IEC C13/14 with sealed fuse (found no fuse inside)

[MrMobodies]

Take a look at this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121660050631?ul_noapp=true

NEW BLACK 1.5 METRE IEC C14

MAINS POWER LEAD

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With UK 3 Pin Plug
10 Amp 250 Volt
Black in colour
Built in fuse

I never came across a sealed fused plug before.
I broke apart plugs like that and found no fuse.
I remembered a power supply that came with one of those plugs which had a figure of eight connector and a (12v and 5v molex for a ide drives) that got hot and blew up on me.

http://www.bs1363.org.uk/index.html

A common indicator of a counterfeit plug is an earth pin which is partially insulated. BS 1363 requires that all power pins (the shorter pins) are partially insulated. However, earth pins must be solid brass, or, in the case of plugs intended solely for use with non-earthed devices, solid plastic. BS 1363 is quite specific, clause 12.16 states "Sleeves shall not be fitted to any earthing plug pin."  Having a sleeve on an earth pin is dangerous because it can prevent there being any contact to the earth of the socket.  To ensure that the earth connection is made as soon as the plug touches the socket many sockets place the contact right at the faceplate, this means that continuity is lost as soon as a plug with a sleeved earth is fully inserted!
PLEASE NOTE: Plugs with partially sleeved earth pins are ALWAYS counterfeit, and are not allowed to be sold, even for non-earthed applications.

Oh there's the same one on there too:



I contacted the seller to put in writing whether it had a fuse:




Do you think I should buy one of those to break apart and check for a fuse?

[Ranayna]

If you are lucky, the "fuse" will be a shoddy connection somewhere that lets the plastic melt and breaks before it actually catches fire.
If not, John Ward as a couple of videos overloading cables like these. It's not pretty...

[Cyberdragon]

There's no fuse (no space). What is does probably have is some aluminum heater wire.

[tsman]

The 4 strands of CCA in each of the conductors in the cable will act as a fuse :p

[MrMobodies]

I got it, tore it apart and NO FUSE and it failed with earth on the pat tester despite it being connected up.



All nicely packaged in bubble wrap and placed in a jiffy bubble wrap bag.




Failed earth continuity.

I have not changed anything ont he pat tester other than the length but I plugged in another similar sized iec cable which passes earth continuity with no problems so it is not that.

On tearing it apart below the earth cable from the plug to the IEC connector appeared connected up until I cut them off.






It looks like copper but when I twist the conductors they seem to spring back straight.
It has a metal kind of look but tinted with copper after cleaning it.
I tried it on a cooker flame and it still didn't fall apart.
I was expecting aluminium.
Maybe it could be some other metal or steel.




No fuse or "CCA strands acting as a fuse" in the plug or the IEC connector.

Maybe they mean the whole cable as the fuse.

I knew what I was going to find.

Maybe I should report them to the trading standards for selling non safety compliant goods and they can claim ignorance and misinformation all they want.

[Deodand2014]

I think you should, it's not as if the law is unclear in this case. Are those wires even colored correctly?

[tsman]

No fuse or "CCA strands acting as a fuse" in the plug or the IEC connector.

The CCA strands acting as a fuse was a joke. These plugs never have any fuses and any current limiting will be because the cable itself is so shoddy that it burns out.

[MrMobodies]

Just reported them with the pictures and confirmation of the "built in fuse" that doesn't exist.

I expect to receive a standard or toothless response back late next week but it could be my perception of the way things are as of lately.

[Deodand2014]

Just reported them with the pictures and confirmation of the "built in fuse" that doesn't exist.

I expect to receive a standard or toothless response back late next week but it could be my perception of the way things are as of lately.

Good luck.

[Neilm]

Do let us know if you do hear anything - I for one will not be holding my breath.

Best thing to do with leads like these is put 10 A through them and see if they can take it (see John Wards YouTube channel for instance). Usually they melt.

[tsman]

They've got a web store (their name + .co.uk) and the address on there is proper business premises with their name on a banner above the door so this isn't some random person selling out of their living room. The page on their web store also mentions this imaginary 10A fuse.

[Mr. Scram]

If you are lucky, the "fuse" will be a shoddy connection somewhere that lets the plastic melt and breaks before it actually catches fire.
If not, John Ward as a couple of videos overloading cables like these. It's not pretty...

I took a wrong turn and ended up at the wrong John Ward.

[MrMobodies]

I'll consider that.

Now that it is apart I'll put a proper plug on it and see if I can do it outside.

[Deodand2014]

I'll consider that.

Now that it is apart I'll put a proper plug on it and see if I can do it outside.

I look forward to seeing your report on what happened. It's either going to fail quickly, or melt and burn.

[SNGLinks]

The plug is wrong as well. There should be no sleeving of the earth pin and it looks like there isn't enough distance between the pins and the edge of the plug.

[Deodand2014]

YouTuber John Ward has received one and while he's not dismantled the plug his tests did show that:

a). The Earth wire was connected (Praise be, a miracle... ) 
b). The conductors had over 1 ohm resistance each 
c). The resistance was not consistent between the three wires. 



The next video should show large amounts of current going through the wire causing it to melt/fail (    ), what's to bet the conductor wires have non-standard colors?

[Deodand2014]

Tested and failed...