Oven replacement

ajsexton

Ok so our oven went a little while back after 10+ years service

It was wired into one point along with the hob on a dedicated 32 (?) amp circuit with a single red switch in line.

Many of the ovens I've looked at have plugs, can I just remove the whole cable and use heavier cable that's ok for the ampage and wire it in like the previous oven ?

Or do I have, a) to get a plug socket fitted? find an oven requiring being wired in and wiring in with the hob?

FreeBear

ajsexton wrote: »

Many of the ovens I've looked at have plugs, can I just remove the whole cable and use heavier cable that's ok for the ampage and wire it in like the previous oven ?

You can cut the plug off and wire it directly in to the cooker point - Not ideal, but better than running a heavier cable to the back of the oven.

Or... I fitted a single socket just behind my oven and hooked it up to the cooker point with 4mm² T+E and plugged the oven it to that. Not particularly pretty to look at, but no one is going to see it unless the oven is removed - Also makes it easier to pull the oven out for servicing, repair, or cleaning.

grumbler

ajsexton wrote: »

Many of the ovens I've looked at have plugs,

Any example? Are they electric or electric+gas?

can I just remove the whole cable and use heavier cable that's ok for the ampage and wire it in like the previous oven ?

Remove it from the new oven? Why?

FreeBear

grumbler wrote: »

Any example? Are they electric or electric+gas?

A couple of examples - https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/cooking/ovens/bosch-hhf113br0b-electric-oven-stainless-steel-10178804-pdt.html
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/cooking/ovens/indesit-aria-ifw-6340-bl-electric-oven-black-10152903-pdt.html

grumbler

For some reason I was thinking about a hob with, typically, bigger power.


If there is no any fuse inside, then yes, changing the cable to a thicker one makes some sense, but, like you, I'd prefer adding a socket.

ianto11

Many of the ovens I've looked at have plugs, can I just remove the whole cable and use heavier cable that's ok for the ampage and wire it in like the previous oven ?

If it's got a plug on it's not going to need any more than 13A anyway, but if it's got the cable pre-wired and no plug on then your need to check the full load requirements of the appliance as it'll probably need to definitely go back to the 32A main switch.

Also you need to be aware of any warranty implications from removing the manufacturer fitted cabling. Pre-wired will also typically use heat resistant cable so you'd need to swap it for similar T&E.
Personally if it does have a plug fitted I'd do as Freebear suggests and connect it into a fused spur

prowla

You could get a socket added to the power point.

ajsexton

FreeBear wrote: »

You can cut the plug off and wire it directly in to the cooker point - Not ideal, but better than running a heavier cable to the back of the oven.

Or... I fitted a single socket just behind my oven and hooked it up to the cooker point with 4mm² T+E and plugged the oven it to that. Not particularly pretty to look at, but no one is going to see it unless the oven is removed - Also makes it easier to pull the oven out for servicing, repair, or cleaning.

Sorry for taking so long to get back to this, I blame the kids....

The cooker point is 32 amp with the hob directly wired into the same end terminal block, I was under the impression I'd need to change it to 6mm cable due to the circuit being 32 amps, am I incorrect here? (terminal being similar to https://www.screwfix.com/p/crabtree-capital-45a-unswitched-cooker-outlet-plate-white/7359k )

Or should I take the feed cable, knock a bit more out of the wall and fit another cooker switch with extra socket like (https://www.screwfix.com/p/crabtree-instinct-45a-2-gang-dp-cooker-switch-13a-dp-switched-socket-white/516hv) and plug it in and knock out a little of the cover to feed the hob wire out

FreeBear

ajsexton wrote: »

The cooker point is 32 amp with the hob directly wired into the same end terminal block, I was under the impression I'd need to change it to 6mm cable due to the circuit being 32 amps, am I incorrect here? (terminal being similar to https://www.screwfix.com/p/crabtree-capital-45a-unswitched-cooker-outlet-plate-white/7359k )

Get one of these - https://www.screwfix.com/p/mk-logic-plus-13a-1-gang-dp-switched-plug-socket-white/14790 and https://www.screwfix.com/p/tower-1g-surface-box-with-20mm-knock-out-and-mini-knockout/33241 to suit. Fix to the wall next to your cooker outlet plate. Use a short length of 4mm² T+E to connect the two together. Plug your oven in to the newly mounted socket and then slide in to the housing.

No need to mess around chiseling holes for new switches or changing existing cabling. Better to keep the existing 6mm² cable in place should you ever wish to install a bigger oven or electric hob. Just don't go chopping the cable off the new oven and fit something bigger - Chances are, the terminals won't take a bigger cable.

George_Michael

FreeBear wrote: »

You can cut the plug off and wire it directly in to the cooker point - Not ideal, but better than running a heavier cable to the back of the oven.

"Not ideal"?
It's far from ideal and could be dangerous.
The purpose of the fuse in the plug is to protect the cable between the plug and the appliance and by doing away with this fuse, you are doing away with any protection that it was there to provide.

If the oven is hard wired to the cooker point and that oven develops a fault where it draws too high a current, then as the cable between the cooker and the socket will be rated far lower than than the cabling from the socket to the consumer unit, it could easily catch fire before the power tripped off.