Wattage questions

[Georgebulldog]

Can I safely change the plug & use the following in NZ?

My iron which says maximum 2400 watt

My computer power lead that has a 5amp fuse in?

I think that's it for now anyway
Thank you

[IanW99]

Can I safely change the plug & use the following in NZ?

My iron which says maximum 2400 watt

My computer power lead that has a 5amp fuse in?

I think that's it for now anyway
Thank you

Yes and Yes.

Maximum load in NZ is 10A or 2400 Watts so as long as your electrical goods are 2400 Watts or less then you shouldn't have any problems.

Ian

[Georgebulldog]

Thanks Ian
So it doesn't matter that our computer power lead has a 5 amp fuse in & when I change the plug it wont have anything in, I think OH said something about house is 10amp?! A bit worried it wont have a fuse & is only 5amp?

[DMcG]

The amperage (or power - which is volts x amps) rating of an item is the maximum amount of current it should draw. In NZ, house circuits are rated at 10 amps (2400 watts) - if you try and draw more than this (i.e. plug in lots of big appliances into the one socket) - you'll trip the circuit breaker for that power circuit (or blow the fuse at the mains board in older houses). This is designed to stop you overloading the actual capacity of the mains cable. Plug a 5 amp utility into the socket and it'll only draw 5 amps - so you could safely plug two in without overloading it.

In the UK the mains circuits are actually rated at 13 amps.

Dougie

[Georgebulldog]

Thanks Dougie but if I put a NZ plug on the lead so it no longer has a fuse is there a chance it could get a 10amp surge & blow my computer up?
Sorry but I am a bit thick about this type of thing

[Brian]

I've never seen a computer cable with a built-in fuse. Can you post a picture of the fuse you're referring to? Is it a laptop or desktop computer?

[Georgebulldog]

Ooops I hope I haven't confused things & goty it all wrong. We have a Dell laptop & in the power cable that you plug into the wall it has a 5 amp fuse in it

[IanW99]

Ooops I hope I haven't confused things & goty it all wrong. We have a Dell laptop & in the power cable that you plug into the wall it has a 5 amp fuse in it

Ok, I'm assuming that you mean that you still have a UK Plug on the end which is where the fuse is.

If this is the case, then yes you can just replace the UK plug with a NZ version instead. You don't need to worry about there being no fuse as NZ plugs are not fused.

It is recommended that you buy a surge protector for devices such as computer equipment, so if you are not happy with no fuse then you could buy one of these for peace of mind.

Ian

[james the mechanic]

If you’re worried it’s not compulsory to change the plug, just use an adaptor that way you can keep the plug, thus keeping the protection of the 5amp fuse.
Alternatively you could purchase a new power supply for the laptop from Dell in NZ, if they believe it requires a fuse it will have an integral one fitted. However I suspect it will actually turn out to be your UK power supply with a NZ plug on the end.
Best Wishes
James

[Georgebulldog]

Thanks everyone, I think I'm just eager to get all my plugs over to NZ ones where possible
Looks like I've a pile of ironing to do now Thanks alot all!