Has our oven been correctly installed... please advise...

[DaMekon]

Weve just had our kitchen fitted, which involved the installation of our new built in oven.

However, I am a bit confused as to what has been done. I noticed in the main fuse board that the old cooker fuse switch was turned off, and wondered how the oven was wired. I then turned off the domestic cirucuit which powers the downstairs sockets, and the oven went off.

From doing a bit of reading, I have learnt that it should be wired into its own fused cirucuit... although the installation manual says:

"This appliance should be wired into a 13A double pole switched fused spur outlet having 3mm contact separation and placed in an easily accessible position adjacant to the appliance"

The old oven was wired into a 30A socket (one with a big red switch!), which I knew to be wired directly to the fuseboard as mentioned above. The new oven has not been connected to this, so the only place I can think its been connected to is in a socket directly behind the built in oven (there was a 3 pin socket, next to a blanked off socket...but I know the hob has been plugged into the socket), and it is certainly not easily accessible, unless you take the oven out.

The only means I have off turning the oven off, is by sitching the approriate fuse switch off in the fusebox, which turns off all the ground floor sockets...

Is this correct, or should I be chasing the installer up to sort it out, as I have no other means of switching the oven off...

I need to know where I stand, so I know what im talking about. Ive also just learnt that any domestic electrical work should be carried out by a qualified electrician, is there a register I can check to see if he is qualified, as I am havind difficulty getting hold of him, and am tempted to go to trading standards.

Cheers

 

[sparkydudeuk]

In my Oppinion your oven has not been connected correctly, It is quite possible that your installer has put a fused spur on the oven, bu that it has been hidden somewhere behind the oven or in the cupboards surrounding it. As the installation has been carried out recently and is in a kitchen it is subject to the Part P regulatuons, meaning all work should have been carried out by a Part P registered electrician. Did he supply you with a test certificate for the works carried out by him with regards to the electrics in the kitchen? If i had been doing the job i would have used the old 30A cooker supply and just changed the fuse at the distribution board for a 15A fuse or changed the cooker outlet for a 13A fused connection unit meaning the oven is fused down to a sensible rating.

Hope this helps

Nick

 

[DaMekon]

He did not provide any certification.... is he supposed to by law??

If he is not a registered sparky, should he have not done the works... other than aksing him, is there any way I can check he is registered? He wired up the electric oven, and provided some new spurred sockets, as well as relocating some old ones.

From what I can see, he must have wired the oven into the blanked socket next to the the three pin socket (where the gas hob is connected), behind the oven. However, I have no way of telling whether this is a fused socket.

It just annoys me cos I provided a new cooker socket, to replace the old one, so it was not as if he did not have what he needed to connect it to its own circuit... I even confirmed with him, that the new oven would be connected to it...

After he left, and was paid... I have noticed a few things Im not happy with, so I dont really want to let him get away with everything... but as expected, hes not returning my calls...

Thanks for your time, and advice...

Cheers

 

[Big_Spark]

The Kitchen sockets should, in an ideal world, be on their own circuit, the fact that your entire groundfloor is a common ring is not a major issue though.

The Cooker in question must be rated for 13A, hence the comment in the User manual. What is common is for a Switched fused spur (Switched Connection unit) to be installed above the worktop and this controls a normally unswitched single gang socket behind the Oven or any other under unit /built in appliance that is rated below 13A.

Ideally the Spurs that control under Unit appliances would be on their own circuit, but this is not a major issue, however I would ONLY be concerned if the cooker has no mehtod of Electrical Isolation from within the Kitchen, by this I mean a Switched Fused Connection Unit adjacent to the location of the Oven in the Kitchen. If this is the case, then do not worry, if this is not the case, then the Installation does not comply with the Regulations which require such pieces of fixed equipment to be able to be Locally Isolated for Electrical Safety during routine Maintenance, which would encompass the cleaning of the Oven when the Power should most certainly be switched off.

If this Kitchen has not installed such protection, contact them and demand they come and install it, if they refuse, contact Trading Standards and chat the them, they will sort it out.

Regardless of the Part P legislation, you should have been issued with a Test Certificate for the alterations/Additions to the circuit in question.

 

[DaMekon]

Thank you ... you have both been most helpful...

Switched Fused Connection Unit

I apologise for my ignorance, but I assume this is the socket, usually above the worktop, near the oven with a big red switch marked cooker on it....??

This is what is annoying me, there is one there, I even provided a new one, which was fitted, but there are no wirdes connected to it, or rather from it to the oven, and it indeed does not work.

The only way to turn off the power to the oven, is to switch off the main circuit at the fusebox, which in turn, will turn off everything else connected to sockets.

I just want to build up a bit of a case, so I know what I am talking about when I contact trading standards, and then the installer... his trade, and by "trade" which in this case, is meant in the loosest possible terms, he is a kitchen/bathroom fitter, but I did ask him if he was able to do the electrics, and he said yes!

Thanks again... I am now beginning to uderstand what should have been done..

 

[sparkydudeuk]

Hi a switched fused connection is one of these

http://www.mkelectric.co.uk/products/item.asp?itemid=4169&rangeid=1030


or similiar basically just a switch with a fuse on the plate to fuse down from the supply current of the ring main (30-32A) to either 3,5,7,10,13A to suit the rating of the appliance being connected to it. Ideally if you oven is connected to one of these and it is accesible then it is OK, but your
one sounds like its definiteley wrong. If connected to the existing oven circuit then it can use the existing switch and outlet, but either change the rating of the fuse in the fuse board serving the cooker circuit , or by installing a fused connection unit to the end of the cooker cable (basically the same as the picture but without a switch) Did you have it done by a kitchen fitter, or anything to do with the kitchen company ? If so i would insist they rectify the situation and issue the correct certification. I personally would insist it is re connected to the cooker supply as at least that way its not taking a load of power off of your ring main, as at the moment, its going to be dragging 13A out of your 30A for the whole flat !!!!

Hope this clarifies it a bit better

Nick

 

[DaMekon]

Thanks... this is what I have

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?ts=02616&id=81646

I bought this to simply replace the existing one, as with all of the sockets in the kitchen. But it definately seems that something is not quite right, so I will be chasing things up tomorrow, if he decides to answer his phone, if not, trading standards will be getting a call...

Thank you for all your help, I feel that I can argue the case, and know a little about what I am talking about...

I will endeavour to let you know how I get on...!!

Cheers