Bros,

Light&fan use 1.5mm. (7 core)
Power point & aircond & water heater use 2.5mm (7 core).
Then where use 4mm wire leh?

4mm -- built-in oven

2.5mm (7 core) already can till 20Amp dy.
4mm mah can 30Amp?

2.5hp aircond use 2.5mm wire enuff meh?

generally, 2.5mm for 15A and 4.0mm for 25A rating at concealed configuration. if you do multiple looping for plugs, try to used the first point 4mm, then loop at 2.5mm. 2.5mm price is around rm60 and 4.0mm price rm110 per roll.

its not 'just' about the cable able to withstand x-ampere..u need to understand oven & aircon are switched on for a long period most of the time..oven especially draws high constant current for a long period of time (few hours)..the more current it draws, the hotter the cables becomes..with bigger cables, the copper able to deal with the heat generated by the current, less so with smaller cables

If you wan real time experience, buy one of those extension cord, use it with your vacumm cleaner. Turn and leave ur vacumm on for 30mins or so..then feel the extension cable with ur hand and u will understand

I'd recommend u use 4mm for your oven & your aircond
Remember, this is one off thingy u have to do..u probably wouldnt wanna rehack your wall to conceal the cables again if anything happen to the smaller cables.

how about the wire that is attached to your oven or hob? they dont look 4mm to me

The wire comes wif oven is 2.5mm.
Unless those big oven.

I heard 2.5mm got 3core or 7core. 7core wire can stand higher Amp.

Ok thanks, tomorrow I will take another look at it

its not 7 core but 7 strands of copper...

Some are using core(older generation) and some strands.
Both also can be used
Anyway, that table are used as reference only. For me, light and fan points I'll just use 2.5mm(which are more than enough) while air cond, oven or I would say kitchen's all plug point I'll use 4mm.

What on the spec does not take account of bending, length and copper ,impurity. Now copper have more impurity, some due to recycled of copper, some due to cost cutting. 2.5mm can handle even 25Amps no problem but for short distance.

Short distance expose like our extension can handle larger load, but don't abuse and run it too long. Like someone say, try run 2000watt Vacuum cleaner with extension you will be able feel the heat.

We use UK wiring specification, below link can us as some basic guideline. (Does not take account into copper wires quality)

http://www.elecsa.co.uk/Technical-Library/...-of-Cables.aspx

this came out from my induction hob rated 6.4kw



my oven rated 3.6kw, the wires looks like ordinary ones (no pics sorry)

This post has been edited by idoblu: May 20 2014, 09:57 AM

And It use double wires to support the load. Is your incoming have the same thickness of the combined wires?

3.6KW is at the threshold of the normal socket can support. If you not install it correctly and having a loose end you may end up blowing or burning the socket.


If you search, few users having burned socket after using it for sometime. One recent example

https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3191958

the reason why the oven came with, I suspect the smaller 2.5mm wires, is because the oven cannot actually use 3.6kw at any one time. these ovens have several separate elements like top heat, bottom heat etc
and you can only use a combination of it, not all. unfortunately the manufacturer always quote "maximum power" but not "maximum operating power"
see the pic below -



the hob, Im more worried about.
even though it is rated 6.4kw, that is with all 3 burners going full blast which rarely happens.
further more, these hobs are unlike kettles, they dont continuously use power. they turn on and off and on again to maintain that temperature
you can see this with those ceramic cooktop, they glow on and off periodically
still i will have to see that it gets a thicker wire during installation

btw usually what size are those wires inside the 3 pin socket to the MCB?

This post has been edited by idoblu: May 20 2014, 09:56 AM

For safety reason is better over spec wires than assume is not using max load. For just few hundred saving, and risk having house burn down is not worth it. You will not know how much it will drawn unless constantly monitor the current intake. You may know and use only one burner at a time, but what happen your maid, friend, or relative came over and use? switch all 3 burner, even at 2/3 of the power you draining 4+kw

If developer didn't skim of wires, it will give 2.5mm, but do take note china no brand 2.5mm wires quality are lousy.

really headache.....

6.4Kw ! I think you need industrial type socket and termination liau. How many ring are this cooker have?

My advice, Don't use socket. But cable lug, terminal block and junction box to secure the joining. It is more than good enough for such high watt. For switching ON/OFF, get a Schneider 32A or 40A 250V 1 gang double pole switch with neon.

For wiring, pull direct from DB box, 6mm size wire or higher. If you want to save some bill using.