AHK Electrical would be delighted to visit you in order to give a free, no obligation quote for your electrical work requirements. We strongly advise that you never attempt to conduct your own electrical repairs as it can be extremely dangerous and can invalidate your insurance policy. In 2005, new regulations were introduced outlining what an unqualified individual is permitted to do. Failure to comply with the regulations is a criminal act and could result in imprisonment. If you are unsure about any aspect of electrical work, please call us – we will happily advise you free of charge over the phone and if your work does require a qualified electrician, we can give you a no obligation quote for our services.
AHK Electrical Services are proud members of the NICEIC. NICEIC is the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Consulting. The NICEIC is the UK electrical contracting industry’s independent voluntary body. We offer leading certification services, Building Regulations Schemes, products and support to electrical contractors and many other trades within the construction industry. Over 25,000 contractors are registered with us and take advantage of our products and services. NICEIC registration not only demonstrates to customers and specifiers your skills and professionalism, it also gives you peace of mind that our products and services are the best in the industry.
There are some minor electrical jobs that don’t necessitate a qualified electrician and we have included a safe ‘how-to’ section below to help you perform these minor tasks or to identify potential faults. However, we do strongly recommend that if you are not entirely comfortable with performing a task, please call us. We have also included some hints and tips on frequently asked electrical subjects, which we hope you will find useful.
How to Wire a Plug - Remove the cover of the plug by undoing the large screw between the pins. When you look at the plug with the flex grip at the bottom, the large pin at the top is the earth, the live terminal is on the right, the neutral terminal is on the left. Prepare the flex by removing about 43mm of outer sheath with a sharp knife taking care not to damage the insulation on the inner cores. Cut the Live and Neutral cores to a length of about 26mm. Remove about 10mm of the insulation from all three cores and twist the loose strands neatly together. If the live terminal is on the left of the fuse the live core will need to be cut slightly shorter. If the plug has the clamp type terminals, remove the clamps, wrap the wires around the terminal posts in a clockwise direction, replace the clamps and tighten them with a small screwdriver to secure the wires. Sometimes the live terminal is under the fuse so the fuse will have to be removed before wiring that terminal. If the plug has screw hole terminals then double over the strands, insert them into the terminal holes and tighten the terminal screws with a small screwdriver to secure the wires. Make sure the plug is neatly wired, the insulation goes right up to the terminals and that there are no straggling wires. Check the appliance rating and make sure the correct size fuse is fitted. Fit a 3 amp fuse (red) for appliances up to 720 watts and a 13 amp fuse (brown) for appliances from 720 watts up to 3000 watts (3 KW).
How to Wire a Light Switch (one-way switch) – ensure all power is switched off at the mains. Remove the old light switch and ensure that all wires are in good order – if they are frayed or broken, cut them away and strip more from the feed cable. To wire your new switch, the red wire from the feed cable is connected to the top terminal and the red wire going to the light is connected to the bottom terminal. The black wires from both cables (the neutral wires) should be connected together in a separate plastic terminal block. The earth wires should be connected to the earth terminal, unless you are using a plastic light switch, in which case they should be connected the earth terminal within the metal casing of the switch box.
Blown Fuses and Power Cuts – If you lose electrical power supply to part or all of your home but other properties in the street still have power, the chances are that you have either blown a fuse or an appliance has caused the circuit to break. You should always have easy access to your home’s consumer unit (otherwise known as fuse box) so that you can locate it by torch light if need be. To check if a fuse has blown, remove the cover from the unit and ensure that the main power switch is OFF (you may have different circuits for upstairs and downstairs so make sure that both are turned off if you are going to investigate). Remove the fuses one at a time and check to see if the fuse wire has broken in each. In more modern boxes, each fuse may have it’s own circuit breaker switch to make it easier to identify where the fault is and to locate the correct fuse. Once you have identified the blown fuse, replace it with a new fuse of the correct amp and then switch the main power switch to on.
AHK Electrial Services are electricians serving the entire South East of England. We are based in Horley in Surrey but provide electricians and electrical services as well as air conditioning, CCTV and networking services to a wide geogarphical area. So, if you are looking for an electrician in Horley, Crawley, East Grinstead, Redhill, Reigate, Tonbridge, Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Horsham, Dorking, Oxted, or any where else in the Surrey or Sussex, we are the electricians for you.
