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Kitchen appliance switches issue
- Thread starter mal79
- Start date
When appliance come with perfectly good 13a plugs standard across the uk, what's the point of cutting them off to fit something else?
Well, firstly there is no guarantee that the moulded-on plug on an appliance is any good, there are documented cases of them being anything but, and suffering catastrophic failure as a result.
Secondly the mechanical design of BS 546 plug/socket connection is better than the 1363 one, and more suited to high current loads which never get unplugged in normal use and for which therefore you get no advance warning of overheating. Ditto reason for preferring wiring to a flex outlet plate or FCU.
Cookers and hobs are frequently wired to outlet plates with a switch on the wall. I've never seen anybody here devote anything like as much effort to criticising that and seeking alternatives as they do to criticising the idea of connecting other appliances by the same method.
Secondly the mechanical design of BS 546 plug/socket connection is better than the 1363 one, and more suited to high current loads which never get unplugged in normal use and for which therefore you get no advance warning of overheating. Ditto reason for preferring wiring to a flex outlet plate or FCU.
Cookers and hobs are frequently wired to outlet plates with a switch on the wall. I've never seen anybody here devote anything like as much effort to criticising that and seeking alternatives as they do to criticising the idea of connecting other appliances by the same method.
So how is the washing machine connected in the ban household ?
Welded directly onto the meter tails.
In theory. Until the damned plug of the appliance stops it being pushed right back to the wall and causes it to stick out.
For this reason I have previously had to use a flex outlet below the counter, with a FCU (or grid with fuses) above.
Yes my dishwasher has that issue.
I've solved the same potential issue in the past by having the socket a bit to the side of the appliance aperture, accessible by pulling the drawer out of an adjacent unit.
Kind Regards, John
So have I, but in a case where there were 4 appliances in a row, with just end panels separating them, I had no other option!
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