Extending 240v power supply to gas hob

[harveysduvet]

This weekend we've had to install a new gas hob as a leak was found on the old one by a gas safe engineer who'd come to disconnect and old gas fire in another room.

The new hob is in and the gas safe man will be coming this week to connect it to the gas supply, however the problem I have is that the mains cable for the igniter is too short to reach the 240v socket that the previous hob plugged in to.

The plug in question is on the same plate as the cooker switch which you can see in the attached photo.

Is it ok to plug an extension lead in to this socket and then plug the 3 pin plug for the gas hob in to this?

Or is that not ok and if not, what will I need to do?

Thanks

Jon.

 

[JohnW2]

The new hob is in and the gas safe man will be coming this week to connect it to the gas supply, however the problem I have is that the mains cable for the igniter is too short to reach the 240v socket that the previous hob plugged in to. ... The plug in question is on the same plate as the cooker switch which you can see in the attached photo. ... Is it ok to plug an extension lead in to this socket and then plug the 3 pin plug for the gas hob in to this? ...

That would do the job, but it's far from being a 'nice' solution. The ideal would be to replace the cable with a slightly longer one - how practical/easy that would be depends upon how it is connected at the hob end. Alternatively, you could extend the cable a little, using a small piece of cable and something like this (click here)

Kind Regards, John

 

[deadshort]

Hi, i would take the plug off and drill a hole in the side of the cabinet to gain some length to the cable and re-fit the plug.

Regards,

DS

 

[EFLImpudence]

An extension lead will be fine, or -

drill another hole in the unit above the socket.

 

[JohnW2]

Hi, i would take the plug off and drill a hole in the side of the cabinet to gain some length to the cable and re-fit the plug.

drill another hole in the unit above the socket.

Why didn't I think of that?

Kind Regards, John

 

[harveysduvet]

That would do the job, but it's far from being a 'nice' solution. The ideal would be to replace the cable with a slightly longer one - how practical/easy that would be depends upon how it is connected at the hob end. Alternatively, you could extend the cable a little, using a small piece of cable and something like this (click here)

Kind Regards, John

Thanks - I agree regardless of whether it should or shouldn't be done, it's not a nice solution - I don't like the idea of extension leads being hidden away behind cupboards out of sight.

Jon.

 

[harveysduvet]

Hi, i would take the plug off and drill a hole in the side of the cabinet to gain some length to the cable and re-fit the plug.

drill another hole in the unit above the socket.

Why didn't I think of that?

Kind Regards, John

Yeah, I had thought of that and it should be do-able but won't be much cable to work with. Also means that the plug will need to come off if the hob needs to come out. Annoying but not the end of the world.

I think I'll plug it in with an extension lead for now so we can test it once the gas is connected then once the gas is connected and there's little chance of it coming out again I'll have the plug off, drill through the cupboard and put it back on inside the cupboard.

Thanks for all the quick replies.

Jon.

 

[JohnW2]

Yeah, I had thought of that and it should be do-able but won't be much cable to work with. Also means that the plug will need to come off if the hob needs to come out.

... not if you drill a hole as big as the present one.

Kind Regards, John

 

[harveysduvet]

Yeah, but then my units will start to look like swiss cheese!

Jon.

 

[JohnW2]

Yeah, but then my units will start to look like swiss cheese!

I don't think that would worry me, particularly once there were a few boxes of washing powder or cornflakes in there - but it's obviously your kitchen, and hence your call! FWIW, I would personally probably adopt one of the two approaches I mentioned, depending upon how practical the first one proved to be (and whether I was bothered about hypothetically 'invalidating the warranty'!).

Kind Regards, John

 

[bernardgreen]

Use a cable connector like this

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLRC3.html

which will mean a small hole in the cabinet.

Connect the one with pins on the cable from the hob.....

TLC is not the only source

 

[winston1]

I would be looking to move the cooker isolator to a more sensible location. Do I spy its supply cable across the floor under the gas pipe and its outlet cable curling away in front? I would put it above the worktop behind the tea cosy. Cables look long enough as well.

 

[Iggifer]

looks like the supply comes up under that middle pipe clip, don't think there's anywhere near enough length on it to bring it above the counter though

 

[harveysduvet]

Cooker isolator was installed when the kitchen was fitted by the previous owner approx 6 years ago. Done and certificated by an NICEIC installer (or that's what the bit of paper our solicitor got when we bought the house said).

Apart from it looking messy, are there any big no-no's with how it's been done? The supply pops out from the floor underneath the gas pipe in the middle of the opening then goes across to the switch and then back to the oven, with enough spare cable from the oven to the switch so the oven can be pulled out. Not much spare between the floor and the switch though.

If you think the location of the cooker switch is bad, you should see the location of the consumer unit - it's in the same cupboard as the cooker switch - you can't tell from the photo but it's a corner unit and the consumer unit is all the way over on the right hand end, about 500 mm over from the door opening. An electrician we've had around for some other work looked at it and said 'Well, fingers crossed you never need any work doing on it......'

Jon.

 

[winston1]

If you think the location of the cooker switch is bad, you should see the location of the consumer unit - it's in the same cupboard as the cooker switch - you can't tell from the photo but it's a corner unit and the consumer unit is all the way over on the right hand end, about 500 mm over from the door opening.

Unbelievable. I'm speechless.