In the first of the new 2023 'DIY Basics' series I take you through everything you need to know to be able to safely wire a UK plug and the important things you should be looking out for. Proper DIY Patreon Page: / properdiy
Great video Stuart. May i just add one comment. Being an Electrician, we were always told that there is good guidance on the plug card. But always make sure that your CPC (circuit protective conductor) or Earth wire was the longest of all three. That way should the lead get snagged and happen to be pulled out of the plug, the last wire to let go would be the earth (the one that offers you protection from electrocution whilst using class one equipment) Thanks for sharing.
When I started out as a 16 year old apprentice I wired several plugs neatly and carefully. Then I was made to do them all again because I'd left the earth wire too short.
I was taught the same way as you - CPC (Earth) has to have the longest amount of spare to ensure that in the event of the cable being snagged it'd be the last to be pulled out. If I'd presented a wired plug to my apprentice master as shown in the video, it would have been cut off and thrown back at me. Those were the days ;o)
Yes, as an electrical apprentice we all had to wire plugs making sure that the longest wire with slack was the earth wire, so that it was the last to be detected in the case of the cord being pulled out or working loose. Great safety tip mate.
Great, informative video. Couple of things. The card on the back of the plug seemed to suggest the length of each wire should be cutting, ie. L=12mm, N=22mm and E=32mm (as a guide). Also, after cutting each wire sleeve, rather than just pull it straight off, I spin the insulation as I pull it off, so that there is no need to twist the wires after the insulation has been removed.
It should be stated that the fuse in the plug is there to protect the cable and nothing else. If the flex becomes damaged, the fuse should rupture due to the fault current before any subsequent damage (like a fire) happens to the cable, so for 1.5mm² cable which can carry 15 amps, a 13A fuse is perfect - it will pop before the cable rating is exceeded. If for some reason a lighter cable is used, then it is important to down-rate the fuse to suit, so for example a 0.75mm² cable is rated for 6 amps, so a fuse less than 6 amps should be fitted to protect it - the next available size below 6A is a 5A fuse.
@@jamesbeckett4390 Absolutely. I once bought a Humax TV set-top box. It had an extremely thin twin flex and was fitted with a moulded plug containing a 13A fuse. I changed this for 3A and then complained to Humax customer services who were totally IGNORANT and assured me that the 13A fuse was correct. Well, at least mine was safe but the thousands of others???? :-(
@@frankjohnson7204 Spot on Frank. 1 amp fuses are also available which I also fit to this kind of device. The simple equation Power = Volts x Amps tells us therefore 240v x 1A = 240 Watts. All devices have to show the wattage on them so it is easy to check.
You can use the image on the piece of paper to measure out the cable; just put the cable (outer sheath removed) on the image, then cut & strip the cable sheath to match the image.
Did I just watch Stuart explain how to fit a plug? yes, did I know how to do this before? yes, did I enjoy it? You bet I did, always great videos. I watch everyone.
Thanks Stuart, I watched this despite having wired hundreds of these over the years, and as expected it was pretty much just how I would do it and is perfectly adequate to my mind. Although some of the comments here are very much ideal best practice it's good to note them and adjust process where necessary, also, I've never even noticed the measurements on the diagram as it is immediately removed and discarded as I'm sure it is by most people who've done this a few times ! I'm sure you predicted that the Sparkies & Smarties would be all over this ! 😉😁
One saftey point, ALWAYS make the Earth lead the longest so that if the cable is pulled hard from the plug the last lead to leave its connection is the Earth.
Exactly, the Earth should be the longest - as shown on the diagram. Looking at the plug wired in this video I would wager that the Neutral is either the same length as the Earth, or even a couple of MM longer....
Hello! This enabled my 79 year old mother to fix a household item without calling an electrician. It was very easy to follow and I would like to thank you very much for the video. Best wishes, Jake
Some essentials worth mentioning: make sure the terminal screws do not tighten against the insulation but against the copper. Do not over-tighten because that can shear the copper. Always test each individual connection with a firm tug. If the wire stays in place, that's firm enough 👍
This is what I love about UK plugs; the internal connections are the same from one plug to another. In North America, while the size and position of the pins is uniform, the connections inside the plug can vary widely from one plug to another.
Nicely explained Stuart. Not easy to do a comprehensive instruction video on something you know very well and do all the time. I watched to the end and must have fitted hundreds of plugs in my DIY life.
Even though I've wired many plugs since my first home in the 1970's I watched this one right through as I always enjoy your videos. Wiring a plug is something my generation takes for granted but with new appliances coming with pre fitted moulded plugs this will be very useful for anyone starting out and who needs to fit cable. PS I'd never noticed the wire lengths on the diagram. That could be quite useful information.
