bad fish. The plugs don't like it much either (especially pre-wired ones, which can be pre-wired badly). Heat dissipation is a problem and it will affect them in time.

yangptangkipperbang

jamesperrett wrote: »

Save money and stop buying the 'surge protectors'.

.............but they sound impressive

To be serious - the main potential problem with any extension lead (apart from gross overloading) is poor pin contact between the appliance plug and trailing socket.
Extensions are very likely to be pulled/kicked/trodden on resulting in the plug(s) not making perfect contact inside the socket. If this happens even quite low currents can cause sockets/plugs to heat up - especially "cheapo" ones................

Owain_Moneysaver

InsideInsurance wrote: »

I seem to recall from the chap that fitted the new socket for us that it was a simple screw fixture for the cable to the back of the socket. (sorry, dont know what thats properly called)

Is that type of fixing point really that much more efficient (i guess lower resistance) than the prong and spring plate type connection that you have between a socket and plug? I know the prongs on some plugs do get hot but I've never taken a socket off the wall to cross compare how how the back of it is getting.

Yes; with a properly done screw connection the screw and terminal should be clamping the cable so the join between the two is gas-tight and corrosion can't get in.

Plug and socket connections rely on the springiness of the socket; in cheaper extension leads particularly this can be poor quality copper, and the springyness is further decreased by overheating of the copper.

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Its also slightly surprising as in the world of hifi most would claim replacing a similar screw fixing of bear wire to the speakers post with a plug and socket improves the connection rather than causes problems and indeed banana plugs" etc are heavily pushed.

Most speaker posts don't have any surround to the terminal, so tightening the terminal simply spreads the wire out thinner (especially if multi-strand cable is used) and it never gets really tight.


These are top quality and have up to 16 sockets depending on range.

Norman_Castle

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

12 raspberry pis plugged into a series of daisy chained leads wouldn't worry me in the slightest,

Whats a raspberry pis?. (Ribena?)

System

As for the powerline adapters, they work fine on extensions. The only bit I'm not sure of (because I've never tried) is that they will work on surge protected extension sockets

roddydogs

Their far more of a fire risk but legal, than say a spur from a spur (illegal).

kwikbreaks

InsideInsurance wrote: »

I seem to recall from the chap that fitted the new socket for us that it was a simple screw fixture for the cable to the back of the socket. (sorry, dont know what thats properly called)

Is that type of fixing point really that much more efficient (i guess lower resistance) than the prong and spring plate type connection that you have between a socket and plug? I know the prongs on some plugs do get hot but I've never taken a socket off the wall to cross compare how how the back of it is getting.

Yes it's far more efficient because the screw applies considerable pressure to the heavy gauge soft copper wire and depresses it a bit to form a good surface contact.

The pressure connectors in quality sockets are a lot better than cheap ones and better still than those in cheap extension leads although they do all need to pass a BS test (probably CE these days) but are still low pressure and insufficient to depress any tiny surface irregularities so you get multiple small contact points.

kwikbreaks

!!!!!! wrote: »

As for the powerline adapters, they work fine on extensions. The only bit I'm not sure of (because I've never tried) is that they will work on surge protected extension sockets

Surge protected yes because it's just a spark gap and does nothing until the gap breakdown voltage is exceeded which is pretty much all the time until you get a close lightning strike and then the whole thing melts anyway.

They wouldn't work through a proper mains conditioner which hi fi buffs like to splash out on for some reason - I guess they don't trust the psus in their equipment. Some even pay out a fortune for what is effectively just weaved wire kettle leads. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder I suspect audio appreciation is in size of the overdraft for some.