Element wiring

[Beer Belly]

Hey guy's,
Just to be straight up, i don't want to see the actual wiring of the elements, i just want to know what the type of cord it's wired with.
The reason for asking is, i got my elements from the electrician the other day and they just don't look right. They look cheap and nasty to me and the cord attached to my awesome elements looks as if it should be connected to a $20 stereo, thin and cheap. my mind started ticking over when he said "You better keep a good eye on them, it's rated to 10 Amps so it should be OK" Sorry cant post a pic yet, Forgot before i left home.
I don't want to melt everything to the floor if i can help it..

Cheers.

[Brendan]

Get it changed mate...the fact you think it's thin and cheap says enough. The fact they're rated to 10A says even more! Your elements will be running constantly at 10A and therefore require a thicker gauge cable to handle the constant current. I can't remember the mm^2 numbers now, but you want a decent cable rated well above 10A!

[Dingo Charlie]

Get it changed mate..

:text-+1:
Think of current rating as a fire rating, above this the cable will catch on fire or the insulation will heat up to unsafe levels.
2.5mmsq will carry 20A, but distance, voltage drop and insulation properties need to be considered.

[stretch69]

I'm not sure if my cable is 10amp or more but I specifically asked the electrician to use cable that was high temp resistant. Its like a dull red color and I'm really happy with the quality.
You should get a receipt from him saying what work he did so he's accountable if something goes wrong

[Brendan]

:text-+1:
Think of current rating as a fire rating, above this the cable will catch on fire or the insulation will heat up to unsafe levels.
2.5mmsq will carry 20A, but distance, voltage drop and insulation properties need to be considered.

:text-+1: I'd add to that list duty cycle/load time...ie. is it running at 10A for 30secs, or 30mins...a 10A rated cable isn't made to run 10A continuously, and your sparky should/would know that.

Was just coming back to say mine are 2.5mm^2, which are rated to 20A as DC said.

[Urrazeb]

If my sparkie ever said "it should be ok" I'd be wrapping the cord around his throat and calling WorkSafe to dob the bugger in for choking himself on the job

[Beer Belly]

Thanks for the input fellas, I'm getting my wife to send me a couple of pic's. I think you guys will shit bricks when ya's see them.
I know next to nothing about stills or elements but my gut feeling was " I'm sure I'll burn the house down with this lot..

[woodduck]

Mate go with your gut, go heavy cable. mine is 2.5mm aswell and will handle 20 amp no worries, they don't get hot or anything even on the 3600w element. The cable i ran from my power point to my power box is 6mm. It might cost a few bucks more but better to be safe than sorry and if you do it properly you should only have to do it once.

You should ask him if he would run that cable through his roof to his hotwater system, he might change his mind then.

[MacStill]

Here it is, the other one is the same....

Screen Shot 2014-10-15 at 10.20.41 am.png

[Urrazeb]

Mate, leccy work is something I have only ever offsided (running cable through my shed etc) I would never touch it myself but am smart enough to know a shit job. Those gut feelings are pretty good to go by most of the time

[Urrazeb]

Whoa dude.. :scared-eek: I'll let the leccy fellas take it from here but I wouldn't be plugging that in :naughty: :wtf:

[Beer Belly]

Yeah, absolutely gutted.... Wanted to do my first run when i got home, looks like I'll be running sweet FA!!!!!!!!

EEeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhh.... :angry-banghead:

[Urrazeb]

Where about are you in the South West mate? I know a few sparkies and can get these wired up no probs at work :handgestures-thumbupleft:

If your real stuck you can have my two elements for a weekend.. I just gotta run this feints run that's been sitting patiently in the boiler.. all good this Saturday I reckon :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Beer Belly]

Where about are you in the South West mate? I know a few sparkies and can get these wired up no probs at work :handgestures-thumbupleft:

If your real stuck you can have my two elements for a weekend.. I just gotta run this feints run that's been sitting patiently in the boiler.. all good this Saturday I reckon :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Sending PM buddy.. And thankyou... :D

[stretch69]

[img][IMG]http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b616/IgotalongProng/IMG_1280_zpsa6304b7d.jpg[/img][/img]

Here it is, the other one is the same....

It looks like he's cut some cable of an old DVD player :handgestures-thumbdown:
I hope you didn't pay him much, that sucks!

[Matt_Pl]

Hey Bloke,

Im a sparkie but Im too far away to help you sorry mate.

Looking at that it appears to be .75mm cable which you would see plugged into the back of your dvd player/stereo.

I cannot tell just by looking at the picture but if thats the case 0.75mm cable is only good for 6Amps :handgestures-thumbdown:

I would insist that you rewire the the elements with 2.5mm orange circular cable as this cable has a higher current carring capacity and provides greater protection from mechanical damage when compared to TPS (Standard house wiring).


Good Luck.

MP

[MacStill]

Geebuz ya wouldn't want that fella wiring up your house 8-}

[stretch69]

You could ask him to change the cable on your DVD player :laughing-rolling:

[unsub]

No earth :o Yikes.

[MacStill]

No earth :o Yikes.

Yeah bloody scary alright.

Here's a wired element showing the earth lug.

Screen Shot 2014-10-15 at 10.24.11 am.png

You need to earth the element using a 3 core cable, the earth must be connected to the earth lug provided on the element guard

The so called sparky that wired those of yours Beer Belly needs a good kick in the balls :teasing-nutkick: