Electric Hob - From Plug to Direct Mains, Possible?

Hi,

My electric hob recently went pop and I have been given a replacement 2nd hand one by family. The one I have taken out was rigged into the mains directly via a wall mounted switch/plug, by which I mean it was like a dual plug socket but one of the sockets is a switch through which you could turn the hob on/off.

The hob I have been given has a plug, but instead of the normal 3 leads coming out of the cable (Earth, live and neutral) it has 5 which seems odd. Only thing on I could find on the web was that the other two leads are some type of extra lives .

My questions are: 

• On the replacement hob why does the plug have 5 leads going into it?
  
• Could the hob with a plug have the plug and cable removed, and then the mains cable used for the old hob be connected into the new hob? Leaving me able to turn the new hob on/off with the original switch as per the old hob? 
  

Rest assured I have no intention of doing this work myself, I just want to know if its possible.

Any help is very much appreciated.

usually 5 leads with 1 earth, 2 neutrals & 2 lives so you can wire it between phases or on single phase. should be a wiring diagram on the unit. either way, it sounds like it should be hard wired ant not o a plug (unusual for a hob to be on a plug, they almost always need a dedicated supply & hard wired, although some induction hobs will run from a 13a plug at a reduced power setting)

Sounds like it was wired by a prat! As Andy has said, most appliances can be wired for single or multiple phases to suite European countries and the UK, but single phase for UK is usually achieved by connections at the hob terminals.  How many kWs is the hob?

Thanks for your help gents.

The hob  is rated as 5.5K-6.6Kw.

Am I right  in thinking I could potentially take out the plug and cable from the 2nd hand hob I've been given and an electrician would be able to connect it to the mains cabling the previous hob used? 

Also, with the plug having all the 5 wires going into it (presumably the two live wires going to 1 live pin and same for neutral), is that actually dangerous or just ill-advised?

maybe. maybe not. how about getting someone to come round and do the job instead of asking how they are going to do the job on the internet, giving minimal details that tbh im not even sure what you have to start with

Andy™ said:

maybe. maybe not. how about getting someone to come round and do the job instead of asking how they are going to do the job on the internet, giving minimal details that tbh im not even sure what you have to start with

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So your advice is don't ask for advice on sub-forum which is a designated "Area for members who are not electrically qualified to ask for tips and advice"? , awesome!

The_Fromage said:

So your advice is don't ask for advice on sub-forum which is a designated "Area for members who are not electrically qualified to ask for tips and advice"? , awesome!

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I think the advice he gave is perfectly reasonable ...................

The_Fromage said:

So your advice is don't ask for advice on sub-forum which is a designated "Area for members who are not electrically qualified to ask for tips and advice"? , awesome!

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some jobs can be done by competent DIYers with a bit guidance. imo, your not competent enough for the task you are trying to do and giving futher advise could put you / your family in danger... incase youre not aware, electricity can and does kill. it can also start fires, especially when cables are overloaded which you were planning on doing

The_Fromage said:

Thanks for your help gents.

The hob  is rated as 5.5K-6.6Kw.

Am I right  in thinking I could potentially take out the plug and cable from the 2nd hand hob I've been given and an electrician would be able to connect it to the mains cabling the previous hob used? 

Also, with the plug having all the 5 wires going into it (presumably the two live wires going to 1 live pin and same for neutral), is that actually dangerous or just ill-advised?

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5.5kW through a plug designed to take about 2.5kW max is likely to end in a fire. You need to connect to the mains, provided the exiting mains is suitable for that loading

If you could perhaps tell us the make and model of the hob.