Wife's cousin is moving into a new house, thing is it has a round pin plug on the water heater (fixed unit in a cupboard). Are round pin plugs not out of favour now, and should a water heater not be hard wired rather than having a plug and flex?
Have something in the back of my mind that the supply may be 15 amps and 15 amp round pin plugs are allowed.
On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 17:32:43 GMT,it is alleged that "soup" spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:
[personal opinion alert]So far as I know they are still allowed, being compliant to the relevant british standards, however modern practice would favour a fused connection unit on a 16 amp radial if under 3kw, or a cord outlet style 20 amp Double Pole switch on a 16 or 20 amp radial if over 3kw (rating depending on the actual load).
The main question here would be the condition of the wiring and flex, as it sounds somewhat old, also the circuit arrangements may be far from optimal.
I am sure to be corrected if wrong, all information should be taken as "this is the way I would do it" rather than "this is the way the majority would do it" :-)
Given the heat it has been exposed to over its life, I'd be worrying about the state of the insulation before even looking at the plug.
Even if round-pin plugs are completely illegal (which I'm ignorant of), that doesn't turn them overnight into a hazard. The insulation really could be.
Get yourself an "On Site Guide" to the regs - some quids from any of the wholesalers and an excellent source of such information.
These are allowed, as long as they are 15 Amps rated of course. So should be large pins on large plug top. The flex will also be heat resistant type, so that's fine as well. It should feel sort of gritty to the touch, and be a bit softer in texture than normal flex cable.
It makes working on the heating element safer because isolating the system is much easier than undoing screws and fiddling with fuses and things. It is safe, so don't worry. :-)
Thanks for that Andy however I have NO intention of actually doing anything, this is a council house (has been in someones (non to active) care for decades) but I didn't want to make a fool of myself getting her to whinge to the council if this was legal/common practise. Will probably go out later and "feel" the flex see if it is (as others have said it should be )slightly "gritty" and softer than usual. Have no recolection what the flex is like but seem to remember the plug [1]cannot be taken fully from the socket [1]as the tank gets in the way.
[1] Sure those aren't the technical terms but they are the "standard" terms
They certainly are the technical terms. It's only dimwits wot call a "socket" a "plug socket" and a "plug" a "plug top".
Hwyl!
M.
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