Electrical question

[somebody]

The property I'm renting at the moment has what I think is a potentially dangerous switchboard. It is a fairly standard 3 bedroom house, which was completely rewired and replumbed about 5 years ago.

It has a main fuse rated at 63A (only one phase coming into the property for everything).
It has a a number of other circuit breakers, for things like the hot water cylinder, power sockets, lights etc. totaling 165A

Is this legal? To me, it seems that we could potentially be overloading the circuits in the house, without tripping any circuit breakers - essentially relying on the main fuse to blow in even to any problem.

[Graham L]

No problems. The 63A fuse (or breaker) protects the incoming line. The other breakers protect the wires of the circuits they feed.

The assumption is that you won't have everything turned on at once, and many circuits are very lightly loaded. A digital alarm clock/radio or cordless phone base doesn't need much power.

Even if you did manage to load every circuit to its maximum, your wallet will catch fire before the house wires.

[somebody]

Great. Thanks Graham.

[Slim]

This all pepends on your Main Fuse.
If it does not contain 63 amp fuse wire or a 63 amp cartridge, you will have problems - FIRE -

[Slim]

This all depends on your Main Fuse.
If it does not contain 63 amp fuse wire or a 63 amp cartridge, you could have problems - FIRE -

[Poppa John]

This all depends on your Main Fuse.
If it does not contain 63 amp fuse wire or a 63 amp cartridge, you could have problems - FIRE -

Don't panic Slim. If the fuse wire is too small, it will oxidise & melt... If the cartridge is undersize it will "Blow" inside... That is what they are there for, to be the weak link in the chain. Your first post is ok. This is as it should be.

PJ Retired Electrician.

[Greg]

Great reply PJ. But now can you answer my question... we have four tiny lights in our kitchen ceiling. I think they may be halogens. Two of them sporadically turn themselves off and on intermittently. One culprit comes on and off approx every 45 minutes. The other every couple of hours. The other two stay on happily all the time. Why?

[Neil McC]

Greg, most of the time I've found that problem to be a loose connection between lamp and holder. With the heat they generate, the holders can loosen, and then it starts to arc between the pins and holder. A wriggle helps, check for burning on the lamp pins, or replace the holder. Another one I've had was a transformer which was turning on/off,probably again with heat problems.

[Greg]

Hmm. Thanks Neil.

[Lizard]

we have four tiny lights in our kitchen ceiling. I think they may be halogens. Two of them sporadically turn themselves off and on intermittently. One culprit comes on and off approx every 45 minutes. The other every couple of hours. The other two stay on happily all the time. Why?

Maybe they're in training to be strobe lights?