Forum Topic

Extension lead info

I cannot get a straight answer on this, is it safe to plug a 5amp plug on office printer into13amp extension lead please ?

Janice Evans ● 46d7 Comments

Hi Julian,You may already be aware and if so apologies for teaching you to suck eggs, but in case you (or someone else) isn't aware ... if you have an extension reel and you use it to supply close to (but less than) 13A, say 10A, it would be risky to use the extension lead if it isn't fully unwound for any significant period of time, as the longer you run a current through it, the more it will warm up and eventually overheat.Also worth knowing that even if you have a 13A fuse in circuit, that fuse will not blow even if you draw 20A  via your extension lead e.g. if you have a couple of electric heaters fed off a mains splitter.But, just to reassure Janice, as NV Brooks said, you will be fine powering a printer via an extension lead - just make sure it's from a reputable source, and not from somewhere like AliExpress where you might be taking your life in your hands with some of the conterfeit stuff they have!

Andrew Jones ● 46d

Got it, thank you all so much.

Janice Evans ● 46d

As most domestic laser printers draw c.1.5 amps and most inkjet printers less than one fifth of an amp, you will be absolutely fine

N V Brooks ● 46d

Hi Janice,The technically correct answer to the question you asked is 'no'.A 13 amp extension lead will have 13 Amp Socket connected to a 13 Amp Plug, hopefully via a cable that is rated to carry at least 20 Amps.A 5 Amp plug has round pins, and conforms to BS546.I am assuming that what you have is an office printer that actually has a 13A plug attached to its power cable, and the amount the printer draws is up to 5 Amps.In this case, if it is only the printer that is plugged into the extension cable you should be fine using the extension cable.A note of caution though, if your extension cable has multiple sockets that you can plug things into, then as Julian said, you need to be sure the total load isn't more than 13 Amps. Also, if you are drawing a lot more than 5 Amps, you shouldn't leave the extension cable coiled up ... if you do, then you might find that the cable insulation will melt, or even worse start a fire.

Andrew Jones ● 46d

Straight answer, yes A domestic printer actually does not draw anything like 5 amps so will be fine.

N V Brooks ● 46d

YesYour using 5amp in a 13 amp so in theory you have 8amps left.You can go over 13 but thats when you run the risk

Julian Pavey ● 46d

Perfectly.

Mark Frost ● 46d