| Wiring a Plug
A common cause of electrical faults is a poorly wired plug. Wiring a plug is not difficult however it is important to get it right.
Firstly strip off about 4cm
of the outer cable sleeve. Slit the sleeve of the cable lengthways
with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut into the coloured wires.
Peel the outer sleeve away and cut it off. |
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| Separate the wires and cut to length using
wire cutters. Use the plug as a gauge to cut the wires to the correct
length. Leaving the wires the same length usually results in the
live and neutral wires becoming crushed when the plug cover is replaced. |
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Remove about 5mm of insulation from the
end of each wire using wire strippers/cutters, be careful not to
cut into the individual strands of wire. Now tightly twist the ends
of the wires. |
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| Connect each wire to the correct terminal.
Slacken the screw push the bare wire into the hole and tighten the
screw. Make sure the terminals are tight and that there is no bare
wires or loose strands of wire showing. It is often easier to push
the pins up slightly when connecting the wires.
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Older appliances may have different colours: |
Brown - Live
Blue - Neutral
Yellow and green - Earth |
Red
- Live
Black - Neutral
Green - Earth |
|
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Tighten the cord clamp over the cable sleeving.
Make sure the cord clamp is gripping the outer sleeve of the cable
not the coloured wires. |
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| Check that a correct rated fuse is fitted.
There are three standard fuse ratings- 3A, 5A & 13A.
For appliances up to 700W a 3A fuse is used.
For those between 700W and 1200W a 5A fuse is used.
For appliances over 1200W a 13A fuse is used.
Modern electrical appliances will have a sticker or plate showing
the maximum power consumption in WATTS (W). |
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Make sure there are no loose strands of
wire in the plug and the wires are laying in the correct channels
in the plug and will not become crushed when the cover is replaced.
Double check that the wires are correct and replace the plug's cover
and tighten the screw. |
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Some appliances will only have two wires
- Live & Neutral. These are 'Double Insulated' and do not rely
upon the Earth wire for protection. The plug is wired as above but
there is no Earth wire to connect, however make sure that the screw
on the Earth terminal is not loose. |
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