How to wire a plug

For those of you who can't remember which wires are which from your lessons in Physics, we've supplied a handy diagram (Visual coming soon!). Make sure when dealing with electrical currents that you always turn off the main power supply!

By law YOU MUST GET ALL ELECTRICAL WORK CHECKED BY A CERTIFIED AND QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN.

Here's what you need to do to wire a plug:

Level of difficulty

Level 2 – Intermediate

What you need

• Screwdriver
• Utility knife or wire strippers
• Pen
• Scissors

The steps to follow

1. Turn off the main power.
2. Unscrew the plug top.
3. There are usually three terminals: Earth (green and yellow wire), neutral (blue wire), and fuse terminal (brown wire). Double insulated appliances do not have an earth wire. Make sure you know which wire connects to which terminal.
4. Check how long the wire needs to be to reach the furthest terminal (the earth terminal) from the cord grip. The cord grip holds the wire in place and is usually located at the bottom of the plug.
5. Mark on the wire the amount of insulation that will need to be taken off.
6. Score the insulation of the wire with a knife or wire strippers. If you accidentally cut into the wire, you’ll need to repeat steps 2-3.
7. Once the insulation is removed, you should see the three different colours of wires: red, brown or yellow/green and blue. The different coloured wires represent the three types of wire: earth, live and neutral.
8. You'll need to remove the insulation of these wires and fit them in the correct way (see diagram). Take out about 10mm (2/5 in) of the insulation and then twist the ends.
9. Remove the plug fuse if it's blocking the live terminal.
10. Feed these ends into the corresponding terminals (see diagram) and tighten the nuts. Trim any protruding wire from around the terminals.
11. Fit the terminals and wires neatly in the plug body.
12. Replace the fuse and screw the plug top back on.

Note:

• Which plug terminal do you have? Pillar or stud?
• In a pillar terminal the wire is held inside the terminal hole by a screw. You’ll need to loosen the terminal screw and insert the wire until the insulation reaches the terminal hole. Screw the nuts and trim off any strands protruding from the other side of the terminal hole.
  
• In a stud terminal the wire is wrapped round the threaded post and secured by a screw-on stud. You’ll need to remove the nuts and wrap the wire around the threaded post. Then, screw and tighten the nuts.