4 hours ago4 hr Hello.I have a radial circuit running from a 20a RCCBO from the main consumer unit to a carport about 10m away.It initially runs in 4mm2 t&e then transitioning to 4mm SWA 3 core in a ground duct and then to 4mm t&e clipped to the frame inside the actual structure.On the radial are 2 double sockets and a single socket. Would it be ok to add a 32a commando socket with an interlocked on/off switch to this circuit. Obviously it would never be used to it's full 32a capacity given the RCCBO.
1 hour ago1 hr If you have no plans for it to use 32A, why a 32A Commando and not a 16A one? What are you looking to power?
56 minutes ago56 min 8 minutes ago, garrymartin said:If you have no plans for it to use 32A, why a 32A Commando and not a 16A one? What are you looking to power?Was my thought too until I realised that if you put in a 16A one then you'd need a separate breaker for that as the circuit is 20A.I'm not an electrician but I think you'd be ok to put the 32A in place, but then you should ensure that anything plugged in to that socket can handle 32A. Not a good idea replace a 16A plug with a 32A to just make it work on that outlet. Though I guess once you have one socket, off the shelf adapters (often with breakers) are relatively cheap.
46 minutes ago46 min 6 minutes ago, -rick- said:Was my thought too until I realised that if you put in a 16A one then you'd need a separate breaker for that as the circuit is 20A.You'd be fine to put a 16A Commando on a circuit protected by a 20A RCBO running with those cable sizes. Not sure what you mean by needing a separate breaker?7 minutes ago, -rick- said:I'm not an electrician but I think you'd be ok to put the 32A in place, but then you should ensure that anything plugged in to that socket can handle 32A. Not a good idea replace a 16A plug with a 32A to just make it work on that outlet. Though I guess once you have one socket, off the shelf adapters (often with breakers) are relatively cheap.Yeah, you shouldn't do that. The cable might be sufficient for 32A, but it depends on the actual length and the installation method for the cable. If it was OK, then you'd need to change to a 32A RCBO in the consumer unit. And I'd want an electrician to verify that.I'm just questioning why a 16A Commando socket wouldn't be useful if there is no plan to draw 32A. What's being plugged into it?
37 minutes ago37 min 6 minutes ago, garrymartin said:You'd be fine to put a 16A Commando on a circuit protected by a 20A RCBO running with those cable sizes. Not sure what you mean by needing a separate breaker?No you wouldn't because the plugged in device needs to be appropriately fused. The cable coming out of a 16A commando plug won't be rated for the 20A circuit (nor will the plug/socket). But commandos don't have built in fuses. You need a local breaker if you want to put a smaller rated component on a higher rated circuit.You could change the RCBO to a 16A one to maintain protection but that doesn't seem great.
11 minutes ago11 min The RCBO (MCB or whatever) is there to protect the fixed wiring, not whatever is plugged into it. The current is drawn by whatever is plugged into the 16A Commando, and therefore should only ever be 16A or less (continuously).
8 minutes ago8 min I've looked into this before and I'm pretty sure you can't put 16A commandos on a 32A radial without local protection. Normal UK mains wiring has fuses in the plug, commandos don't.2 minutes ago, garrymartin said:The current is drawn by whatever is plugged into the 16A Commando, and therefore should only ever be 16A or less (continuously).Except in fault conditions (which fuses are supposed to be there to protect against).
Just now1 min 5 minutes ago, -rick- said:I've looked into this before and I'm pretty sure you can't put 16A commandos on a 32A radial without local protection. Normal UK mains wiring has fuses in the plug, commandos don't.Correct. As above, 20A max.
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