Heating Elements and Safety

[The_Glue]

I have a 30mA GFCI breaker in my house protecting the outlets.
I want to put a 2500W, 230V heating element (it is around 12A) into a stainless steel kettle.

Apart from getting a proper wire and plug (15A rating or higher) do i need anything else for protection?

I think i should ground the kettle but apart from that do i need fuses or other stuff?

 

[big_len]

Earthing and grounding are the two most important things The kettle must be grounded in a way that is capable of taking the entire load your mains connection can throw at it.

There should also be no soldered connections, if something does go wrong these can heat up and melt and make a bad situation worse. Terminals and crimps and the like only.

You are also correct in saying a fuse is required, your GFCI fuse will not trip for certain types of shorts (can't remember which of the top of my head, mostly ones that do not involve earth) and it may be some time until the main fuse (or fuse action of the GFCI) in the consumer unit goes. Here in the UK we are lucky that we have fuses in all plug sockets for this purpose.


Wiring aside, thicked rubber soled shoes and keep the floor dry!

People might say that the rubber soles is pedantic but it's like the joke about the presenter going out to film cheetahs in the wild. He sees the camera man putting on trainers and snarks at him "HA you won't be able to outrun a cheetah, its one of the fastest animals in the world!". The cameraman replies with a grin " I don't have to outrun the cheetah, I only have to outrun you !" What I'm getting at is won't to be able to 100% isolate yourself, you just have to make sure your body is by far the least appealing path for any electrical current !!

 

[kenh]

I have a 30mA GFCI breaker in my house protecting the outlets.
I want to put a 2500W, 230V heating element (it is around 12A) into a stainless steel kettle.

Apart from getting a proper wire and plug (15A rating or higher) do i need anything else for protection?

I think i should ground the kettle but apart from that do i need fuses or other stuff?

What style breaker is it?

 

[TrainSafe]

A 30mA trip is intended for equipment protection more than life safety. You should consider a 5mA GFCI for the best protection.

At 30mA you face lung paralysis and after about 2-3 minutes without functioning lungs, you are having a bad day.

 

[The_Glue]

What style breaker is it?

it is a 63A one

it looks like this:

what kind of fuse should i get? (slow or fast? amper rating? etc.)

 

[rmoody]

The fuse should be rated to protect the lowest amp rating in the circuit. If you have an element drawing 12A, this is the theoretical max load you are creating on the circuit, if the wire is rated for 20A and a receptacle rated for 15A then your fuse should be a 15A fuse, if your receptacle is 20A and your wire is 15A, still, 15A fuse. Think of it like a chain, it's only as strong as its weakest link. Your circuit is only able to handle the current draw of its lowest rated component. I would put fast blow fuse, personally, I think I'm worth the hassle of replacing the occasional fuse, and so is my expensive equipment.

 

[The_Glue]

The fuse should be rated to protect the lowest amp rating in the circuit. If you have an element drawing 12A, this is the theoretical max load you are creating on the circuit, if the wire is rated for 20A and a receptacle rated for 15A then your fuse should be a 15A fuse, if your receptacle is 20A and your wire is 15A, still, 15A fuse. Think of it like a chain, it's only as strong as its weakest link. Your circuit is only able to handle the current draw of its lowest rated component. I would put fast blow fuse, personally, I think I'm worth the hassle of replacing the occasional fuse, and so is my expensive equipment.

Thanks!

Although i used to build and design music related analog and digital circuits (effects, synths etc.) i am totally new to the world of high voltage electronics. (by "high" i mean anything above 12V)
Are there fuse holder like little boxes which can be easily put between two pieces of cable (kinda like switches on standing lamps) or i should put it in the little box on the side of the pot?

 

[rmoody]

There are several different styles of fuse holders, almost too many to list.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...ole+Fuse+Holder&rh=i:aps,k:2+Pole+Fuse+Holder

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...er&_nkw=2+Pole+Fuse+Holder&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Kal's plans for the back to back and dual element panels use something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Buss-Bussma..._Security_Fire_Protection&hash=item5d4804ba99

 

[rmoody]

duplicate post

 

[The_Glue]

Thanks! I will use one these fuse holders!

 

[mattd2]

The fuse should be rated to protect the lowest amp rating in the circuit. If you have an element drawing 12A, this is the theoretical max load you are creating on the circuit, if the wire is rated for 20A and a receptacle rated for 15A then your fuse should be a 15A fuse, if your receptacle is 20A and your wire is 15A, still, 15A fuse. Think of it like a chain, it's only as strong as its weakest link. Your circuit is only able to handle the current draw of its lowest rated component. I would put fast blow fuse, personally, I think I'm worth the hassle of replacing the occasional fuse, and so is my expensive equipment.

I would question the need for additional fuses.
The rated current draw will be 12A and therefore OP is correct that all the "stuff past the wall socket should be rated to handle that load. The stuff behind the wall should (if originally design and install correctly) be rated to carry the maximum CB load - so 20A.
The element can only ever draw 12A, unless it breaksdown and then it will likely draw much more than 20A and trip the main breaker. If you question that approach count the ratio of appliances in your house that have additional fuses in them that are not low current fuses that are protecting sensitive electronic controls.
But as mentioned above you should get a 5mA GFCI breaker - and since you shouldn't be drawing more than 15A you may as well get a 15A one.