Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: zirk on 11 December 2012, 19:54:08

Title: One for the Sparks amongst Us, IEC Connecters and 3 core Flex.
Post by: zirk on 11 December 2012, 19:54:08
IEC Connectors C13 and C14 you know the kettle type.

I need to extend some APC UPS's outputs through some trunking about 15m with some flex, the last time I did this got hold of 100m drum of 3 core flex, cant remember what size, but the flex was too big to slide inside the Rubber Grommet of the Connector, so ended up not using the Grommets, so question iis what flex should I be using, thinking 0.75 or Imm or whats the max I can use?

The UPS are only rated at 1.2K but wont run or supply only more than say 300w load max so nothing too serious going on.

Just did a Google on the above without success and need to order the all the bits tomorrow direct to Site next day so I can crack on, just need to get the right stuff.

Cheers Chris.  :y

Title: Re: One for the Sparks amongst Us, IEC Connecters and 3 core Flex.
Post by: TheBoy on 11 December 2012, 20:14:23
As its unfused, and the APC is capable of supplying (albeit very briefly) the full 13A to a particular outlet, as a minimum, it needs to be rated to 13A.

If its in trunking with others, it may need to be even higher, due to heat.
Title: Re: One for the Sparks amongst Us, IEC Connecters and 3 core Flex.
Post by: zirk on 11 December 2012, 20:28:35
As its unfused, and the APC is capable of supplying (albeit very briefly) the full 13A to a particular outlet, as a minimum, it needs to be rated to 13A.

If its in trunking with others, it may need to be even higher, due to heat.

Unfused yes, although the APC has a overload trip on the back of it, it will be in 3 Part Dado trunking and will have the lower section all to itself. Each APC will have 1 extension only and the equipment end will with an Marked IEC dedicated to single equipment only rather than have a 13A socket on the end to stop people plugging other crap in.

But as your thinking, theres always someone that will try and make use of it at some point no doubt.
Title: Re: One for the Sparks amongst Us, IEC Connecters and 3 core Flex.
Post by: tigers_gonads on 11 December 2012, 20:44:10
If we are talking about a potental 13 amps, use 1.5mm if it isn't packed in too tight.
Title: Re: One for the Sparks amongst Us, IEC Connecters and 3 core Flex.
Post by: Kevin Wood on 11 December 2012, 23:45:00
My take on it is that if the UPS is only rated at 1.2 (likely kVA, not real power) then it won't deliver anywhere near 13 Amps except in bypass mode. Fuse the supply to the UPS at 3A or 5A, for example, and your cable downstream of it is protected in that scenario. You would need to take steps to avoid someone replacing the inlet cable to it with a 13A fused one. A bit of glue and a few warning stickers would sort that. In the case that the UPS fails, still doesn't stop someone plugging the output cable straight into a 13A fused IEC cable though.

However.. If the full fat cable won't fit in the connector, it's a sign that the connector isn't rated for 13 Amps. Some IEC connectors will go up to 15A. Most are rated at 5A, with some being rated at 10A, so make sure you're getting the right rating. (RS / Farnell will have the whole range)