Gary, I believe the answer is that the power cord rating of 6 or 10 amps is the operating current, at which it will have minimum temperature rise. Under fault conditions it will experience a rather dramatic temperature rise that is still well below the melting temperature of the insulation. The breaker or fuse should clear well before the cord is "cooked" to the point of failure.
Scott Lacey -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Gary McInturff Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 12:06 PM To: EMC-PSTC (E-mail) Subject: skinny power cords. Fuses and breakers etc, are provided to protect the wiring downstream from these devices. A 15 amp breaker is allowed to have 14 AWG wire attached and run all though my house, and terminates in a 15 amp rated receptacle - parallel blade with ground pin. Why then can I plug in a computer that has only a 6 or 10 amp rated power cord? Surely, its not because the computer has supplemental fusing at 2 amps or whatever. That 2 amp fuse can't protect the wiring between it and the 15 amp breaker in my garage from prolonged operation at 15 amps. The breaker is completely happy running at that value so the wire just sits there and cooks! One would think that any cord rated less than 15 amps, would have to be terminated in a plug that doesn't mate with the wall outlet, much like a 15 amp connector plugged into a 20 amp outlet. Gary ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Michael Garretson: [email protected] Dave Heald [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: No longer online until our new server is brought online and the old messages are imported into the new server. ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Michael Garretson: [email protected] Dave Heald [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: No longer online until our new server is brought online and the old messages are imported into the new server.
