Plugs, Fuses & Cord Grips

There’s one isolation in your home you can see with your own eyes: a plug pulled out of its socket and held in your hand. Nothing can switch it back on while it’s there, which is why anything to do with a plug starts by unplugging it.

A rewireable plug unscrews to show three marked terminals: L for line, N for neutral and E (or the earth symbol) for earth. Go by those markings and the plug’s own diagram, not a remembered ‘brown on the right’: turn the plug over and left and right swap.

A moulded plug, sealed onto its cable, is never opened, and nor is the appliance. A scorched or cracked plug, a damaged cable or a cable nobody can identify means a repair or a replacement by someone who knows the job.