Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Immersion has 4 wires instead of 3

Options
  • 08-07-2024 1:55pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 35


    looking at my immersion cable- it has 4 wires instead of 3- why? Can I add a 13a plug on this thing and plug it into a normal socket (socket with a switch to turn on off)?



«1

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 7,159 ✭✭✭10-10-20


    Sorry to be blunt… This is one of those questions where if you have to ask then you don't know what you're up to.

    No, you can't attach a 13a plug onto this - a plug isn't designed to take the continuous load of an immersion, and neither is the socket circuit which you might attach it into. It needs to be wired properly and that necessitates an electrician.

    The reason for fourth is probably due to the fact that many immersions have two heating elements and either yours does not, or it's not wired. Again - don't go at it, for your own safety and the safety of those in the house - please engage an electrician.



  • Registered Users Posts: 35 housedweller


    ok understood. Reading up on it it seems that the cables are for the sink/bath heating system.
    Can anyone guide me on linking the cable above to our dual switch below, to get our system up and running?




  • Registered Users Posts: 35 housedweller


    I can see that my mains cable comes into bottom right : brown to L and blue to N.

    But that 4 wire cable - not sure how to wire that part. Thank you.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    They're all 4-wire

    No point advising



  • Registered Users Posts: 19,826 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump




  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 35 housedweller


    4 wire is ok for that dual switch. I had originally asked about using a plug into a socket, but going back to using a wall mounted dual switch is fine.

    I'm just not sure where the 4wires go into the back of that dual switch unit. This was the original dual switch used before the renovations.



  • Registered Users Posts: 69,006 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Get an electrician in. Nobody is going to take the risk of telling you what goes where on here as you don't seem to know even vaguely enough about what you're doing.



  • Registered Users Posts: 35 housedweller


    ok well leaving that rudeness aside….
    If someone is up to DMing the steps that’d be great. Thanks everyone.

    As I said, the dual switch was on this immersion so we’d like to put it back on this evening if possible. Thanks.



  • Registered Users Posts: 69,006 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Telling you to not put your safety at risk is not rude. You don't know what you're doing, you initially asked if you could do something exceptionally dangerous which is evidence enough of that.

    Call a local electrician and you will very possibly get this back on this evening; this is a quick job - for someone who knows what they're doing.



  • Registered Users Posts: 35 housedweller


    My initial Q was was there a possibility of putting a plug on an immersion- just asking as I could use a timer for it. I was told no so that’s that.

    Now my follow up is that the immersion was wired into a dual switch. And does anyone have the wiring instructions for putting this back as it was?

    Having wired electric gates, office networks etc I have experience wiring. I was just looking for a bit of friendly advice.

    Thanks everyone.



  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 35 housedweller


    all sorted and back with hot water. Thanks for the DM T. You’re a genius. 👍



  • Registered Users Posts: 5,412 ✭✭✭Shoog


    Just to point out the fact that by not calling an electrician you have broken the law and undoubtedly invalidated your house insurance if it causes a fire.

    There are some things you are simply not allowed to do unless you are qualified, and anything to do with water heating is one of them.

    People were not been smart asses.



  • Registered Users Posts: 35 housedweller


    hear ya. Thanks. It has just gone back to the way it was a few weeks ago so no major issue.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭TheW1zard


    Everything is a major issue for these people lol



  • Registered Users Posts: 35 housedweller


    ha indeed. 😂



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,826 ✭✭✭monkeybutter


    I doubt that just plugging back in his immersion would be breaking any laws, similar to replacing a plug, or a cooker



  • Registered Users Posts: 566 ✭✭✭adrian92


    I am a member for over a decade

    Sorry to see that , that when people are seeking help or advice, some people make nasty remarks.

    It wasn't used to be like this.

    It used to be a helpful place.

    Perhaps Moderator can find a way to stop people from making nasty comments - we are all just trying to help each other here.



  • Registered Users Posts: 11,980 ✭✭✭✭GBX


    Indeed but there was no nasty comments … or does advice on safety in the home albeit somewhat blunt, construe rudeness?

    Have we become that fragile that if somebody advises you to get an electrician for your own safety with a direct comment you take offence? Anyway, if an electrician advised them in a PM and they got sorted. All is well in the world.



  • Registered Users Posts: 7,159 ✭✭✭10-10-20


    After all, we are all just a bunch of randomers off the internet. Who'd trust them, eh? 😂



  • Registered Users Posts: 11,980 ✭✭✭✭GBX


    Id take a " leave it. You're better safe than sorry" from random dude on the internet, than sure connect them all up to a plug and make sure you add in some fairy lights while youre at it 😂



  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 3,739 ✭✭✭horse7


    Would you have a photo of how you resolved it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,474 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    Why is he breaking the law by not calling an electrician?



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,474 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    I have found the regular posters on this forum to be more than helpful. If an immersion heater is not wired properly it could be an electrical hazard, a fire hazard, or both. This is not just a theoretical possibility.

    The OP showed in his early posts that he had no knowledge of this type of circuit. Given the above the posters were correct not to give advice. It's all grand, until it isn't!



  • Registered Users Posts: 5,412 ✭✭✭Shoog


    Anything attached to a water system has an elevated potential to kill - and hence the requirement for a registered electrician to install. There are prescribed earthing arrangements for water attached appliances and failure to apply them increases the risk of injury. These are the sort of details a layman is very unlikely to be aware of.

    High risk installations have to be certified by a spark and without it you are in breach of the law.



  • Registered Users Posts: 719 ✭✭✭jsd1004


    Jaysus. Can I wire a plug for a kettle? A small bit dramatic. Get a grip.
    I would never advise anyone to wire a plug if they did not know what they are doing. Same I would not advise anyone how to wire an immersion. But like everything both are easy if you know what you are doing. Are you a spark by any chance?

    Post edited by jsd1004 on


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭TheW1zard


    You're all a bunch of That needs planning permission heads

    Who cares what the man does



  • Registered Users Posts: 5,412 ✭✭✭Shoog


    I have seen some fairly horrific wiring arrangements by lads who just went ahead and did it. The sort of wiring mistakes that can easily kill.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    The poster is asking about plugging in his immersion . How can you advise

    Again the immersion is a relatively simple task but there's things to go wrong on the bath/sink and tight connections



  • Registered Users Posts: 35 housedweller


    thanks all good and thanks for the concerns. The system is working great and all ended well. After our renovations I had a few questions but it’s all back as it has been since about 2010.



  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 35 housedweller


    I am curious about changing the setup.

    1/ we have a Hive thermostat for our oil central heating, next to our immersion cupboard.
    2/ our Hive thermostat links to a *single* receiver. I’ve been told by Hive that a dual receiver could do the heating and the immersion. I’d need to replace the single receiver with a dual receiver. At the moment our oil boiler is wired into the single receiver.
    3/ has anyone done this and used Hive for both. I’d be interested in seeing wiring info.

    Thank you.



Advertisement