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I have a 12v garden sprayer that is powered by my mower. It's rated at 7A and I recently changed the pump power cable to a cigarette lighter plug type one that's rated at 10A.
The thing is the cable from the plug is a bit thinner than the cable from the pump and it gets a slightly warm to the touch when the pump runs for a few minutes or longer. I would have thought they'd put a cable capable of carrying 10A onto this plug but it has got me wondering if it will be OK.
I've got a couple of spraying jobs to do that's going to involve it running continuously for over an hour.
What do you think?
I should add that I had to replace the last plug as it melted! It was once that I found in the garage and obviously wasn't rated for 7A!
I'd measure the pump to make sure that it's not exceeding 7A
The whole cable thing gets complicated by conditions, ambient temperature, its length, is it coiled, etc, etc
Warmth can increase the cable's resistance which then increases the warmth...
Have you got the cable coiled up or on a reel? If so, try unreeling the whole lot and see if it still does it then.
Also the fuse may be rated on the basis of a current surge whilst the cables maximum continuous current rating may be lower...
You dont say what cable it is, but BS stamped cables are typically rated for use at 70 degrees centigrade - far too hot to touch.
Being as you've made the cross sectional cable size smaller, just change back to a larger cable, then it'll stop getting so hot.