moulded plugs

But what about Quad beige? ;-)

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)
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Reply to
Zephirum

On 26 Oct 2016, Mike Tomlinson grunted:

Inside a cupboard being preferable as far as I'm concerned, as in the event of a problem with the appliance it enables the socket to be switched off without having to move or touch said appliance (which might be desirable if its flooding or on fire or something). Also enable easy changing of fuses in the plug.

Reply to
Lobster

On 26 Oct 2016, Handsome Jack grunted:

That's debatable, to say the least. The vast majority of electrical fires are down to appliances rather than fixed wiring, and you can bet that historically a huge number of those are attributable to dodgy plugs.

Quite apart from loose screws, shorts, severed strands of wire, missing cable clamps, interchanged L/N wires etc, how many average members of the public ever used to change the 13A fuse which was supplied in their newly purchased plug to match the appliance they bought it for?

Reply to
Lobster

Isn't the rating of the fuse chosen to protect the lead?

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Reply to
pamela

En el artículo , Lobster escribió:

I did, though suspect I was in a minority :)

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

Lobster posted

It would be interesting to see authoritative numbers.

People didn't generally used to buy plugs. They bought appliances with plugs already fitted, with the correct fuse in them. But they were good plugs, not the moulded rubbish we get today.

Reply to
Handsome Jack

Are you quite young?

The rules saying appliances had to have a plug fitted came in 1994, and before that appliances generally didn't have plugs fitted.

Moulded ones will be cheaper and easier for the manufacturer to deal with, so seem to be the obvious choice.

Granted there may be some crap out there, but I've not had a problem with things I've bought.

Reply to
Clive George

Sixty.

Most did. A few didn't.

But less cheap and easy for the consumer to deal with.

The 'problem' is the one I described in the OP.

Reply to
Handsome Jack

Generally, cheaper for the consumer to deal with, because most people won't need to take the plug off. As far as I'm concerned if your personal wiring setup requires you to remove the plug, that's your problem and you can take the responsibility and cost for making it work.

There's no point in the manufacturer complicating their process and making the product more expensive just to cover a tiny number of edge cages.

Reply to
Clive George

Indeed, one can disconnect the cable from the back of the machine and thread it through the cable hole to reconnect it (I did this for our under the worktop fridge space to provide a neat and tidy connection for the fridge to the mains socket just above the worktop about ten years or so ago).

However, before committing to the extra work, I'd suggest you try running the machine for a week or three first, using if necessary, a short heavy duty 13A extension socket to give it a good 'shake down' to reveal any hidden defects that might require the attentions of a service engineer who may need to move it beyond the limit of its mains lead tether in order to gain sufficient elbow room (assuming the shop doesn't simply swap it out for another new machine).

However, why not fit another socket below the worktop fed by a spur from the socket above? This was basically the solution I used in the case of the dishwashing machine right next to the kitchen sink unit.

In this case, I only had to consider the aesthetics of the job *above* the worktop. The resulting 2.5mm FT&E below the worktop was simply trailed the short distance to a single switched surface mounted socket screwed onto the inside of the adjacent corner unit with a 2 inch diameter hole nearby by which to feed the mains cable, plug and all, from the dishwasher.

The extra wiring and the socket are out of sight and out of mind (and importantly, better protected against damp ingress than the twin outlet socket it is fed from) yet still readily accessible via the cupboard door without the need to employ the services of a contortionist. Even thirty odd years ago, it was enough of a faff to fit this extra 'dishwasher socket' but I knew the invested effort was likely to pay huge dividends later on. :-)

Reply to
Johnny B Good

Bingo! It's as if you read my mind. :-)

Reply to
Johnny B Good

Yup, I have a socket in a cupboard. The switch is above the worktop - double pole with neon.

Reply to
Bob Eager

Nothing wrong with beige. And orange.

Says my 33/303.

Reply to
Bob Eager

I did too.

Reply to
Bob Eager

They had no plugs because not all sockets were 13 amp back then.

Reply to
harry

Yes, strictly, but the appliance will have a cable sized for its current draw.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

Much better to put an outlet under the bench.

Reply to
F Murtz

Johnny B Good posted

Adding a spur is too much work. Especially as the cable would have to be chased into the wall above the worktop, which is tiled.

The best solution posted here is to make an extension lead going from the socket through the existing hole in the worktop, to a (free-floating) outlet under the worktop. I could even have used the lead from the old washing machine, which was already plugged in!

Reply to
Handsome Jack

En el artículo , Handsome Jack escribió:

Hopefully you'd remember to unplug it before wiring up your new free- floating under-counter extension socket :)

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

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