Cooker Hood wiring...

[JohnW2]

Do I take it that you can get at the wall behind the floor unit to do that?

yes as I mentioned before, I have a void of around 100-150mm behind the floor units, I will be able to pull out what's already channelled & move it across 5/600mm, then up the wall behind the units, channel in from where it becomes accessible from above the worktops & install the switch inline with the socket already there

Does that mean that either the floor units are still movable or that they don't have backs? I was asking about access to the wall behind the units.

You'll obviously have to bring another cable back down from the re-located cooker switch to a connection unit to connect to the cooker.

Not sure what you mean by this as my cooker isn't 'wired' into any outlet, the 3 pin plug (and the only electrical wire coming out of the cooker) is simply plugged into this

Now I'm getting confused. That link gets 'page not available' - can you either provide a better link or explain what it is that the oven will be plugged into? Are you saying that you are just using the socket (intended for kettles etc.) which comes with a 'cooker switch' and not actually using the cooker switch at all?

Have I mistakenly worded it to show that the wire is directly wired into a cooker connection, if so, apologies as this is not the case ... Would this affect what I've proposed then? or not...?

I don't know if it's got anything to do with your wording, but I (and maybe others) certainly had presumed that it was hard wired. In view of what you now say, the normal method would probably be to have a switch above the worktops feeding an unswitched socked below worktop level for the oven to plug into.

I understand what you mean about the cupboard being 'iffy' but it is not so unsafe as I make out, the two main raesons are that my house is a complete mess, and taking on more additional jobs, when there are 'reasonable' workarounds available as I don't have the time to factor in things such as a removal of a wall unit which I never anticipated

As EFLI has said, most wall units have a gap behind which you could poke the cable through without having to remove them from the wall - is that not the case with yours?

I had (incorrectly it seems) assumed that the hood would be fitted with a plug which I'd just put into the nearby worktop sockets ...

As EFLI has also said, you theoretically could still do that (fit a plug, and extend the flex if necessary), but do you really want a visible cable draped all over your kitchen?

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

The site I'm on has kitchens from a well know kitchen supplier that may or may not begin with an H, and they have no service voids.

That's unusual, by virtue of the normal form of construction. The top and sides are usually 'solid' and butt up against the wall, and the flimsy back usually fits in slots a cm or so from the back, leaving a void. With that construction, all one usually has to do is make small holes in top and bottom bits, and something can then be poked (with a little effort!) through the void!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That's unusual, by virtue of the normal form of construction. The top and sides are usually 'solid' and butt up against the wall, and the flimsy back usually fits in slots a cm or so from the back

Howden's cabinets are supplied fully assembled, therefore shipped like that. Without a rigid back screwed/glued/doweled in place they'd be too flimsy.

No reason for them not to have a void, except they'd need to be bigger and therefore more expensive if the same internal depth was to be maintained.

 

[Umy786]

You can continue to try and pretend that you didn't, or try to bodge your way around the problems you've created for yourself

BAS - I don't know what you're trying to assume, well I do but don't appreciate your comment as I did not install the units myself

The units were originally installed 8 years ago when I refurbed the kitchen to let out the property

I have since moved in and decided to keep the units as they're still in very good shape and their 'non'standard' sizes are luckily working well with the dimensions of the kitchen. What I have decided is to replace pretty much everything else, thus wanting to install a cooker hood

No thought or consideration had ever been to installing a cooker hood when the units were put in as I didn't ever plan firstly: on living there, Secondly: providing a chimney hood to tenants

Therefore I cannot see how I 'bodged' anything or 'created problems for myself'

If I wanted to have the FCU inline with the sockets I'd have ignored what's been mentioned already and would just take the spur off of the socket to the right, install the FCU to the left, and then channel up to the hood as this would be far easier and simpler than what is being proposed, but I am not as I do things as compliant as possible

You can put a plug on it. How will that look and how did you think it would look?

Yea it would look horrible, I could just plug it in upstairs but then what would happen with the need of an FCU?

Quote:
or spur off of to create an additional one,

You can do that.

I meant without realising about FCU's and safe zones and the rest of what's been discussed

Do you have Ikea wall units?
Nearly all the others have a gap up the back.

Unfortunately no, they are not Ikea ones and therefore don't have any space at the back

Going back to putting the socket in the right place, how would I be ableto extend the wiring?

 

[JohnW2]

You can put a plug on it. How will that look and how did you think it would look?

Yea it would look horrible, I could just plug it in upstairs but then what would happen with the need of an FCU?

