Just moved into first house. In the kitchen where dishwasher and washing machine spaces are there is just a blank 'fused' faceplate. I obviously need to put in plug socket plates to power the appliances. Is it just a case of power off eleccy at main fuse box and then swap plates or is it a bit more complicated?

Thanks,
Simon.

what your'e describing is a fused spur with no flex outlet - kill the mains and look inside - you will probably see the ring main cabling in&out of the spur - or just in, there will also be a cable on the "load side" of the spur.

these things are usually seen next to handriers etc, its a way of hiding the cable between the spur and the appliance.

what electrical appliances are around the spurs? cooker hood, waste disposal maybe??

No appliances around really. Where the previous owners had their washing machine the faceplate is hanging from the wall indicating that they removed the power socket and just left a fused plate in place.

I assume they did have a socket there as there are no holes in any side of the kitchen unit to run the washing machine power cable to a power socket - nor is there one near the hot & cold water pipes which go through a hole in the side of the adjoining unit.

Thanks,
Simon.

you need to careful with spurs that you havent wired yourself, as you dont know the history or layout of the wiring behind it.


give you an example, I have just done some work for a mate, the previous occupant had wired all the sockets in the kitchen. On first glance the sockets I looked at had 2 cables in them, this lets you think that the sockets are on the ring main - all well and good I think. further investigation showed that the sockets were fed by a single cable chopped into a "leg" of the ring main - now this gets naughty, especially in a kitchen - kettle 3KW, toaster 3KW etc - there's about 24A before you begin, that is more than should be put down a single 2.5 cable. the plot thickens though, because another looksee showed that the "chop in" was not done on a "leg" of the ring main but on a spur off the ring main :eek:

..all very confusing, before you know it there will be one piece of cable in the house that is feeding half the sockets - remember, ring main circuits are fused at 32A because there are 2 x 2.5 cables in parralell, and these can take it, a fault anywhere on a true ring main will pull fault current through both cables, ie, the fuse will go before the cable melts/burns. This is a different animal with spurs, this is why the regs say there is a limit to how many spurs you can fit-not sure how many, I'm not a domestic sparkie.

If I were you I would get under the floor and physically check where the cables feeding the spur are coming from, if its blindingly obvious the spur is on it's own or wired into the ring main, then change the faceplate to a socket.

behind the "fused faceplate " in question, how many cables are there?

My guess is the previous owner replaced the original power sockets with the fused faceplates (spurs) - not vice versa. They save a little bit of space (the depth of the 3 pin plug) behind the appliance.

Take a closer look at the bottom edge of the cover - you may see a cable outlet. If this is the case you can (after carrying out the suggested checks AND switching off the power) remove the 3 pin plug and hard-wire your washing machine and dishwasher into these (one appliance per spur)

alot of new houses have a blank plate where your appliance goes with a switch above it to turn it off and on. why dont you remove the plug and connect it in to the outlet?

Took a quick look last night and the cables are as usual - earth, live & neutral. Couldnt see any way to hard wire appliance to it unless the piece that says fused can be removed.

Will check again when I get home at 12 as appliances arrive this afternoon.

Thanks,
Simon.

You should see two sets of contacts, One for the mains (already connected), the other for the appliance cable to connect to.

If you are able to, take a photo of the inside of the faceplate and post it.

you can check to see if its in a ring by disconnecting the faceplate, then testing each end if theres power on each 2.5 then theres a pretty good chance its in the ring :)

MJ, your first point is covered by 'Maximum Demand & Diversity' in the regs.

The number of unfused spurs fed from the ring circuit must not exceed the number of sockets or fixed appliances connected directly in the ring.

Each non-fused spur may feed no more than one single or one twin socket, or no more than one fixed appliance.

Fixed loads fed by the ring must be locally protected by a fuse of rating no greater than 13 A or by a circuit breaker of maximum rating 16 A.

Fixed equipment such as space heaters, water heaters of capacity greater than 15 litres, and immersion heaters, should not be fed by a ring, but provided with their own circuits.


6.2.2 - Diversity

A domestic ring circuit typically feeds a large number of 13 A sockets hut is usually protected by a fuse or circuit breaker rated at 30 A or 32 A. This means that if sockets were feeding 13 A loads, more than two of them in use at the same time would overload the circuit and it would be disconnected by its protective device.

In practice, the chances of all domestic ring sockets feeding loads taking 13 A is small. Whilst there maybe a 3 kW washing machine in the kitchen, a 3 kW heater in the living room and another in the bedroom, the chance of all three being in use at the same time is remote. If they are all connected at the same time, this could be seen as a failure of the designer when assessing the installation requirements; the installation should have two ring circuits to feed the parts of the house in question.

Most sockets, then, will feed smaller loads such as table lamps, vacuum cleaner, television or audio machines and so on. The chances of all the sockets being used simultaneously is remote in the extreme provided that the number of sockets (and ring circuits) installed is large enough. The condition that only a few sockets will be in use at the same time, and that the loads they feed will be small is called diversity.

By making allowance for reasonable diversity, the number of circuits and their rating can be reduced, with a consequent financial saving, but without reducing the effectiveness of the installation. However, if diversity is over-estimated, the normal current demands will exceed the ratings of the protective devices, which will disconnect the circuits - not a welcome prospect for the user of the installation! Overheating may also result from overloading which exceeds the rating of the protective device, but does not reach its operating current in a reasonably short time. The Regulations require that circuit design should prevent the occurrence of small overloads of long duration.

The sensible application of diversity to the design of an installation calls for experience and a detailed knowledge of the intended use of the installation. Future possible increase in load should also be taken into account. Diversity relies on a number of factors which can only be properly assessed in the light of detailed knowledge of the type of installation, the industrial process concerned where this applies, and the habits and practices of the users, Perhaps a glimpse into a crystal ball to foresee the future could also be useful!


David

If the wiring is anything like what we found when we moved in you will not sleep till the whole house has been rewired!!!!

Terminal blocks and bare wires everywhere under the floor. Light above bathroom sink was wire directly in to the ring (well nearly a ring) main as was the emersion heater.

There was a new consumer unit with RCD and MCB's so it all looked like a new installation.To make the rest of the house look like it had been rewired they put about 3 inch of twin and earth on the back of each light switch and choc blocked it onto the old fabric covered cable (No earth to connect to). The first light switch I removed to look behind I pull cable sligthly and the old wire snaped where it came out of the wall.

Maybe it was our fault for not having an electrical survey done, but the money we spent would have been almost as much as it has cost in materials to do the re-wire. And yes I probaly should not have done it myself, but I was not going to pay the cost of the electrician!!! But this will only probably become a problem when we want to sell the house and that should not be for quite a few years yet!! And I do know what I am doing when it comes to electrics, just do not have a qualification to say so...

Well just so you know I did replace the faceplates. Just earth, live and neutral cables as expected. Works fine.

Simon.