It is important to remenber that the fuse protects the cable that is connected to the plug. It is also important that it is rated to the appliance. It is no use using a 13 anp fuse on a 5Amp cable as the cable will breakdown or catch fire if the unit goes faulty. likewise a 5Amp fuse on a 13Amp aplliance the fuse may work for a time but will fail earlier if not blow straight away.
Just the right video Stuart for anyone starting off in their new home. Simple easy to follow with good explanation of why you it that way. May be won't get many views straight off but I'm sure will help a lot over time and put together with other simple videos for the first timer will become popular.
I remember being taught this back in the mid 70's, in a school physics lesson. Largely redundant now with the ubiquity of moulded plugs but just occasionally comes in useful when you have to cut the moulded plug off to pass the cable through a small gap.
Back when I was younger (which was many years ago) I always recall the wires being black red and green and remembering B "left" lack / R "right" ed. It's a chain of thought that still sticks in my head today whenever I need to wire a plug (also works for blue and brown)
Fantastic video and great teaching style - it was really easy to follow and gave me the confidence to try it myself even though I have never done it before!
NIce video. It might be worth mentioning a safety feature of these plugs - the brown is shortest so that if the cable is tugged and the cord grip fails, then the live will be disconnected first. Lots of people have tripped over cables over the years. The earth and neutral are longer (and should have a little slack) so that they remain connected. That is what I was told anyway - might be an urban myth 🤷♂
Very informative will be referring back in a month as have a cable to fit through the side of a wardrobe. Memories of a work experience day at an aerospace company where they had a group of us wiring up a hundred or so plugs as they didn't really know what to do with us. They then took them apart at the end cause we were just 16 after all.
As always.a very good demo and explained plug wiring. 13 amp fuse for UK 3 pin plug are always brown writing. For easy visual if u can't see the txt on it.
Hi Stuart, thanks for your excellent videos. I do have to take you to task on this one. "95% of plugs have 13A fuse". No, not in this day an age. All electronic equipment will have a correctly rated fuse or fail CE certification. Hence many plugs are 3A or 5A, very occasionally they are even 1A. Check out all you lamps. TVs, laptop/ tool chargers, hi fi, etc etc. My guess is that your house has far fewer 13A fuses than you think. Right fuse for the right equipment.
I'd say nearly 100% of loose plugs your average consumer is ever likely to see will be supplied with a 13A fuse...usually just along the shelf from the packets of spare fuses 😉
@@mcdon2401 That's because if plugs were sold with the lower rated fuses, folks would fit them to kettles and hair dryers, then complain the plug didn't work!
On two occasions I have found electrical items from certain German supermarkets came with 13 amp fuses when they should be only 3 amp so it's worth checking purchases.
Stuart thank you. I used to hate fitting plugs - now I just dislike it. It helps that it doesn't look like spaghetti junction afterwards and you dread an actual sparks seeing it. That's at least the third tip I used of yours, so it only seemed fair to sub ;)
I worked a Saturday job in the small electricals dept of a dept store, back in the early and mid eighties. Manufacturers would often do trade-in promotions, leading to customers presenting us with their old Hoover, kettle, toaster etc., etc. By far, the vast majority had very badly fitted plugs and so the very first thing we did with all of them was to chop off the plug. Also worth noting, is some customers buying new products, especially the more mature folk, would ask us to fit a plug, but for insurance reasons we had to politely refuse. They were given a plug for free though! :)
That's is excataly how i wire my plugs nice and neat, a great well explained video i am going to love this new series. When i was younger my Dad explained to me about fitting a plug and he used to say not to worry if i can't remember which was the Live, Earth and Neutral, he said that a little trick for plugs only and that is because the word bLue has an L in it that goes to the left terminal, because the word bRown has an R in it that goes to the right terminal, and because there is only one wire left that must be the one that goes down to the middle terminal, and to this day if i have to wire a 3 pin plug even though i know which is which, i always seem to do that trick and it doesn't fail because it's the right way to wire a uk 3 pin plug. Stay Safe. Barry (Wirral)
Hi, The wiring of the plug demo is great. It's amazing how many young men don't seem to know how to do this safely...a failure of parenting. Only two observations, because there are so many dodgy cheap 13a plugs for sale on the internet I feel it would have been worth a mention to ensure the plug is CE marked & BS1363 compliant...maybe also bought from a reputable source (apologies, so that's three observations 😬) I'm sorry but I agree with an earlier comment about length of wire, the N needed to be shorter and the E just a tad longer for the reasons given. I enjoy your RU-vid channel immensely, thank you very much 👍
Blue has an 'L' in it = left and Brown has an 'R' in it = right. That's one of the ways that we were taught to remember the orientation at college many years ago. Just a free tip. Looking forward to the next episode in this series👍👍
Brown will also be the colour of your trousers, should you touch it (okay, so only true if it is plugged in and the back is off and the switch is on... but you get the idea 😉😁)
Expertly done, Stuart. One thing that should be thought about, is that the Earth conductor should always be slightly longer than the other two conductors, in case through rough treatment, the cord grip fails, the last wire that gets disconnected, should be the Earth conductor to the appliance. I've always worried about people using knives around mains cables, but your explanation and technique is spot on. Thanks for the video.
