Installing electric oven

[Lec20]

Hi we are installing a new single electric oven- indesit FIM 31 KA IX GB. It came with a plug attached but we need to hardwire it. Last time we did this with our old oven we did not have any problems. The wires already hard wired into the wall are thicker than those in our new oven. Is this going to be compatible?

 

[ericmark]

The instructions state that a 13 or 15 amp fuse should be used either in the plug or the distribution board, and that there is easy access to the socket or the
omnipolar circuit-breaker once the cooker has been installed. I would think using a 16A MCB or RCBO rather than 15A fuse is not a problem, but using a 32A MCB or RCBO is clearly against the instructions given. Also it states that it takes time to cool down so power should not be removed until the oven is cold or the cooling fans will clearly fail.

Seems rather simple instructions however my mother was given instructions by the county council social services on the use of her new electric oven, and the daft council employee told my mother to switch it off at the wall after use clearly wrong as one caused over heating and two caused the clock to fail and need resetting before oven could be used again. I did tell the council in no uncertain terms their employee's needed re-training.

Using thicker cable is not a problem 6 or 10mm² cable into the cooker connection unit is no problem as long as the MCB or RCBO in the consumer unit (that's the special type tested distribution board used in domestic premises) then there is no problem. However you do need to record the change in size and why so at a latter date it can be changed back to original size if required and going into some makes of consumer unit (CU) is not really DIY work often internal covers are missing and so there are live parts exposed and also in some cases it is easy to make errors and as a result cause fires.

So the only way it will not be compatible is if the same fuse/MCB/RCBO is also used for the hob.

 

[JohnW2]

Hi we are installing a new single electric oven- indesit FIM 31 KA IX GB. It came with a plug attached but we need to hardwire it. Last time we did this with our old oven we did not have any problems. The wires already hard wired into the wall are thicker than those in our new oven. Is this going to be compatible?

As eric has said, the real question relates to the rating ('size') of the fuse/MCB/RCBO in your consumer unit that is protecting the circuit. As he says, if it is any greater than 16A (as near as makes no difference to 15A!) to hard wire it without any additional fuse (such as you would have in a plug or FCU) would not be compliant with the manufacturer's instructions.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Taylortwocities]

Or, keep the plug. Change the cooker connection point to a standard 13A unswitched socket, plug it in, job done!