Q&A for How to Wire a UK Plug

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How would I wire a brown and blue cable?

Community Answer

Blue to the left and brown to the right, as shownabove. It's a standard cable for a device which doesn't need an earth wire.

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Question

If the wires are black and red, which is Live and which is Neutral?

Community Answer

Red will be Live and Black will be Neutral.

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Question

The cable for my hob has four wires: green/yellow, blue, black and brown, whilst the plug only takes three. Can I use either the brown or black?

Community Answer

No! Usually a brown wire is live and black or blue wires are neutral, so they are NOT interchangeable. I haven't seen such a connection in my hobs, so I would recommend that you contact the supplier, manufacturer, or a professional electrician.

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Question

Can I get electrocuted by an earth wire?

Aasim

Top Answerer

In normal circumstances, no. Ground is used in the event of an electrical malfunction where there is the possibility for current to ground through an unwanted path, such as a faucet, metal fixture, or your body.

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Question

I wired the blue and red, then cut the ground cable. Once I plugged it in, there was a small bang. Have I done anything wrong?

Aasim

Top Answerer

You should never cut the ground pin. The ground pin is a safety feature so that in the event of an electrical malfunction, the electricity is grounded to earth through the wire, not through your body.

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Question

Does the quality of new plugs vary? The screws on some seem particularly small.

Community Answer

Quality certainly varies, as well as price! The main problem is poor quality rigid plastic on some plugs, but all seem OK if care is taken and not in a rough environment. For portable devices, try the (rather bulky but solid) MK plugs or the more flexible ones, some of which come with 2 screws, which seems to me a bit more "firm." The feel often gives an indication of quality.

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Question

How do I wire a USA plug to an English plug?

Community Answer

Get a converter to plug the USA plug into the English one, which will then go into the wall.

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Question

I only have two brown wires on my lamp. How do l wire them into a three-pin plug?

Community Answer

Alternating current switches directions 60 times a second, so you can treat the two wires as identical. Wire them to the left and right plugs. The longer third plug, rotated 90 degrees from the other two, is for ground. You can leave it disconnected for a lamp.

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Question

Can I change pins in a UK plug?

Community Answer

You shouldn't need to, just buy another plug. Remember to put the proper fuse for the job in it.

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Question

Do old black wires go to blue?

Community Answer

Yes, black is the old color for the Neutral terminal, which is on the left.

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Question

What if I want to connect a wire directly into the socket?

Aasim

Top Answerer

You should not try it. When plugging in electricity directly into electrical sockets, you have the potential of hurting yourself. You can probe electrical outlets with a multimeter, but you should not connect a light or charger with live electricity.

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Question

How do I convert 3-pin plug into two-pin?

Aasim

Top Answerer

You should not do this. There are adapters for converting plugs, but the third pin underneath in almost any electrical plug is ground. If an appliance that requires ground is not connected to ground, there is the potential for electrical shock when handling metal parts of the appliance.

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Question

Why are fuses different colors for different sized plugs?

Community Answer

In the UK, fuses have different coloured casings/writing to help easily identify the current rating of the fuse. The physical size of the fuses are all the same.

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Question

How do I wire a UK plug if the plug is 3 pins and there's only a blue and brown wire?

Community Answer

Just wire the brown wire to the LIVE terminal (fuse) and the blue wire to the NEUTRAL terminal and nothing to the EARTH terminal. It is likely that the item you are powering is double isolated and so doesn't have anywhere on the item that needs earthing. So there won't be an earth wire in the cable.

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