Dodgy Electrician?

In article , "-=D@n=-" writes

Sounds fine to me ... surely the heat/moisture you are worried about is inside the extractor ducting, and the power socket is outside it?

Yeah, yeah I suppose it is. It just didn't seem right to me. Oh well, I'll leave it as it is.

Thanks for your reply.

Dan

Can you isolate the hood without dismantling it? (Is there a switch and/or a fuse next to the socket for the spur the extractor is plugged into?)

Sparks..

Hi Sparks,

in a word, no. The wiring is straight into the spur for the kitchen sockets, so i'd have to switch an RCD(?) off at the CU(?) to isolate it. But that would be isolating all the sockets, not just the hood.

Does that mean he's done a bad job?

Thanks

Dan

Is 'isolating' different than simply unplugging it?

Erm, I dunno. I can't unplug it without dismantling it, but I can switch off the spur that it's connected to. But that would also switch off lots of other stuff.

But how much dismantling? When you remove the cover, do you have finger access to any electric terminals? Or are you just removing the chimney?

Just removing the chimney. The chimney slots on top of the actual extractor, and the plug is under the chimney.

You really are desperately looking for something to crib about aren't you?

As I re-read the thread, it would appear so, yes. But I was just really asking if the way he'd done the job was 'normal'. I guess I'm just annoyed that he didn't turn up last night!

My cooker extractor fan is wired to a plug, which plugs into a spurred socket above the cabinets in much the same manner you described. Nothing wrong with that!

Oh ok, ta. It just didn't seem very professional. I would have thought it better to wire directly into the ring(?) with a fused plate somewhere.

Well it's no differant to using a switched fused spur unit and wiring that into the mains, electricity will still flow through the outlet (be it a socket or fused spur) into the appliance (be it plugged in or wired in directly).

Or the lighting circuit - since that's usually closer. But I agree an FCU would look neater than a plug and socket - if you can see it. If it's not on show, it doesn't matter.

Then it seems a reasonable job to me. He has provided a safe was to isolate the extractor (plug & socket), hidden from view, accessible before you have to dismantle any of the main casing.

Better than a fused spur in my opinion as the extractor can be fully disconnected by just pulling the plug, no need to turn off everything to unwire the connection.

If it's an FCU with a switch these are double pole switched these days.

But nothing like actually unplugging something to know it's isolated.

I have to say, I think that he is right to "crib", if I understand his situation correctly...

It appears from his posts that in order to isolate the hood, he has to partly dismantle it. In the event of a fault, there may not be time, particularly if tools are needed to do so...

In addition, since most modern hoods seem to be double insulated, a fault where the hood (if it's metal) comes live, by virtue of a faulty cable, for instance, could prove difficult to overcome without switching off at the consumer unit.

Placing isolators for kitchen appliances in an adjacent cupboard is frowned upon by some, but placing them out of easy reach iirc does not meet current regs...

See, that's what I was getting at I think. On our old kitchen, there was an FCU(?) next to the hob that would switch off the power to the extractor. That's what I would have preferred. I'm interested in what you say about current regs, so i'm going to get an electrician friend to take a look.

Thanks for the reply.

Dan