Electrical Engineering - 16amp to 13amp converter/adapter?

Author

16amp to 13amp converter/adapter?

anon418600J5

2006-04-14, 12:21 pm

I have a 230v/50hz generator with a 2-pin 16 amp socket. I want to plug in
a standard (UK) 13amp 3 pin plug.

I have seen the following advertised, and assume they do what I want,
however the large variation in price makes me wonder if they actually do
different things. Can someone take a look and let me have your opinion as
to whether they are the same or not...?

http://www.stormlighting.co.uk/equi...c1efa16d4a509ba
(a 16 Amp to 13 Amp Adapter for £1.25)

http://www.worldofpower.co.uk/acata...ator_Plugs.html halfway down the
page, a very similar looking device
(SDMO R55, 16 AMP / 13 AMP ADAPTER ECONOMY for £9.46)

http://www.toolsnstuff.co.uk/produc...c16&cPath=5_212
(SIP 16/13 amp Socket adaptor £22.40 (RRP £31.00!)

Obviously there is a big difference between £22.40 and £1.25(!) which is why
I'm wondering if they have some subtle difference... and if there is a
difference is it something I should care about....?

Peter Andrews

2006-04-14, 2:21 pm

anon418600J5

2006-04-14, 3:21 pm

> Can't actually answer your question, but the £1.25 looks like a
daily/weekly
> hire charge...

oh yeah, guess I should have read the website first - I just landed on that
page from a google search...

still, anyone else know the difference between the other two? one looks
like a bit of cable with a different plug/socket on each end while the other
looks like a little box of tricks - maybe there's something else in there?

sQuick

2006-04-14, 4:21 pm

Don Kelly

2006-04-14, 4:21 pm

Stormlighting 1.25 per week. You hire it.
world of power -you own it. Also they have a more rugged unit that is the
same as toolsnstuff.

--

Don Kelly @shawcross.ca
remove the X to answer
----------------------------
"anon418600J5" <anon418600J5@mail.anonymizer.com> wrote in message
news:5JO%f.215$5J6.3@newsread1.mlpsca01.us.to.verio.net...
>I have a 230v/50hz generator with a 2-pin 16 amp socket. I want to plug in
> a standard (UK) 13amp 3 pin plug.
>
> I have seen the following advertised, and assume they do what I want,
> however the large variation in price makes me wonder if they actually do
> different things. Can someone take a look and let me have your opinion as
> to whether they are the same or not...?
>
> http://www.stormlighting.co.uk/equi...c1efa16d4a509ba
> (a 16 Amp to 13 Amp Adapter for £1.25)
>
> http://www.worldofpower.co.uk/acata...ator_Plugs.html halfway down
> the
> page, a very similar looking device
> (SDMO R55, 16 AMP / 13 AMP ADAPTER ECONOMY for £9.46)
>
> http://www.toolsnstuff.co.uk/produc...c16&cPath=5_212
> (SIP 16/13 amp Socket adaptor £22.40 (RRP £31.00!)
>
> Obviously there is a big difference between £22.40 and £1.25(!) which is
> why
> I'm wondering if they have some subtle difference... and if there is a
> difference is it something I should care about....?
>
>

Mike Lamond

2006-04-14, 4:21 pm

"anon418600J5" <anon418600J5@mail.anonymizer.com> wrote in message
news:5JO%f.215$5J6.3@newsread1.mlpsca01.us.to.verio.net...
>I have a 230v/50hz generator with a 2-pin 16 amp socket. I want to plug in
> a standard (UK) 13amp 3 pin plug.
>
> I have seen the following advertised, and assume they do what I want,
> however the large variation in price makes me wonder if they actually do
> different things. Can someone take a look and let me have your opinion as
> to whether they are the same or not...?
>
> http://www.stormlighting.co.uk/equi...c1efa16d4a509ba
> (a 16 Amp to 13 Amp Adapter for £1.25)
>
> http://www.worldofpower.co.uk/acata...ator_Plugs.html halfway down
> the
> page, a very similar looking device
> (SDMO R55, 16 AMP / 13 AMP ADAPTER ECONOMY for £9.46)
>
> http://www.toolsnstuff.co.uk/produc...c16&cPath=5_212
> (SIP 16/13 amp Socket adaptor £22.40 (RRP £31.00!)
>
> Obviously there is a big difference between £22.40 and £1.25(!) which is
> why
> I'm wondering if they have some subtle difference... and if there is a
> difference is it something I should care about....?
>
>
The subtle difference between the first link and the other two links is that
Storm Lighting appears to be a stage lighting rental company. The Daily
Price: £1.00 and Weekly Price: £1.25 are rental rates, not the price to
buy one.

Being in the USA, I have no idea how good or bad the stuff is from the
other two suppliers. I will say that the Economy Adapter from World of
Power will probably have the receptacles hanging in mid-air by the cord
if you plug it directly in to your generator, and that's not good for it. If
you have it plugged in to an extension cord and laying flat, that's not a
problem. I'll quit here before revealing any more ignorance of UK wiring
regs.

Mike

anon418600J5

2006-04-15, 11:21 am

Possibly a stupid question but...

Can I just take a device with a 13amp 3 pin standard household plug, hack
the plug off, and wire the cable into a 2 pin 16amp "industrial" plug? Or
is the 13amp to 16amp adapter doing something slightly more technical than
allowing a square plug to fit into a round whole as it were?

Andrew Gabriel

2006-04-15, 12:21 pm

In article <vX60g.250$5J6.165@newsread1.mlpsca01.us.to.verio.net>,
"anon418600J5" <anon418600J5@mail.anonymizer.com> writes:
> Possibly a stupid question but...
>
> Can I just take a device with a 13amp 3 pin standard household plug, hack
> the plug off, and wire the cable into a 2 pin 16amp "industrial" plug? Or
> is the 13amp to 16amp adapter doing something slightly more technical than
> allowing a square plug to fit into a round whole as it were?

You lose the 13A plug fuse if you do that. In some
cases that won't matter, and in others it will.
In the UK, 16A industrial socket outlets are allowed
to be protected at up to 20A in theory, although it's
not uncommon to find them hanging from a 32A outlet
without any such protection included. In such a
scenario, your appliance cord is now protected by a
32A protective device, which is almost certainly in
excess of what the appliance cord can safely handle.
If the appliance cord is long or an extension cord is
in use, a fault at or near the appliance end might
well not draw enough current due to the cable
resistance to trip the 32A device within the time
required to avoid the cable failing in an unsafe way
(e.g. smoking and setting fire to something nearby).

--
Andrew Gabriel

anon418600J5

2006-04-15, 1:21 pm

so the adapter would solve that problem...?

Andrew Gabriel

2006-04-15, 3:21 pm

In article <XE80g.253$5J6.201@newsread1.mlpsca01.us.to.verio.net>,
"anon418600J5" <anon418600J5@mail.anonymizer.com> writes:
> so the adapter would solve that problem...?

Yes, as it retains a 13A fuse in the circuit
(if I'm imagining the right thing).

--
Andrew Gabriel

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