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#134920 12/10/02 01:44 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
A thing as simple as a switch.
What are the standard ampere ratings of the
switches, that you use in your country, for
lighting, appliance control, etc?.
Are 5A switches still used for lighting in your country?.
Your input please-

#134921 12/10/02 03:37 PM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 106
J
Member
In england most of the lighting switches are installed with the following loadings;

Crabtree plate switches; 6amp or 10amp
MK plate switches are now 10amp
some other versions are either 6amp or 10amp

some grid switches, cover plate/grid/switch/back box these range from 6 amp 10 amp 20 amp

depends on the load you wish to switch.

Hope it helps

John H

#134922 12/10/02 04:06 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
P
Member
I'll just add that the 5A switches were uprated to 6A in line with the change of MCBs from 5 to 6A.

#134923 12/10/02 08:48 PM
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 134
D
Member
Most UK made domestic light switches are now a minimum of 10A rating. (No derating for fluorescent loads.)
I believe some of the cheaper imported ones may still be 6A rating, but I only use the UK made ones.

[This message has been edited by David UK (edited 12-11-2002).]

#134924 12/11/02 01:03 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
One particular brand of switch, over here,
(PDL), started off as a 5A rated mechanism,
a few years later, it was then up-rated to 10A and again to 16A, this rating has recently been increased to 20A.
This is in a standard light switch, don't ask
me why, although I think it may have something to do with the in-rush currents of
Fluorescent lights.
Regardless of this, a 20A current rating on a light switch is a bit over the top, don't you think?.

#134925 12/11/02 05:03 AM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,498
Likes: 1
C
C-H Offline
Member
The switches I've seen were 10A. Some carry a dual marking: 10A for Sweden, 16A for Norway. (You would have thought that they could have agreed on a 13A rating...)

#134926 12/11/02 08:41 AM
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 16
A
Member
In Kuwait we have for lighting 10 amps rated switches .
The general purpose socket outlets are 13amps (square)and 15amps(round).
All English makes are available here.
I have seen 6amps,weatherproof plate switches of MK make at a few sites (outdoor).

#134927 12/11/02 09:47 AM
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,498
T
Member
Old Austrian toggles and other old types were 6A, rockers like on the picture with the strip connectors hanging in mid-air next to it (Violations from Austria thread) were rated 10A, all newer ones are 10/16A (DC/AC).

#134928 12/15/02 12:45 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
Texas,
Is there a requirement to have a DC rating on
your switches?.
There was a school of thought over in Australia, that in the Outbacks, they should use a pure DC system, with localised Battery
systems.
Has anyone else ever heard of DC reticulation
around a township?.

#134929 12/15/02 07:52 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
P
Member
Most of our domestic-type light switches have been AC-only rated for many years.

DC distribution (3-wire 200/400 to 250/500V) was used in the older parts of some British towns. It survived in places into the 1960s.

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