Skinny Plug

Trampas · 07-09-2007 10:01am #1

I need to get a plug which is skinner than a normal plug.

I have am putting in an electric oven and it is a put short due to the plug.

Anyone know where I can get a plug whichis about half the depth of a normal plug

Mr Magnolia · 07-09-2007 10:18am

Trampas wrote:

I need to get a plug which is skinner than a normal plug.

I have am putting in an electric oven and it is a put short due to the plug.

Anyone know where I can get a plug whichis about half the depth of a normal plug

Trampas,

If I'm reading your question right....

An electric oven should not be 'plugged in'. It should be wired to an independent 32Amp MCB in at least 6mm square cable via a switched spur.

An electric socket/plug is not designed to support the average domestice oven and this circuit should not be used to support this Trampas. You need to consult an electrician unless this is some kind of 'light-load' oven.

ircoha · 07-09-2007 11:00am

Mr Magnolia wrote:

Trampas,

If I'm reading your question right....

An electric oven should not be 'plugged in'. It should be wired to an independent 32Amp MCB in at least 6mm square cable via a switched spur.

An electric socket/plug is not designed to support the average domestice oven and this circuit should not be used to support this Trampas. You need to consult an electrician unless this is some kind of 'light-load' oven.

OP: Magnolia is 100% here if we read ur post right
what are u fitting ?
can u explain
it is a put short due to the plug.

Trampas · 07-09-2007 11:15am

Moved into a new house.

Ordered the basic electric cooker nothing special there is a wall socket behind the cooker.

The cooker came with no cable so I was connecting a cable up to the cooker into a plug to stick in the wall socket behind it.

Its not been used yet

Mr Magnolia · 07-09-2007 11:39am

That socket is not there for the oven. It might have been left for a dishwasher or a supply for an igniter on a gas oven but certainly not for an electric over I'm afraid.

Has there not been a provision for an electric oven in your kitchen? Is there a cooker switch on the wall anywhere?

Trampas · 07-09-2007 11:54am

Its not for the dishwasher as thats on the other wall. Might be for a gas hob.

There is a red switch above and to the right of teh cooker.

Where would the connect be for the cooker for this.

I can't remember off hand seeing somewhere for a cable to go.

Mr Magnolia · 07-09-2007 12:02pm

Strange. Plug a hairdryer or something into the socket and switch the cooker switch on and off. This will tell you if the cooker switch controls the socket.

Was the kitchen piped for a gas hob?

Trampas · 07-09-2007 12:18pm

It is piped for a gas hob.

I am not in the house now. Will have a look tonight when I get home.

Should there be a cable for there for the cooker as one wasn't supplied

Mr Magnolia · 07-09-2007 12:34pm

Trampas wrote:

It is piped for a gas hob.

Then I'd guess that socket is for the ignitor, and the cooker switch just controls that. I doubt very much your kitched is wired for an electric cooker I'm afraid.

Should there be a cable for there for the cooker as one wasn't supplied

No. When a kitchen is wired for an electric cooker a 6mm square cable would most likely be hanging out of your wall waiting to be wired into your cooker. You will need an electrician to wire a cooker circuit for you. This will involve putting a 32A MCB in your fuseboard, running the cable from the MCB to a cooker switch. Then running a cable from you cooker switch to the oven.

Fuse Board/32A MCB

32A switch

Oven.

Trampas · 07-09-2007 12:54pm

Another case of builders only doing half the job.

No offence but they really do things in half.

Everything is always an extra.

Mr Magnolia · 07-09-2007 12:57pm

Trampas wrote:

Another case of builders only doing half the job.

No offence but they really do things in half.

Everything is always an extra.

Is it a brand new build? Were the facilities for an electric oven specified to the building contractor/electrician for the kitchen?

ircoha · 07-09-2007 1:25pm

OP:
if the red switch is there i expect it to be for an electric cooker so can u take a picture and also of the fuse board, showing us all the breakers.?

I expect the required cable to be there, certainly as far as the switch on the wall: maybe even behind the plaster board

Trampas · 07-09-2007 2:16pm

I will posted it all later when I am in the house.

Its a new build.

GreeBo · 07-09-2007 2:16pm

Sounds like the socket is there for the hob allright.

The switch sounds like a normal cooker isolation switch.
There should be a cable coming out of the bottom of that switch (behind the plasterboard/wall) hanging ready for your replacement oven.
I would turn on the switch (does it have a light)
Personally I would make sure I had turned off the MCB for that switch (it will be a 32A switch in your fuse box) then open the switch and find where the switched live is going to. This is the wire that you need to hookup to the new oven.

What type of oven/hob are you putting in instead?
Depending on the combination you might need a second cooker circuit (I put one in for an induction hob)

Trampas · 07-09-2007 6:22pm

Found the cable.

Buried in a hole under a load of crap.

byte · 07-09-2007 10:33pm

While it's generally agreed that ovens are wired directly, and not via a plug, why is it that some single ovens come with a plug on the end of the wire?

Or is it just OK for certain single ovens, but not for double ovens and of course cookers?

ircoha · 07-09-2007 11:55pm

byte wrote:

While it's generally agreed that ovens are wired directly, and not via a plug, why is it that some single ovens come with a plug on the end of the wire?

Or is it just OK for certain single ovens, but not for double ovens and of course cookers?

the normal 13amp 3 pin plug is good for about 3.2kw so a single over would normally not exceed that.
However each electric ring on a 4 ring hob could be 3.2kw or more so.....

