German cooker hood use in UK

i just purchased a cooker hood online which turned out to have come from Germany. It arrived with a European 2-pin plug (a substantial one, not a shaver type one) and is 220-230v at 50htz.

I contacted the supplier ask if I can just swap their plug for a UK 13amp plug, they told me that I need to buy a Euro to UK adapter, not to swap the plugs.

I’m wondering if that is sound advice?

 

No.

 

You mean a Schuko plug? They do have an earth connection also. (I do see what you mean though by calling it a '2 pin' BTW)

Look inside the hood where the flex enters, you will probably find that it is still a three core flex and completely fine to wire into an FCU or a plug if you already have a 13a socket above the cupboards.

 

How substantial ? a picture would help. There is a small chance that the plug may be more than just a plug. It could have some electrical / electronic components inside. Hence changing the plug to a UK one would not be an option

 

Crap advice. Most adapters don't comply with any countries standards. Many don't have earth continuity. A decent 13 amp plug is cheaper than an adapter.

 

There advice has been warped a bit, they are obliged to supply equipment with a British plug or adaptor and if adaptor it must need a tool to remove it. Something like this The reason these are used rather than swap plug is they can use unskilled labour to do it, however they have to convert it, before it is sold, not you after it is sold, see here also it has been raised many times about cutting off plugs to use a FCU instead and it seems this does not invalid warranty.

 

Did it really "turn out" to have come from Germany?

Or did you actually buy it from a German seller?

Got a link to it?

 

There is a problem with some German Schuko plugs in that only one of the side connectors is earthed, and where the adaptor also only uses one side connector then they may not match as to which side is used, the plug in adaptor does have the side pins, at around £2 it is an easy cure, however often cooker hoods and the like have single pole switching as as a result it is important the plug is fitted right way around, but this is not the buyers problem, the importer needs to correct this, they will need to arrange for some one to visit and correct the error.

 

In theory, yes. Where are all the reports of the consequences of that in Germany and all the other countries that use reversible Schuko plugs?

 

Not theory.

They can use reversible plugs because, either way, the OPD is still on the line conductor.

C'mon Winston.

 

That is a good point.

The problem is fitting a 13 amp plug is no longer taught in school, and even when it was, people often got it wrong, that's why today it has to come with a 13A plug already fitted.

There are a load of problems in countries where the Schuko plug is used, however it is hard to separate out, which accident was caused by what, when they also use generators and leads with plugs on both ends to keep things running in a power cut.

Also education is different, if you live in a dangerous environment one has to learn how to protect ones self, talk to any health and safety officer and they will tell you the percentage of people involved in accidents within first month of starting a new job is far higher than those who have worked there for a year or more, we learn what is dangerous and avoid it, so a German will likely unplug a table lamp before changing a E27 bulb, but a Brit will use the switch off the lamp only, we are not use to line - neutral swap or E27 bulbs, we have used BA22d for years, so we are far more likely to get caught out to a German, as Germans expect dangerous items, we expect items to be safe.

It is partly as a result of German systems in the UK that I have a mauled hand, in UK safety switches red or yellow, should be same in Germany however seems they don't bother and use black, so a safety switch was removed to gain access without the person realising he had removed a safety feature.

 

Ok to answer some questions I hope I’ve attached photos ok (not done it for a long time!)

Photo of the actual plug. Photo of how the cable wires into a box inside the hood (that could be a distribution box as there are LED lights as well as the motor). Finally a photo of the box showing the manufacturer.

 

FFS cut the bl00dy plug off and fit a UK one. Use a 5A fuse, unless you have a 3A one to hand.

People fit plugs a thousand times a day.

 

That is a CEE 7/7 plug, it combines French and German and since the French CEE 7/6 plug is polarised it is permitted in the UK. A CEE 7/5 socket may not be easy to locate and would need a FCU to use it.

You have not answered the question was it from UK or German supplier.

 

I agree, simple to us is fit new plug, but has the poster the skill required? I can't see how anyone gets it wrong, however it seems they do.