Are extension sockets much of a fire risk?

jamesperrett

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

P 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.

Genuine MK plugs and sockets should be fine - it is the cheaper ones you need to worry about. When I worked in an electrical shop back in the 70's, in the days when appliances came without plugs, we would always recommend MK plugs to people buying electric heaters or kettles while we sold the cheaper Nettle plugs for low current devices.

Most of the modern plugs are better than the old ones - the plastic is less brittle and the fuse holder makes better contact.

Bollotom

Raspberry pi is the mini computer being used to teach coding and suchlike. On the subject of extension leads, it's also very important to NOT coil the leads as they then become a bit like transformers and also can quickly get hot. :cool:

almillar

I think we've got there but the important part is NOT number of devices, but total wattage of them all.
4 set top boxes would be fine, 4 kettles, vacuum cleaners, heaters, dehumidifiers, microwaves, tumble driers, big powerful PCs (any more?) would not be.
You're allowed 13A per wall socket. If you're plugging in an extension socket to that, then 4 things, and they're all 13A, you'll be in trouble if you try to have them all on at the same time...

Ben84

They do always slightly increase the risk. Every extra component and connection between your appliances and the socket adds another possible fault point. However, provided you use decent quality extension leads that are in good condition and stick with sensible loads, for example table lamps, laptops, phone chargers (Not for example tumble driers, electric fires or washing machines!), then I'm sure you'll be fine. I use lots of them to cope with the limited 1960s wiring in this house and everything has been fine for many years. I just make sure the high wattage appliances are plugged in directly at the wall.