Low in power??

Evening All,

We've spent most of the weekend refurbishing at shed at the end of the garden in an attempt to use it as an office.

The shed ( now office) is connected to the house via an armoured cable and for the past 10 years has powered a number of devices (short term) such as Power Tools, Strimmer's, Lights and Drill Chargers etc etc… with no issues or outages.

Here's the weird bit.

After about an hour of using the office, I noticed that my Laptop and Ipad (whilst plugged in and charging) were not gaining any Percentage on their charge?

The lamp is working fine with no flickering, as too is the main light. But none of the Devices I plug in actually gain any charge ??

I've tried 2 iPads, a laptop, 3 phones and 3 other USB charging devices.... all say that they are charging, but fail to gain charge.

Any ideas??

faulty charger?

Have you made any changes to the installed electrics in the shed?

Evening,

Don't think so...

Laptop charger, 2 x Apple USB Plugs & Cables, 1 x Apple Watch Charger & Base.....

doubt all are faulty.

Noticed that the ipad doesn't lose any charge... so must be getting something?

Is there such a thing as low power on a circuit?? enough to power up but not enough to charge??

gavinsmith1 said:

Is there such a thing as low power on a circuit?? enough to power up but not enough to charge??

Click to expand...

yes. voltage drop. loose connections. many reasons. youd be best getting someone who knows what they are doing to check it

No changes... but I guess we've never used multiple sockets at once.

To date I've only ever used the sockets to run out an extension lead and power the main lighting within the shed.

Will get an electrician to give it a once over.

I know that all connections are good... but you would assume that if I only plugged in 1 item it would charge.... 

gavinsmith1 said:

Will get an electrician to give it a once over.

I know that all connections are good... but you would assume that if I only plugged in 1 item it would charge.... 

Click to expand...

never assume. was the supply installed correctly in the first place & adequate or a DIY job lashed in with undersized cable?

The supply was already in when we moved in, however it's a substantial armoured cable leading from a separate DB/RCD in the garage linking back to the main DB in the house.

Garden office/Shed is about 25-30m from Garage DB connection. 

Feed to Garage DB is 10mm...

That said, I guess the garden feed is acting like an extension lead as it doesn't loop back to make a ring.

gavinsmith1 said:

That said, I guess the garden feed is acting like an extension lead as it doesn't loop back to make a ring.

Click to expand...

It doesn't need to do that ,  just one cable from A to B  is the usual .  

Can you try plugging in something with a substantial load ,  like a 2KW    or 3KW  heater ?      

What type of board is fitted in the shed ?     Circuit breakers or fuses ?     Try switching the circuit breaker for the plugs  off & on a few times .   Same with the switch on the socket ,    shove  the plug in & out a few times .

Could be as simple as a loose connection in the socket  which would power the tiny LED indicator on your chargers but won't carry any load .    

There are tables in the wirings regulations (BS7671) that state what the resistance is per meter for various gauges of cable. I would be wanting to verify that the loop resistance values for the length of cable are correct. Then I would be checking that the incoming supply characteristics to the whole installation are correct, especially the earth loop impedance and voltage. If your incoming voltage is low and you are exceeding the maximum permissible volt-drop due to cable length or poor connection, then you may get the symptoms you describe.

Doc H.