Wiring of Oven and Hob

[idrinktea]

I recently got a new oven and when I went to disconnect the old one, I turned off the power for the house and then when I opened the box the wall, noticed the neutral connection was melted. (see image below).

It has been wired this way since the house was built about 20 years ago, the oven and hob are the original ones, so I'm suspecting one of them was faulty. The melted connecter said 500V on the back of it.

I've cut off the melted connector, replaced it with a 30A/400V one, and have only wired in the new oven. Given the oven is on a 30A circuit breaker, this to me seems sensible.

Is it common practice to wire the oven and hob into the same connector as was the case? I can survive without a hob easily enough for a few weeks, but I'd be wary of wiring in a new hob to this - assuming I'd need a connector with a higher voltage rating if the hob went on it too? Which will be why I will get a proper sparky into to do it, when I get round to picking up a new hob.

The wiring, the wires at the bottom were the old oven and the grey cable was from the hob.

Thanks for any input.

 

[OwainDIYer]

the reason it has melted is almost certainly because the connection was poor and got hot.

Those cables have been very badly terminated, you can see where the cores have been chewed, there should not be exposed copper outside the terminal block, the sheath of the cable should continue into the back box and the back box knockout should be sized to the cable sheath and no larger.

Loose terminal blocks should not be used as terminals are not supposed to be supported by the conductors. A cooker cable outlet with terminals and cable clamp should be used eg

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CB4506.html


Ones without terminal strips are for where the cable continues uncut between the cooker control unit and the cooker.

 

[stillp]

No, you won't need a higher voltage rating if you connect the hob. You might need a higher current rating but I doubt it.
What rating is the protective device (fuse or circuit-breaker) for this circuit?

 

[idrinktea]

The circuit breaker says it's 32A

 

[idrinktea]

I'll get one of those ordered ASAP. Thanks

I'm now slightly concerned that if this is how my oven/hob was wired by the company that built this place, how bad is the wiring elsewhere going to be? Might be a good idea to check the wiring elsewhere too.

 

[Taylortwocities]

AS you have two appliances, you would be better off with one of these

http://www.alertelectrical.com/prod/1022/click-45a-easyfit-dual-appliance-outlet-plate

Also, where does the cable at the bottom go to? That cable looks rather small to me.

 

[idrinktea]

The bottom cables were from the old oven.

 

[Aragorn84]

It would be worth checking the manual/instructions of the new oven to check whether its suitable to be protected by a 32A breaker. You may well find it should have a much lower rated fuse.