My dad taught my mum to change a plug in the 1970's, whenever she did she'd put her wellies on (to earth her !?) before plugging in ... Also used to know someone who would just use the pins of an unwired plug to push the bare wires of a flex into the socket 😱
The idea of the wellies was to supposedly insulate you from earth in case you touched the live wire. Thus, in theory, no path to earth saving you from an electric shock/electrocution. Not much use if you accidentally happened to touch live and neutral, though.
I used to work somewhere where we had to unpack a product, change a EU plug to a UK one and repack it within one minute. Zero Fs were given and was all top brands, so if you buy something with a plug like this (with a screw, not a sealed one) open it up and check it!
@@ProperDIY vast majority are, but if some companies based in the UK sell internationally and have surplus stock fitted with an EU plug, they'll sometimes consider it cheaper to pay a reworking company to chop the factory fitted sealed EU plug off and manually fit a UK one rather than producing more stock. Then it's a case of does the reworking company care about speed (money) or quality more.. quality control checking 1% and only correcting the checked ones where I worked 🙄
Nice video Stuart but it may be worth pointing out that to comply with latest regulations the line and the neutral pins must be insulated to stop your fingers touching them when removing the plug from the wall socket. There are many appliances sold in secondhand shops which have the old plugs still on - it is illegal to sell them like this but it does still happen. So if you are putting a plug on an appliance don't just find an old one at the bottom of a drawer - make sure it has insulated terminals!
I find that many people assume that because it is called 13A plug that only a 13A fuse should be used. As others have noted the cable on some appliances or the appliance (table lights being simple example) should only have a 3A fuse. Surprisingly one of my extension leads with 2 sockets should only have 10A fuse as limiting factor is the cable. Also I leave the earth as longest so if the cable clamp slips the safety connection is last to be compromised
I thought 17 minutes on wiring a plug?!! I'll watch it because it's PDIY and I'm glad I did... cracking video as ever mate, top stuff thank you! I've wired a plug or two in my time for DIY purposes but if I hadn't, there are some absolute gems in here and after watching this, I'd be confident to tackle it. The simple things are so easily overlooked, even shunned as "something you should just know" which isn't always the case so well done for this... looking forward to the next installment. Keep up the good work but please answer me this... I have been popping the pins out for years but WHY IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY have I not been doing the live first?!!!! I'm off to re-wire ever plug in the house just because! 😆👍🙏
Exactly Steve, everyone needs teaching at some point. My aim was to make a quick 4 min video - seems it takes a bit longer to get across everything I wanted!
It's great that you're doing these basics, we're losing so many skills because of this "nanny state" we're being brought up in. I learnt how to wire a plug before I was 13. I cringe when I see some of the things people are asking for help with on local Facebook groups.
@@ProperDIY I use a scalpel when trimming wire back, cuts through the plastic sheathing on the wires with ease, no chance of cutting the cable itself. As I rotate the end it slowly comes off as the wires get twisted. If I've got my soldering equipment out (got an entire rework station that I have to put away when not in use) I fold the twisted wires back to touch the sheathing and then tin them creating an anchor point for the screws in the plug pins creating a very secure grip.
I remember a story about my Dad putting a piece of Liquorice on a plug and giving it to me to chew on when I was like 2 or something, and then watching the horrific look on my mums face when she saw me eating the Liquorice. Pretty sure that's what turned me into a electronics technician :) . Great video , well explained and no Liquorice cord
I had to do an afternoon course on how to connect a plug, your explanation was far more succinct! Could I point out that the measurements included with the card are to ensure that if the flex is pulled then the earth will be the last wire to lose connection (for safety).
That and the ring main system. Improved by the introduction of partly insulated live and neutral pins. Back in the 80's I remember being in a posh hotel in Beijing and finding they used 13 amp sockets.
Hi Stuart, what’s your thoughts on stripping back 10mm (as opposed to 5) and folding the cable back on itself before securing into the terminals? Does it make for a ‘better’ or safer connection in your view? Cheers Great video!
Thanks Matt. Stripping more and folding back is fine if you twist the strands tightly so when you fold it you have a nice, tight end you can actually get into the hole in the pin. I'm not convinced it gives a better connection - tightening the screw on the pin properly is more important I think.
Newbie question: At 10:44, you explained that we don't want copper exposed below the screw but what about the top of the screw? I noticed that the top of the screw ( and all 3 screws, in fact), the copper is exposed and appears to be touching the white plastic. Is that safe? Thank you.
