ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades 400V - scary or not?

>The tag shows 1 mm2 wires (which seems to be true) and a max. current of 16A.

Ahh! There is nothing wrong with the rating. It just doesn't mention that it's valid only when the cord is submerged in water.

Seriously: A 1.0 mm2 cord is good for 13A under ideal conditions. In many cases, 6A is closer to the truth.

Personally, I would not like to have 400V
inside a house over here.
For one thing, there is no need for voltages like this, in the largest appliance(the Range), this would only be spread over two Phases + Neutral, this is still only 230V, but this is only in rural areas where the voltage regulation is poor.
With the advent of a lot of dairying out in the rural areas, we find ourselves using 3 Phases+ Neutral, because of the submersible pump, normally using 3 Phase, this is the only 3 Phase load, but the rest of the installation is balanced over the 3 Phases.

I have 400 volts here at home - never use it. it was put in a long time ago for a spa pool. I am currently doing a lot of alterations at home so may well utilise it.
Like Trumpy said Normally its rural or a BIG house.
CW

Better watch it Ranger! Looks like he's getting ready for you....


Trumpy,
But even though each heating element may be only 230V, there is still 400V in the range between phases.

Each 13A outlet here is only 240V, but the Regs. specify that all sockets in the same room should be on the same phase to avoid having 415V between them.

Ouch! Think I should stay clear of him!
Situation seems to get tense!

In a recent US teevee broadcast of "The Green Mile" the officers placed separate electrodes on each leg of the inmate plus the skull cap. Also, the "switch" was a beefy multibladed live-front 3-pole version--maybe 400-600 amperes.

The movie proved that the human body is highly capacitive. When anyone was "paralleled," the lites in the prison consistanty got brighter and, naturally, some exploded from obvious overvoltage.

Read it again. It doesn't say Rangers but ranges. By the way the death peanalty is not practiced in Belgium as in the USA. Texas Ranger, you don't have to worry, unless, of course we meet in the USA!

Ok, not much danger. I don't think I'll get to the US the next years
typos can always happen..

Paul, thanks for that, I do realise that it is still 400V.
Voltages like 400V, are pretty tame, compared to some of the voltages that I work with, admittedly the short-circuit arc,is normally not experienced in a domestic situation, but I can vouch for a number of
serious line accidents.

It just illustrates some of the problems that would need to be argued out if we were to get a common European wiring code. On the Continent, 3-phase ranges are accepted in residential applications, but in the U.K. many people reel in horror at the thought of somebody having 400V in a kitchen appliance.

Makes a change from all the movies where the lights dim so much that you wonder just how small the main service cable is!