No plug socket behind washing machine

Section62

grumbler said:

Section62 said:

lis1320 said:

We’ve had a reply from the estate agents, we’ll get in contact with an electrician. 

So probably as I suggested - there will be a FSU* above the worktop which feeds down to the outlet plate behind the washing machine.  The electrician would need to cut the plug off**, and hard wire the washing machine.

Or, much better IMO, if there is enough space, just connect a surface-mounted socket to the plate. And why not simply replace the plate with a socket?!

Why would that be "much better"?

Ectophile

Eldi_Dos said:

The electrician could solder the multicore cable before putting into screw down terminal.

Nobody does that any more.  It's worse than not soldering them.  Bootlace ferrules are the correct solution if the terminals aren't designed for stranded conductors.

But since all appliances have used stranded conductors for decades, I can't think why an outlet wouldn't be designed to take them.

Bendy_House

Section62 said:

grumbler said:

Section62 said:

lis1320 said:

We’ve had a reply from the estate agents, we’ll get in contact with an electrician. 

So probably as I suggested - there will be a FSU* above the worktop which feeds down to the outlet plate behind the washing machine.  The electrician would need to cut the plug off**, and hard wire the washing machine.

Or, much better IMO, if there is enough space, just connect a surface-mounted socket to the plate. And why not simply replace the plate with a socket?!

Why would that be "much better"?

Presumably because it would allow the W/M to not have its plug cut off, and to be completely removed very quickly if required.

travis-powers

Bendy_House said:

travis-powers said:

We had a small fire because of this!

Yikes. What happened?

We had washing machine and a tumble dryer plugged into a cheap lead, the draw was so much the socket part of the lead overheated and caught luckily we was at home.
my lack of electrical knowledge thought it would be ok and at worst trip but it doesn’t work like that.

Section62

Bendy_House said:

Presumably because it would allow the W/M to not have its plug cut off, and to be completely removed very quickly if required.

You mean having dragged the heavy washing machine out of the way to get access to the plug/socket....

Rather than simply turning the power off at the (double pole) FSU?

Section62

travis-powers said:

Bendy_House said:

travis-powers said:

We had a small fire because of this!

Yikes. What happened?

We had washing machine and a tumble dryer plugged into a cheap lead, the draw was so much the socket part of the lead overheated and caught luckily we was at home.
my lack of electrical knowledge thought it would be ok and at worst trip but it doesn’t work like that.

I think I remember you mentioning this the last time someone suggested it was OK to use extension leads with appliances like washing machines.

You were indeed very lucky that day.

clive0510

Tell the landlord and tell him you want it sorted. you can guarantee he's going to be quick enough to take your rent each month!

Eldi_Dos

Ectophile said:

Eldi_Dos said:

The electrician could solder the multicore cable before putting into screw down terminal.

Nobody does that any more.  It's worse than not soldering them.  Bootlace ferrules are the correct solution if the terminals aren't designed for stranded conductors.

But since all appliances have used stranded conductors for decades, I can't think why an outlet wouldn't be designed to take them.

I take your point that it may not be common to do that now ,I am genuinely interested to hear why it is worse than not soldering them.

The fitting in the photo looks like it could be decades old.

Bendy_House

Section62 said:

You mean having dragged the heavy washing machine out of the way to get access to the plug/socket....

Rather than simply turning the power off at the (double pole) FSU?

..and pulling the W/M out until the cable goes 'twang'?

I mean if the OP wished to remove their W/M, or replace it. Will they need a sparky each time? (Assuming - I think reasonably - that they are not keen to wire into that outlet plate themselves.)

The socket would even be an unswitched type.

grumbler

Section62 said:

grumbler said:

Section62 said:

lis1320 said:

We’ve had a reply from the estate agents, we’ll get in contact with an electrician. 

So probably as I suggested - there will be a FSU* above the worktop which feeds down to the outlet plate behind the washing machine.  The electrician would need to cut the plug off**, and hard wire the washing machine.

Or, much better IMO, if there is enough space, just connect a surface-mounted socket to the plate. And why not simply replace the plate with a socket?!

Why would that be "much better"?

Because

1. There will be no need to add a plug back when the OP moves to another accommodation
2. The new tenants won't need to cut their plug and call an electrician to hardwire their WM.

Yes, it's worse - for electricians.