Power capacity of cabling
 

Sorry if this is a bit strange, but I am stuck away from my usual reference sources.

Can anybody tell me what the rated capacity in Amps is for 1.5 mm cable - this is the sort normally used for lighting circuits?

Thanks

Well as far as I remember it should be fused at five amp in the D/B.

There's a drum of the 1.00mm flat twin and earth stuff in my garage that tells me that it is for lighting curcuits but, unlike its 2.5mm neighbour, doesn't say what its rating is. The following link would have you believe that 1.5mm is limited to 18 amps in free air. My 2.5mm cable says it's limited to 24 amps in free air, and that agrees with the following link. This link is to a site more for DIY than industry but it might be a help.

http://www.diydata.com/materials/ele...tric_cable.htm

With 1.5mm cable you can connect to a 16 amp breaker, so the max current you can carry will be the rating of the breaker protecting the cable, yes it's rated at 18 amp but you can't get an 18amp breaker.

Thanks guys, just the info I needed. I thought it was 16A but didn't have any ref material to check at the time
What a wonderful site this is.
Thanks

Yes, from what I remember of the IEE 14th Edition, 1mm is for "lighting circuits" and 1.5 mm is for "heavy lighting". 1mm usually fused at 5 amps but will carry about 10, 1.5mm will carry 15 amps. 2.5mm can be used "singly" on a spur at 20amps but is normally used on a ring circuit and fused at 30.

Thats a good few years ago ExSim....did my 16th in the mid 90's