Grounding Gear and UK Fuses
Printed From: Speakerplans.com
Category: General
Forum Name: Newbie Discussion
Forum Description: Newbie Discussion/Questions. Look less stupid here...
URL: https://forum.speakerplans.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=107683
Printed Date: 06 June 2023 at 9:56pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.06 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Grounding Gear and UK Fuses
Posted By: SnailSpace
Subject: Grounding Gear and UK Fuses
Date Posted: 07 February 2023 at 10:05am
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I posted this on the tail end of another post so thought id seperate it off as things can get a bit lost in conversation. I recently bought Power Distribution Units which have 3 way power surge protection, it also has an ‘earth ground’ point. I have my turntable earthed to my Mixer via earth leads but I’ve never earthed my amps and new to PDUs and racks of gear. I notice that my older QSC 900 USA & dB-Mark DSP have ‘earth ground’ symbol but don’t see anything on QSC GX3 or Crown XLI 3500. Where should I be grounding the PDU too if at all? Also I’ve read a lot of debate online about what amp fuse (uk) to have in an iec (kettle) lead from amplifiers/gear etc going into a 13amp uk plug? General opinion in UK? Seems to be 5 or 10A online so you blow that before fuse in Amp which are harder to access. Once again apologies for the basic questions but I’m someone who’s new to rack mounted gear and splitting my High/Mid/Low, so I’m sure this isn’t the last basic question I’ll post…hopefully it will help others and build a bit of an idiots guide to Sound System. |
Replies:
Posted By: snowflake
Date Posted: 07 February 2023 at 12:45pm
| kettle lead connector is only rated at 10A. The fuse in the plug will protect against a damaged cable but it won't blow fast enough to protect your equipment. Amps are protected by internal fuses and by breakers on the distro. Anything with a C7 connector should have 3A fuse in the plug. |
Posted By: SnailSpace
Date Posted: 07 February 2023 at 1:00pm
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Cheers, the Kettles came with 5A so will stick with them. I have no gear with C7 (figure 8) but good to know.
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Posted By: Lucasdude
Date Posted: 08 February 2023 at 2:37am
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if you look very closely at the raised markings around the pins on a UK molded "kettle" lead plug it will show the the amp rating in a little circle.
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Posted By: kedwardsleisure
Date Posted: 08 February 2023 at 3:33pm
C13 IEC leads are 10A as already stated and in the UK would normally come with a 13A fuse, although some do come with 10A. If they arrive new with a 5A fuse in then it's possible they're a substandard cable and have been de-rated, but this is not permitted and I'd be looking to see what other corners have been cut with them (some have fake fuses or copper-clad aluminium foil cores which can overheat dangerously). I would think running any pro amplifier with a 5A fuse in the plug is sailing close to the wind especially if there's any sort of inrush. The C15 is what comes with kettles and is the same but slotted, denoting it can be used at elevated temperatures as often seen with kettles. ------------- Kevin North Staffordshire |
Kettles came with 5APosted By: SnailSpace
Date Posted: 08 February 2023 at 8:30pm
Thanks. |
Posted By: SnailSpace
Date Posted: 09 February 2023 at 12:05pm
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I have just found a few 13A rated iec leads so will switch Power Amps to those. Would my Power Distro (3 way surge) not protect the gear before any plug fuses anyway or could the 5amp rated leads be what cause the surge to kick in and shut down the Power Distro?
Do you think the dB-Mark DSP & Mixer would be fine on a 5amp? As I can’t see them demanding as much? (I know these may seem tedious questions but probably worth knowing for if I’m ever playing live and something happens, knowing where to look. Plus worth trying to limit any form of shut down during live sets also!)
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Posted By: Wikl109
Date Posted: 09 February 2023 at 8:39pm
 Listen to this man. Look at the size of cable, 1.00mm makes it a 10amp rated cable. It has a 13 amp fuse because a 10 amp fuse isn't so easily available (they do exist though). It's a 10 amp rated cable. Kettle plugs are also known as a 'Hot Condition' connector. ------------- Cheers, Chris. |
Posted By: SnailSpace
Date Posted: 09 February 2023 at 10:12pm
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By the way when I wrote ‘Kettles came with 5A’ I meant my kettle leads as in the IEC Leads I’d just bought (I was just using the term kettle) I thought I’d put up the specs but must have deleted them, here they are; High Quality
Fully certified for use in UK Standard Uk Plug to IEC (kettle like) plug. Used for powering a whole range of equipment. 5A fused cable for 240V. 5A Rated Moulded UK plug 5A Rated IEC Plug British Standards Approved BS1383/A 3 x 0.75mm2 Rated Cable |
Posted By: kedwardsleisure
Date Posted: 09 February 2023 at 10:38pm
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sounds dodgy to me ------------- Kevin North Staffordshire |
Posted By: Wikl109
Date Posted: 09 February 2023 at 10:44pm
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0.75mm Needs a 5 amp fuse. They are not suitable for a power amp. ------------- Cheers, Chris. |
Posted By: SnailSpace
Date Posted: 10 February 2023 at 5:56am
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Thanks Do you think the dB-Mark DSP & Mixer would be fine on a 5amp? As I can’t see them demanding as much?
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Posted By: kedwardsleisure
Date Posted: 10 February 2023 at 8:20am
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Yes but I would throw those substandard IEC leads away. How much are genuine, certified 10A IEC leads from CPC...£2? Not worth risking your life or someone else's for this. Think of it as seeing your rack on fire for free or seeing it working fine all night for £2. ------------- Kevin North Staffordshire |
Posted By: fatfreddiescat
Date Posted: 10 February 2023 at 10:08am
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I asked to take a look at a PC that wasn't working properly, when I touched the metal casing I got a minor shock, cheap IEC cable turned out to be made of conductive plastic. |
Posted By: 4D
Date Posted: 10 February 2023 at 4:41pm
Pray do tell... Pics or links or simply What's the mains power connector for this item ? ------------- DMZ. "The bass was intense. Girls were literally running up to stand next to the subs" |
Posted By: SnailSpace
Date Posted: 27 February 2023 at 2:27pm
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PDU 1U 6 way Horizontal 13A switched PDU with 3 Way LED indicator Surge protection.
SURGE PROTECTED - Surge protected devices are used to protect equipment from surges in voltage ensuring all connected devices are safe when connected. Provides 6 UK Sockets. Power Switch. 3 Pin UK plug (13 amps) (3X1.5mm2). Length of power lead is 5m. |
Posted By: 4D
Date Posted: 28 February 2023 at 10:48am
Ok there is only a 13a fuse in the plug for the 4 x 13a outlets. you can run the entire system off a single 13a plug (it might get warm) but it is better practice to spread the load across two supplies ie: use a separate 13a supply for your biggest amplifier and use the PDU for everything else.. ------------- DMZ. "The bass was intense. Girls were literally running up to stand next to the subs" |
Posted By: SnailSpace
Date Posted: 28 February 2023 at 11:43am
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I have x2 PDU. But yeah makes sense to put the Amps into their own wall socket. I have x2 double wall sockets at home so ill out large amps into those and have turntable, DSP, Siren, Mixer and (smaller) high amp in PDUs thanks PS I’ve bought 10amp rated leads too, thanks for the advice people.
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