I keep old double-edged razor blades for stripping; with light pressure (pressing without drawing/cutting), they'll cut/score the insulation without damaging the conductor.
9 points of a possible 9 my CSE grade 1 Human Biology (practical) still not sure why biology but heck I'm glad I had a father that taught me some of this stuff because the teachers hadn't! I wondered why it was going to take 17 minutes to explain but not rushing it is a great idea. But 13amp fuse on a 1.5mm cable?
0:18 That face 😂 Comedy gold! Here in The Netherlands the plugs do look different, never seen one with a fuse built in, actually. Maybe they exist, I don't know really...🤔
I was taught not to cut across the outer sheathing like that because of the risk of going through the cable strands and into the copper wire. It is very easy to do for someone who is not used to installing a plug
@@rafflesnh cutting a couple of nicks at the end of the outer sheathing and then pulling it apart to split it with fingers or plyers downwards and then trimming it off at the right length
@@home-space Sounds like that will need a bit of practice to pull it back to the correct length without overshoot, but will give it a go next time as I'm forever nicking the inner wire sheathings too!
I live in Australia now and do miss the UK plugs system as the current Aussie plug is flimsy and lacks a lot of the safety features and build of the UK plug.
I think I would dispute that most devices in the home need a 13A fuse and say that most will need 5A max, often fine with 3A. I think that the only things that will really need 13A are extension leads and things like kettles and heates or fires.
You may notice that both the neutral and the earth terminals' have their holes positioned at 90 degrees to the direction of any cable tension ( pull out) the live hole is aligned with direction of tension and is most likely to pull out first making the appliance non-functional, but safe being still connected to the earth in the plug, when I say "safe", I mean always approach any electrical failure with due caution. Clever people designed this plug, it's almost fool proof.
That is a bit risky as it depends which way up you have the plug or which way around it is. I was already taught brown is live because that is the colour of your pants if you touch it.
@Purple Burglar Alarm In Australia and NZ it is in reverse and earth is at the bottom. The diagram that was provided with the plug was on the wrong way around, which reversed the live and neutral pins. If the fuse wasn’t on the plug, it may not be as clear for many novices. We get a colour coded diagram with our plugs to avoid confusion and we don’t have fuses in them. Also our earth pin is at the bottom of the plug where it looks like the UK plug the earth is at the top. That reverses the sides
Very good,... but, the neutral needs to be shorter; when the cable is pulled through the cable grip, the live should be first or coincident with the neutral to disengage, earth should be the last of the 3 (L, N, E) to get pulled out. You have too much of a loop on the N so it looks like the N will remain intact after the earth has disengaged.
I am now 75 and remember when electrical items came with just wires and you had to pay extra for the plug. One reason could be different electrical systems. My parents house was.built in 1953 and had round pin plugs. They had it rewired around 1988. Crazy now to think people had to do their own wiring. Incredibly dangerous. I also remember that teeth are bad wire strippers.
The earth wire should have the most slack in it not the neutral so that the earth wire is the last to disconnect if cable gets pulled out. Or that's how I was taught
2.5mm cable should be used if you're wiring sockets on a 16A breaker in a ring main (depending upon length) - the cable from the socket to the plug is unlikely to need to be anything over 1mm tbh
That is general sizing for the cable used in the electric installation. i.e the sockets and switches in your home. Some lighting circuits may be 1mm², some specialised circuits for e.g cooker or shower may be up to 10mm². This video refers to 'flex' attached to a removeable plug on a portable appliance.
Hi Stuart - sorry to pedantic but there's a serious error! It's NOT Live it's LINE! BS7671. Calling brown live gives the mistaken impression to some that Neutral does not carry voltage. It's AC so neutral most definitely does carry 230V with respect to earth. Also, the earth wire (now called common circuit protection - CPC - as may not actually be an earth BS 7671) is the longest in the plug so it's the last to be disconnected if the lead is yanked - a lovely planned safety measure. Keep up the great films - miss the old beginning with the knome and broken sweeping brush.
No it does not . That is why it is called neutral. It is grounded so it does not have voltage. Sure if it breaks then the other end will have the main voltage.Remember Neutral and earth are connected at the entry to the building so what is on the neutral is on the earth. This is not strictly true as if the consumption is high it produces some small voltage to the neutral as the wire has some resistance. I think you have problem understanding negative voltages. The phase wire varies between +325 V and -325 V referenced to the earth while neutral is at the earth potential. Many seem to think that in AC somehow the voltage comes half the cycle from the live and the other half from the neutral. This is a very common misconception. Alternatively you are mixing current and voltage. Neutral of course has the same current as live.
Stewart, The correct screwdriver needed is a slotted pozidrive 1. Short name is a SL/PZ1. I would also like to refer you and the rest of your audience to Efixx if they want more in depth electrical knowledge.
