How to Replace a 13 Amp Mains Plug

From time to time you may find that the plug on your appliance may become faulty or damaged - some may think this could be the end of their machine. However this is not the case, in our guide below we talk you through the process of changing over your plug.

Please Note:

It is worth considering that most appliances in the UK are now supplied with moulded plugs - therefore when these get damaged you will need to cut the cut the cable allowing you to replace it.

Also some cables do not come with an earth wire, the green and yellow wire. Our guide below covers the process of changing a faulty moulded plug which does not have a Earth (green & Yellow) wire but is double insulated.

This video shows an example on how to remove or replace the part on a typical machine, some models may be different but the procedure should be similar.

• Plug
• Sharp Knife
• Screwdriver
• Fuse
• Wire Strippers

Safety First! Please ensure that you have disconnected the appliance from the mains before starting any repair.

To begin you’ll want to cut the moulded plug and once it's been cut you need to measure 50 millimetres from the end of the cable. Then using a sharp knife carefully score along the outer cable making sure you don't cut the cables inside - you may need to make multiple cuts, you do not want to cut into the cables inside.

When you’ve made a cut give the cable a bend as this will begin to expose the wires. Take your time when cutting the cable as you don't want to damage the wires inside. Always remember you can always cut more, but you can't cut less.

Please Note:

If you have taken 50 millimetres off the cable - this is because if there was an earth wire this would need to be around 15 millimetres longer than the Neutral (Blue) and the Live (Brown) wire.

If you feel there isn't enough wire in this cable, you can trim both the cables back by roughly ten millimetres.

Now with the inner cables exposed you can now peel back the insulation. With the two internal wires away from the insulation you’ll now need to strip the Neutral and Live cable to expose the wire.

Taking a pair of wire strippers strip the wires by about 10 millimetres - it is also worth noting that using a pair of wire strippers to strip the main cable is not recommended as this could damage the cables underneath.

Once you have trimmed the wires, give the copper inside a good twist - this will stop the copper wire from fraying. This will make it much easier to fix them in the cable clamps inside the new plug.

Now the wires are prepared you can now need to prepare the plug itself.

Before we continue - for those who are new to changing an appliance plug, a new plug will come with a paper guide detailing where the wires go. With the plug what you’ll first want to loosen one of the cable clamp screws and completely remove the other one.

You can then completely remove the screw which holds the two parts of the plug together.

With the screws loosened, you’ll now need to attach the wires to the clamps. If your wires are little and thin, then you can double it back on itself. You can also raise the pins up, this will make fitting the wires a little bit easier. Once the wire is in place, you can push the pin back down and tighten the clamp.

eSpares Top Tip:

Once you have fitted the neutral wire, it’s recommended to fit it upside down, this makes it easier so all I then need to do is turn the wire around and feed the Live into the relevant clamp in the same way.

When fitting the Live wire - again double it over to make fitting a little bit easier, once in place you can then tighten that clamp too. With the wires in their relevant clamps, give the cable a tug to make sure it's firmly in place.

Next you can remove the top pin, as you’ll need to flip the plug over and you won’t want the pin to full out. Re-position the plastic mains cable clamp and make sure to pinch the mains cable and turn the plug over and re-screw in the plastic clamp.

With the wires in place and all the clamps nice and secure this is a good time to understand the fuse. With the particular plug which is supplied with the Henry cleaner, it comes supplied with a 13 amp fuse.

However this may be an excessive amount of power therefore here is how you work out the applicable fuse for your appliance:

• Divide the wattage of the appliance by 250.
• The Henry vacuum has an 850 watt to 1100 watt range.
• So dividing 1,100 watts by 250 equals 4.4.

Therefore in our example you can remove the 13 amp and insert a 5 amp fuse instead as this will be more than suitable.

With the new fuse fitted you can then put the pin back in place and re-screw the two parts of the plug together.

There you have it! A new plug fitted to your appliance’s mains cable. This guide along with the attached video uses a Numatic Henry vacuum cleaner as reference. Performing this repair may be slightly different for your appliance however the process should still be very similar.