Putting my old electric cooker into a new property

rickyblake1974

Hello everyone

I need to install our old electric cooker into our new apartment, the cooker already has a cable and the electrics are all in place, so I should just need to connect it.

The problem is that I have noticed that on the socket on the wall the live and neutral wires are placed the wrong way round, so on the plastic bit the wires go into the live is in the neutral holder.

What I need to know is will I have to swap the wires in the socket around or is this fine to leave it like this as long as live is conected to live and neutral connected to neutral and earth to earth.

Many thanks

conny · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:58 am Post Subject:

Do you mean on the the reverse of the cooker outlet on the wall the live wire is in the neutral position and neutral in the live position?
If so then yes they need to be in the correct position or you could end up with a switched neutral instead of a switched live. You will need to check in the CU that it is wired up correctly incase it is also reversed there. If the switch disconnects the neutral side then the appliance will still be live if someone attempts to work on it or if it develops a fault.
If you are not sure what to do then get a pro to check it out for you.
Be safe!

sparkyspike · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:03 am Post Subject:

Did you say this property was new - as in brand spanking new?

If so, then you need to alert the sellers that there is a problem. Correct polarity is a very basic requirement in electrical installations - and is part of the testing process. If polarity is incorrect, it can be dangerous, it implies that the electrics have not been tested properly and you should question the rest of the installation too.

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conny · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:18 am Post Subject:

Quote:

Did you say this property was new - as in brand spanking new?

Good point, I took it the O/P meant new to him not new as in new-build.

rickyblake1974 · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:43 pm Post Subject:

Thanks for your responses

Just to clarify, this is a new build apartment from a housing association and I am the first tenant to live in it.

From the responses you gave it sounds like I should get the housing association to have a look at the electric installation.

I have attatched a picture and you can just make out where it says E/N/L and as you can see the live wire is housed in the neutral holder and the neutral in the live.

Please could somebody confirm I am right.

Many thanks

http://media.diynot.com/124000_123251_12687_46142300_thumb.jpg

JohnD · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:21 pm Post Subject:

in that sort of connector (it is not a plug and socket) the layout is not safety-critical.

Of course, you have to be careful to put the brown (or red) of the cooker cable to the brown of the supply, and the blue (or black) with the blue.

I can't see an "N" or a "P" in your photo, how do you know it's not correct?

I can just see a bLue on the Left and a bRown on the Right.

Synapse · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:21 pm Post Subject:

I had a similar problem when hooking up my electric cooker, the cable had already been fitted and plastered in when I realized that it was impossible (10mm² cable) to get them into the associated terminals on the outlet plate so I was forced to put the live into the neutral block and the neutral into the live block.

Of course the circuit is correct just the labels on the outlet plate are incorrect. I would assume that the same thing has happened here but it would be best to check the circuit as others have suggested.

kkynaston · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:38 pm Post Subject:

Shouldn't this place already have a cooker as it's rented?

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ColJack · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:39 pm Post Subject:

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rickyblake1974 · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:07 pm Post Subject:

It definately says L next to the blue cable and n next to the brown although it is hard to see in the picture.

From what most people have said it seems they but the wrong cables in the wrong block and from what i gather the most important thing is to make sure the red/brown or blue/black cables are conected together[/quote]

Synapse · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:04 pm Post Subject:

Yeah I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as you match up the colours correctly. I would imagine it's quite common to have them the wrong way, there's absolutely no physical difference between the blocks.

bernardgreen · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:16 pm Post Subject:

It may be the camera angle but the screw on the Live looks to be cross threaded. If it is and then doesn't tighten properly when put back in properly that could become a loose joint.

Taylortwocities · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:31 pm Post Subject:

bernardgreen wrote:

It may be the camera angle but the screw on the Live looks to be cross threaded. If it is and then doesn't tighten properly when put back in properly that could become a loose joint.

Well spotted, it does look crook.
Friday afternoon apprentice job....

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ColJack · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:19 pm Post Subject:

to be fair, it's not going to be carrying any current untill the cooker is attatched, at which point the screw will be removed anyway?

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conny · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:29 pm Post Subject:

If it is crooked it may now be cross threaded which will make it insecure. Also by cross threading it may splay the terminal wider putting pressure on the surrounding insulator.
Very poor installation considering what current it may eventually carry.
With a little bit of care they could have been put in the correct terminals and securely fastened.