Mr Magnolia · 08-09-2007 10:12am

Trampas wrote:

Found the cable.

Buried in a hole under a load of crap.

Great stuff trampas. That saved you a few quid!

Do you intend to hook it up yourself? You need to get very tight connections if you do. If you know an electrician ask them to do it for you

Stoner · 09-09-2007 10:52pm

byte wrote:

While it's generally agreed that ovens are wired directly, and not via a plug, why is it that some single ovens come with a plug on the end of the wire?

Or is it just OK for certain single ovens, but not for double ovens and of course cookers?

There is a range of ovens out there running at about 2.5KW. they are designed to be plugged in, some apartments are wired for this, i.e saving about eighty euro per unit in cabling etc. Have not seen them in a while though, last time I saw them the apartments had no 6.sq.mm cable for the cooker , only a 2.5.sq.mm circuit, the apartment building managers fitted all the apartments out with all the white goods, so they provided the cookers too, they also saved on the connection time as they only had to plug them in. I think they came from Italy, not really much use as an oven tbh.

10-09-2007 6:43am

This thread reminds me of a story I heard many years ago.

A man goes into an electrical shop and threatens to sue the shop for selling him a dodgy fuse! He claiming that this fuse nearly burnt his house down!

The sales assistant calms him down and asks for an explanation.

He explained that he had moved the cooker from one side of the kitchen to the other and was reconnecting the supply to it.

First thing he did was somehow connect a 13A plug onto 6mm2 cable, then plugs this into a socket on the wall, tries the cooker - pop goes the fuse, unsurprisingly.

He then "foils" the fuse and tries again this time the fuse in the plug at the other end of flex he'd used to connect the wall socket to the existing cooker socket blows.

More foil, third attempt - this time the flex starts smoking followed by the main fuse in the consumer unit blowing. At this point he goes back to the shop where he bought the plugs from!

Trampas · 10-09-2007 8:46am

Did it myself.

It cable has no earth.

It wouldn't be hard for them to leave it out instead of getting in a jcb in.

Also it was wrapped around a gas pipe.

Good to see the extractor fan had no plug at the end of the wire.

Are plugs shipped with electric goods a thing of the past?

GreeBo · 10-09-2007 12:03pm

Trampas wrote:

Did it myself.

It cable has no earth.

It wouldn't be hard for them to leave it out instead of getting in a jcb in.

Also it was wrapped around a gas pipe.

Good to see the extractor fan had no plug at the end of the wire.

Are plugs shipped with electric goods a thing of the past?

What has no earth??

Stoner · 10-09-2007 12:21pm

Trampas wrote:

Are plugs shipped with electric goods a thing of the past?

no, in fact it's the other way around, no 13 Amp plugs on devices are a thing of the past.

I'm also curious about the no earth, what type of cable was this?.
We use a cooker connection unit , makes it a very easy job for who ever has to do the hooking up, little box that has the feed cable terminated into it and allows for a clean connection to the cooker.

GreeBo · 10-09-2007 12:50pm

Stoner wrote:

We use a cooker connection unit

Me too, and by the sounds of it so does the OP.
I wonder has the earth slipped up the outer cable?

Also, OP, are there only 2 wires (brown & blue) on the cable?
If there are 3 its likely that one of them is the earth that is a bare ware simply sheathed by some brown/blue covering....

Trampas · 10-09-2007 6:40pm

It just brown and blue.

Doesn't look like there is room for earth.

Its the cable for the cooker.

Seems strange

byte · 10-09-2007 10:01pm

Hmm, you'd better earth it.

Stoner · 10-09-2007 11:17pm

Trampas wrote:

It just brown and blue.

Doesn't look like there is room for earth.

Its the cable for the cooker.

Seems strange

As stated above the earth should be a bare copper cable between the brown and the blue cable,

It is very important that this is earthed, I know this may sound simple enough Trampas, but I honestly think that a quick call to an electrician is required to check what you have connected.

GreeBo · 11-09-2007 11:00am

Stoner wrote:

As stated above the earth should be a bare copper cable between the brown and the blue cable,

It is very important that this is earthed, I know this may sound simple enough Trampas, but I honestly think that a quick call to an electrician is required to check what you have connected.

Definitely.
I expect that the earth was either cut back (for some reason) or broke off.
can you expose a bit more wire (by cutting back grey covering plastic)
Actually, probably easier than that is to open up the switch and see if there is an earth there.

I for one wouldnt use a cooker that wasnt earthed.

oleras · 11-09-2007 2:44pm

Trampas wrote:

It just brown and blue.

Doesn't look like there is room for earth.

Its the cable for the cooker.

Seems strange

My advice, this is going on 4 days now, you obviously dont know what you are doing. Get an electrician, at least someone who is competent to understand the basics, you will kill yourself or worse, somebody else.

davelerave · 12-09-2007 3:34pm

ovens can be 13amp for regular single type or 16/20 amp if they are fan oven /microwave .its an electric hob that needs a 6sq

GreeBo · 12-09-2007 4:00pm

davelerave wrote:

ovens can be 13amp for regular single type or 16/20 amp if they are fan oven /microwave .its an electric hob that needs a 6sq

my oven needs its own 32amp mcb Its a double fan oven
I had to put in a second 6sq for the induction hob

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