WIRING A PLUG
Wiring a plug is not difficult but you would be surprised how people get it wrong. A wrongly wired (or fused) plug creates a risk of electric shock and/or fire.
Wiring a Plug
The eight simple steps to correctly wiring a plug are:
1.Strip off the outer cable sheathing to expose about 4cm of the insulated wires. A craft knife or a pair of cutters is useful for this. Use the tool to slit the outer insulation, taking care not to use too much force as this may damage the inner wires. Pull back the outer insulation and cut it off.
2.The inner wires may be twisted so separate them out. Cut the Live (brown) wire and Neutral (blue wire) so that they are about 3cm in length. This will make them about 1cm shorted than the Earth (green/yellow) wire.
3. Remove the insulation from the inner wires to leave about 5mm of exposed metal core on each wire. When doing this, take care not to cut into the individual strands of wire. Twist the strands of wire together neatly.
4. Connect the wires to the correct terminals. The brown Live wire to the terminal on the fuse holder marked L, the blue Neutral wire to the terminal marked N and the green/yellow Earth wire to the terminal at the top marked E. Class II appliances do not have an earth wire because they are double insulated.
5. Fit the exposed metal core of each wire through each terminal and tighten the terminal screws. Ensure that the insulation reaches right up to each terminal and that there are no loose strands of wire.
6. Fit the flex firmly into the cord-grip making sure that the grip fastens to the outer insulating sleeve of the flex.
7. Read the instructions on the appliance to see what rating of fuse is required and fit the correct fuse in the plug. If the instructions are not available, use the gauge of mains flex and the power rating of the appliance to work out the appropriate fuse rating.
8. Fit the plug cover making sure that the inner wires are lying the correct channels and do not become crushed when the screw is tightened.