can you get thermal cut out safety plugs?

Takmon

chilswelluk said:

as a general rule if a device develops an electrical issue then the safety feature of the RCD/Fusebox will get involved.

Not necessarily, I have top branded MK electrics in my house (sockets, consumer units etc) along with new wiring and have had faulty chargers melting at the plug, which could have been a fire hazard.  At no point did this trip the RCD. That's why a dedicated thermal cut safety plug would be useful.  This would simply monitor the temperature at all points in the plug and then stop conducting if a threshold temperature is reached. 

Yes some of those surge protectors advertise thermal cutout, but they are sketchy about the technical details and the temperature thresholds.  I even read a post of some guy who melted something in one of these plugs, so not sure how good they are as a thermal safety device.

I can't understand why nobody makes such a thermal safety plug.  My electric car granny charger, has temperature monitoring built into the plug and if it gets too hot it will stop conducting.  It works perfectly.  I must be able to buy a dedicated safety plug that operates in the same way?

If you only buy decent quality charges from reputable manufacturers then this is very unlikely to happen. The solution is to buy better quality electronics that don't pose a fire risk rather than spend extra money buying safety devices to partially protect you from dodgy electronics.

dworkeen

Make your own? Get a good quality plug  then google  RS, CPC Farnell or other suppliers for thermal cut out switches. - Simples!! and doubtless cheaper than a ready made. Find your cut-out switch of the required cut-out temperature and fix to the outside of the plug. Okay there's a bit of trial and error to get the right cut-out switch to take account of the insulating effect of the plug case or knock-up a modified case to accept the switch. Nothing a handy electrically savvy techno couldn't do. BUT DO REMEMBER UK POWER IS 240 VOLTS WHICH CAN KILL so if you aren't competent find a friend who is and whatever you do don't blame me

flaneurs_lobster

dworkeen said:

Make your own? Get a good quality plug  then google  RS, CPC Farnell or other suppliers for thermal cut out switches. - Simples!! and doubtless cheaper than a ready made. Find your cut-out switch of the required cut-out temperature and fix to the outside of the plug. Okay there's a bit of trial and error to get the right cut-out switch to take account of the insulating effect of the plug case or knock-up a modified case to accept the switch. Nothing a handy electrically savvy techno couldn't do. BUT DO REMEMBER UK POWER IS 240 VOLTS WHICH CAN KILL so if you aren't competent find a friend who is and whatever you do don't blame me

Zombie thread alert.

This thread is 4+ years old, The OP has either found a solution or their house has burnt down.