Advice on cooker wiring please.

[notalectrician]

Could someone be very kind and look at the wiring on my cooker please (pic below). I have so far been unable to connect the live and neutral so that all the wires are clamped underneath the screw and in my non-expert opinion it looks rather dodgy to me. Any advice would be very welcome.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Are you using the right size and type of cable? It doesn't look as if it's designed to accept twin & earth.

The N collection is on the wrong side of the screw - it should be at the top so that as you tighten it the conductor gets pulled in, not pushed out, but that doesn't explain why the L (which is on the correct side) is so scrappy.

My money is on the wrong type of cable.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Looks like 6mm. I would use yellow (6mm) crimps on there

 

[notalectrician]

There's no markings on the cable, is there a way to tell without?

I can do crimping if it's the right cable but fitting a new cable to the wall is beyond my abilities, the socket is too low for me to see it clearly and it's not the sort of mistake I want to risk.

May have to admit defeat on this one but thank you for the help.

 

[sparkwright]

I would say that cable is suitable for those terminals.

However, as you suspect, the connections are very poor and definitely need re-doing.

For a start, the wires don't go in far enough, and some strands aren't in the terminal.

Each strand needs to be tidy. They aren't 'side by side', neither are they uniformly twisted together, so this partly explains why you have a poor connection there.

All the copper should make good contact with the terminal - at the same time there shouldn't be any excess copper exposed.

It's very hard to explain, as it's all based on years of experience, but hopefully this will be of some use.

 

[sparkwright]

Good point made about the neutral wire.

If you imagine the wire is to enter a terminal (like the ones you have there) at the BOTTOM, put the wire in the LEFT side.

This way, the wire is not fighting against the screw.

This rule is more appropriate in old-fashioned terminals where the wire would 'wrap around' a terminal, but the principle is more or less the same, so it's a good rule to remember.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I would say that cable is suitable for those terminals.

They do not look like any other terminal designed to accept twin & earth.

They do look like an awful lot of terminals designed to accept fine-wire conductors.

Whilst I am sure that someone with the appropriate experience and skill could terminate T/E in there satisfactorily that would not alter the fact that the terminals are not designed to accept it.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

This rule is more appropriate in old-fashioned terminals where the wire would 'wrap around' a terminal

Which can easily be done with fine wire conductors?

 

[sparkwright]

Ban, you may well be right that the cable may not be suitable.

However I've seen such terminals on high wattage cooking appliances, where 6 mm² twin and earth is likely to be used, as large flex can be something of a rarity. Have also successfully connected 6 mm² twin and earth to similar looking terminals, without the aid of crimps.

These terminals don't require the wire to be wrapped round the terminal, as far as I can tell.


With respect to the op, I would suggest a little more effort to be made in preparing the cable ends before connecting them to the terminals. Some re-stripping recommended.

 

[Taylortwocities]

I would use yellow (6mm) crimps on there

 

[bernardgreen]

As there are bare bus bars exposed it suggests the cover over terminals is adequate to ensure nothing can touch the bare bus bars. there is an option to divide the strands into two, run them on top of the bus bars and thus use two screws per wire.

This does require that the cable is adequately clamped to prevent the bare strands moving and should only be used as a last option if all the strands cannot be held securely under one screw.

 

[EFLImpudence]

I think this is a case of attempting to solve a problem where none exists.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Untitled

• Taylortwocities
• 23 Sep 2014
• 1

 

[JohnW2]

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• Taylortwocities
• 23 Sep 2014
• 1

You are being fairly persistent in advocating that, bit I just wonder whether it would necessarily actually fit in those terminals?

Kind Regards, John

 

[Taylortwocities]

Yes, have done so on numerous ovens like this, a little modification and guile is sometimes necessary though.

Boy Scout stuff