Cooker wiring question

lagi

I have purchased a second hand cooker and this has come with some cable coming out the back, white sleeving, red and black colour cables. Its a thick cable and its multi-stranded.

I did after much hassle manage to squeeze a plug onto the end just to check this functions (as by the time this gets fitted i won't have no recourse for a refund.)

I have the original booklet with the cooker, on the connection page it states:

Min. size cable/flex 2.5mm, type pvc twin and earth. fuse 13A.

As this is old colour cable and in the book it shows where you wire this cable into, can this be replaced with normal electrical 2.5mm twin and earth?

Also it states it is necessary that you install a double pole switch between the oven and the electricity supply.

Can somebody confirm as i am chasing out the sockets, if cable is changed, a plug could be fitted and i could have a lighted cooker switch above the worktop which would switch a single plug socket (unswitched) where the oven is going to be?

Can somebody point me to a link providing the first two are ok to some cooker switches, as some are single and some are double and i need to chase this out today.

mikeandrach_2

don't touch it. it is illegal to install any cooker unless you are competent ie qualified to do so. it will not be possible to sell your house without proof of competent installation and will void your home insurance even if a claim is unrelated, get a professional in don't be another person who balls it up, its not worth it

lagi

"Can somebody confirm as i am chasing out the sockets" i am not fitting it!!!

TallTree

Have a look at this link lagi
http://www.diynot.com/pages/el/el027.php

Then decide what you want to do. There must be a separate radial circuit going to your cooker of adequate cable csa.

Competent does not mean qualified, anyone can re-wire their entire house as long as they get someone qualified to test and inspect it.

lagi

Thanks TallTree but i am sure i don't need a seperate radial circuit because the oven is not that juicy.

It says as a general rule cookers use a vast amount of power. This one does not and most now don't. Its the hobs that suck up all the power. I am going for a gas hob so i believe this can stay on the one circuit.

Anybody else???

J0nesy_2

I'm with tall tree on this one.

I rewired my entire house, but got an electrician to check and connect it.

You will still have a plug on your gas hob which can be wired into your main kitchen circuit.

Your cooker will need its own connection if it's a standard elecy cooker. You will need to check the spec of your own cooker, but most take a 6mm twin and earth cable.

Generally to install an electric cooker, run a single t&e cable (not a circuit) from the consumer unit, (odiously don’t connect it to anything) into a cooker isolator switch which you will need to position above the work surface so the cooker can be turned off in an emergency (this is now law for all appliances). You will also need to position an outlet connector directly behind the cooker below the work surface. Run a wire from the isolator to the outlet, you will then be able to wire the cable from the back of your cooker into the outlet plate. Have a look at the screwfix website for a picture of these parts.

It doesn't matter that the cable running from the back of your cooker is the old style wiring, just make sure the insulation is not cracked or split.

It would be best to speak to the electrician who will be signing the work off about the specifics as some like things done differently than others, even though they all work to the same regulations.

I hope this helps

---lee---

Leaving aside the legal (part P) issues and competency - therefore looking at the facts:

Is this an oven (something you bake pies in - no hob) or a cooker (has a hob that you put pots and pans on and an oven to bake pies in)?

I have the original booklet with the cooker, on the connection page it states:

Min. size cable/flex 2.5mm, type pvc twin and earth. fuse 13A.

This suggests an oven. Many ovens can be connected with heavy duty heat proof flex and plugged into an ordinary 13 Amp socket. It depends on the rating of the appliance, this will be on a plate at the back.

Cookers are high demand appliances that need their own dedicated radial circuits. Cable size depends on length, route, materials it passes through and temperature. Installation of new circuits is a job for a competent person. Extending circuits is also a job for a competent person. Do you have the £500+ of calibrated instruments to test that these installations are safe?

lagi

I have £500 for calibrated test instruments but i won't be buying them. Why? because i am chasing out the walls.......... Manual labour stuff. It is an oven not a cooker, i apologise for those that are getting confused. I do not want to chase out for 6mm cable unless i have to. Oven is under 3kw, so it looks like i can put a plug on it.

Cool, we are nearly there.

---Lee--- Would i need to get a different sort of flex than the standard 2.5 t/earth then? I can at least wire a plug and that is all that bit is. The electrician who i have yet to source will probably be running cable and testing. I might even run cable myself but am not even at that stage to even contemplate that. Just trying to do what i can to save in the overall price. If i had an electrician ready i would have asked him, but would like to get to a stage and get people round for quotes.

Poppy9

I have a built in double oven (hob is separate) which did not come with a plug attached so is hard wired into the cooker socket. I recently replaced the cooker and it was just a matter of reattaching the wires but when I first had a built in oven the electrician who was rewiring the house at the time needed to know if single or double as generally he said single ovens now come with a plug on them but double ovens don't. This was 14 years ago though.

Wouldn't it make sense to install the heavier duty wire now while you are chasing out walls as it will give you more options for the future with regard to your cooker and you wouldn't have to redo the wiring if you wanted to upgrade the cooker?

mikey72

Cookers need a heat resistant cale.
2.5mm minimum suggests you will be using all of the 13A.
Any cooker, oven, or hob over 2Kw needs a dedicated circuit. (17th edition).

ahll

Hi,
Just got a Samsung electric oven and hob

Rating of Oven is 3.4 Kw 3400/230=14.8A

The instructions state 'If the appliance is not connected to the mains with a plug. A multi-pole isolator switch (with a least 3mm contasct spacing) must be provided. The power cable (H05 RR-F or H05 VV-f), min 1.5m, 1.5- 2.5mm) must be of suffiecient length to connect to the oven.

Its doesnt seem wise to run the oven off a 32A ring but via another rounte. 14.8A mean its too big for a plug rated at 13A.

Rating of Hob 6.0Kw 6000/230=26.1A

Which is a total of 40.9A and with Divisity I believe = 19.27A

Regs say you can run two unit (oven and hob) off the same control switch if they are combined <15Kw which these are and in the same room less than 2m away from the control switch ...which they will be.

My question is if the oven can't be run from a regular plug is there a good reason not to use a 32 mcb, a run of 6mm2 (15m max) to a Control Switch then to a connector unit and connect both cable for the hob and oven there ?

I thought about runnig this in 10mm but I dont beleive both the hob and the oven ca ble would then fit in the connector unit...would I be correct ?