1. Remove the old plug by cutting it off with side cutters or unscrewing the cover and removing the wires.
2. If you’ve cut the plug off you’ll have to prepare the wires.
- Determine how much of the flex’s sheath you need to strip by placing it against the plug (the flex clamp must grip the sheath, not the cores). Take care when stripping flex not to damage the core wires.
- Cut the flex cores to length with side cutters, ensuring that the live core is the shortest and the earth core is the longest.
- Using wire strippers, strip about 10mm off of each of the cores’ insulation and then twist the copper wires to make it easier for them to fit under the terminal screws.
"If you were able to unscrew the plug, the wires shouldn’t need preparing. Just check that the copper wires are twisted neatly"
3. Feed the flex into the new plug under the flex clamp.
4. Connect the brown (Live) core to the ‘L’ terminal (on the right) by feeding the exposed copper part under the terminal screw and tightening it with a small flathead screwdriver.
5. Connect the blue (Neutral) core to the ‘N’ terminal (on the left).
6. Connect the yellow and green (Earth) core to the ‘E’ terminal at the top. If there isn’t an earth core, ensure the ‘E’ terminal screw is tight.
"There shouldn’t be any exposed copper wire – the core wires’ insulation should go right up to the terminal"
7. Tighten the flex clamp. It should grip the flex’s outer sheath and not the exposed cores.
8. Replace the fuse after double-checking it’s the correct amp rating.
9. Screw the plug cover back into place – it should fit properly the whole way round.
Written by Gareth Pope
Qualified Electrician with 30 years experiance.
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