I'm not suggesting you do it, but if you did put on a plug and 'plugged it in', there would then be no need for an FCU, since there would be a fuse in the plug.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Umy786]

strange the link doesn't work when clicked but here it is anyway

Untitled

• Umy786
• 28 May 2015
• 1

John, this is what the cooker itself is plugged into

the 6mm wire from the Mains RCD is fed into this socket (as far as I know)

I could be wrong though but I don't believe so as the 6mm coming from the mains is channelled into the wall and into the above socket, the cooker is then plugged into the socket itself

Does that mean that either the floor units are still movable or that they don't have backs? I was asking about access to the wall behind the units

I meant the wall units are fixed down, they also have backs, but there is a gap of around 100-150mm directly behind the units

As I mentioned earlier, the units are not standard / traditional size and therefore sat further back than normal units would, so they have been moved closer to the front of the worktops otherwise they'd have satback around 200mm or so from the front of the worktops which of course wouldn't look right

 

[JohnW2]

strange the link doesn't work when clicked but here it is anyway

Untitled

• Umy786
• 28 May 2015
• 1

John, this is what the cooker itself is plugged into ... the 6mm wire from the Mains RCD is fed into this socket (as far as I know) ... I could be wrong though but I don't believe so as the 6mm coming from the mains is channelled into the wall and into the above socket, the cooker is then plugged into the socket itself.

OK - so, as I suggested, you're just using it as a socket - the big switch labelled 'cooker' is not doing anything. You might just as well have a single socket there (and an unswitched socket, at that, since the switch would not be accessible in its present position),

If the oven is to be plugged in, the 'proper' way to do this would be to extend the cable so that it could reach some sort of switch (you could use that one, but you don't necessarily need one with a socket) above worktop level, and then bring a cable back down from that switch to a single, unswitched, socket below counter level, into which you could plug the oven.

Does that mean that either the floor units are still movable or that they don't have backs? I was asking about access to the wall behind the units

I meant the wall units are fixed down, they also have backs, but there is a gap of around 100-150mm directly behind the units

I'm still a bit confused. If the floor units are already 'fixed' and have backs, I would not have thought that a 100-150mm gap behind them would enable you to 'get in' to do things with the cables etc. Maybe I'm not understanding properly.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Simon35]

OP, I reckon i could have emptied that wall unit, taken it down and chased out for a cable in the amount of time you've spent posting on here...there will likely only be two fixings, one in each corner that need loosening off, plus a fixing or two into the adjacent unit.

 

[JohnW2]

OP, I reckon i could have emptied that wall unit, taken it down and chased out for a cable in the amount of time you've spent posting on here...there will likely only be two fixings, one in each corner that need loosening off, plus a fixing or two into the adjacent unit.

I agree - but there is also this other issue, of the supply to the oven (and switching/isolation thereof) which also really needs to be addressed.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Umy786]

OK - so, as I suggested, you're just using it as a socket - the big switch labelled 'cooker' is not doing anything

I didn't really think of it like that, but I wouldn't say the big switch isn't doing anything - it's controlling the power coming from the mains RCD, and allowing to isolate the point if necessary. Although I guess this could also be done from the mains.

OP, I reckon i could have emptied that wall unit, taken it down and chased out for a cable in the amount of time you've spent posting on here...there will likely only be two fixings, one in each corner that need loosening off, plus a fixing or two into the adjacent unit.

Haha possibly but I've been at work all that time, only now am I posting from home! And to be fair if I was your neighbour and I had an angle grinder and an SDS drill going off @ 7 in the evening you would not be liking me very much...

The other issue I didn't mention is I only have time to do this stuff in the weekends.

I'm still a bit confused. If the floor units are already 'fixed' and have backs, I would not have thought that a 100-150mm gap behind them would enable you to 'get in' to do things with the cables etc. Maybe I'm not understanding properly.

Kind Regards, John

I can access the void from the rear at the sides but only to route wiring, not to channel or do much further deeper down the width of the unit

Re: extending the cabling, do I have to crimp & heat shield or can I use suitably rated JB?

 

[JohnW2]

OK - so, as I suggested, you're just using it as a socket - the big switch labelled 'cooker' is not doing anything

I didn't really think of it like that, but I wouldn't say the big switch isn't doing anything - it's controlling the power coming from the mains RCD, and allowing to isolate the point if necessary.

I don't think you understand what that cooker switch is - which is perhaps a bit worrying. The big lever on the left labelled 'cooker switch' controls only the supply to any oven/cooker which is hard-wired into the unit - it does not control the supply to the socket (which is a sort-of afterthought to the main purpose of the accessory), which is totally separate and has its own switch. The socket will have power, and hence will 'work' (provided its own switch is 'on'!) even if that big 'cooker switch' is in the 'off' position. If you plug your oven into the socket, the big 'cooker switch' therefore could not be used to isolate the oven. As I said, you might just as well have an ordinary socket for the oven.

Re: extending the cabling, do I have to crimp & heat shield or can I use suitably rated JB?

As I said before, I would personally regard a (suitably-rated) JB as a 'lesser of the evils' as compared with having the only means of isolating the oven hidden behind the oven.

Kind Regards, John