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I wonder if any one can give me some advice. I live in a fairly new build house it's 11 years old.
In our kitchen there is a fused spur switch on wall above worktop and below is a socket that's connected to it this is where we have our Washing machine.

Over the other side of kitchen there is another fused spur switch which says dishwasher, we were told when moved in that there was a socket conected to it below just like for washing machine to plug dishwasher in. But hidden behind kitchen cabinet. And were told if we wanted to install a dishwasher we just needed to remove one kitchen cabinet and could conect and put dishwasher in its place.

Well until now we have never had a dishwash but last week we decided to get one.

It was delivered today we removed kitchen cabinet and got ready to install dishwasher, but there was no electric socket.

I got a inspection camera and checked behind all the other kitchen cabinet but no socket behind any of them. I've checked inside every cuboard too.
We have looked everywhere we can think of there is no socket any where.

I've unscrewed the fused spur switch to check if any thing is connected to it and was surprised to see 3 sets of cables conecting to it. 2 cables come from above down in to it and there is one cable that comes in from the bottom.

What can it be connected too. The switch does nothing. There is nothing above that it could be connected to.
There are 2 double socket either side of it and they are just normal sockets. Turning this fused spur switch on or off does not effect any of the other sockets. They all work fine whether it's turned on or off so don't think it's connected to them.

Does any one know what might be going on.
I'll attach some pictures so you can see what fused spur switch looks like and some of the cabling, sorry if pictures are not great, cables were such a mess and so short and tight behind that you can't pull it forward that far.

Any advice much appreciated
Thanks in advance
 

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I would guess the cable dropping down from the fused spur is the dishwasher connection, you just haven't found it yet. Could even be that the outlet didn't have socket or connection plate fitted, but got plastered over, possibly by mistake. Or it ended up that the cable came out between two base units so again no connection plate or socket fitted.
 
I've looked everywhere there is no socket any where behind or in any of the kitchen cupboards.
I think you might be right that cable must be in wall and plastered over. Wouldn't that be dangerous just leaving loose cables in wall.
I guess the only way to find out would be to remove plaster and follow cable to try and find it in wall. Unfortunately to do that would probably mean having to rip out whole kitchen and really don't want to do that.

Fused spur switch is above corner cabinet in the center. Place where your meant to put dishwasher is in space next to this corner cupboard. So switch isn't even above where dishwasher is meant to go.

If the one going down is one meant to go to socket for dishwasher what are the 2 other sets of cables connected to it. Surely there should only be one other set of cables bringing the power in.

Think I'm going to have to just return dishwasher and forget it. Such a shame but not worth having to wreck my kitchen for.
 
Cables should only be installed in so called 'safe zones' if buried just under the surface of a wall. These safe zones run horizontally in booth directions and vertically up and down from a fitting. Since you can see the cable leaving from the bottom of the box, it should run vertically downwards.
The two cables from above are probably part of a ring final circuit, so the three cables are normal.
Yes, leaving live cables around is very dangerous, but sadly, not uncommon, such is the state of the industry.
 
If the one going down is one meant to go to socket for dishwasher where are there 2 other sets of cables connected to it. Surely there should only be one other set of cables bringing the power in.
The fused connection unit is probably part of a ring final circuit so I would expect wires for IN, OUT (in same terminals) and accessory.

Find someone with a cable tracer, it’s not a complicated job to find it and it shouldn’t be required to rip the kitchen out.
Maybe cutting a neat hole in the back of a cupboard will be required but probably nothing worse.
It is usually possible to remove a cupboard without disturbing the worktop if absolutely required.
 
Thanks every one for your replies, I got a cable tracer and traced cable down to cuboard below switch. Turned off electricity at fuse box and Cut a small hole and indeed cable was there but not end of cable as I had expected.
Tried gently pulling cable but it was stuck solid.
Got a inspection camera and put it in wall to try and follow where cable was going. It seems to go slightly diagonal but to the right and goes through wood stud In wall I think towards next cuboard.

I'm sure it is correct wire as when dishwasher switch was off I detected no live wire but when turned on I detected live wire.

Is it normal for a cable to come down then slightly diagonal to right and continue going right.

I was under impression that cables had to go straight up or straight down or left and right if conecting (chaining sockets). The safe zones.

It's weired, washing machine switch has socket straight below under counter, I just don't understand what they have done with cabling for dishwasher switch.

I'll try and follow cable with cable tracer and see if I can find out where it goes.

Pictures might be confusing but this is looking down from top, cable is going right when entering wood.

Any advice though much appreciated
 

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Good progress!
Do as much as you can with the cable tracer and try and find the point the signal stops or weakens.
Have you tried removing the toe board / kick board and poking the camera to the back and up?
If the next cupboard along has a removable shelf in it then make a hole for the camera where the back of the shelf will cover it later.

Basically keep making as discreet holes as possible for the camera drawing on as much logic as you can muster from clues until you find the end!
Posting a picture of the area of the kitchen to help us orientate things might help as well.
 
logically, a dishwasher is next to the sink… for ease of water and drainage…. And directly below the isolating switch, but not always…

Are you certain this cable you found switches on and off with the switch? No contact voltage pens can be unreliable and not trustworthy. Check that more than once.

The likely outcome here is the cable was put in, but left coiled up in the wall somewhere…. Possibly surrounded by insulation….. with just a cut end… nothing on end of it.

There is definitely a cable leaving the switch? Have you looked behind at the connections?



A bit late in the day to contact the builders.
 
logically, a dishwasher is next to the sink… for ease of water and drainage…. And directly below the isolating switch, but not always…

Are you certain this cable you found switches on and off with the switch? No contact voltage pens can be unreliable and not trustworthy. Check that more than once.

The likely outcome here is the cable was put in, but left coiled up in the wall somewhere…. Possibly surrounded by insulation….. with just a cut end… nothing on end of it.

There is definitely a cable leaving the switch? Have you looked behind at the connections?



A bit late in the day to contact the builders.
what does the test cert say about this fused switch?
 
what does the test cert say about this fused switch?
I’m guessing there is no cert…. 11 y.o house.
Has OP been in since new? There might still be a moving in pack with all certs in it.

I’ve lived in a 17 y.o house since new, and there never was a cert for the house. I asked the salesman, and he just robbed me off that everything was covered by the completion certificate for the build. Not one I ever saw.

Should have chased it up, I suppose… but I’ve done enough work in the house now to know everything’s ok.



Back to the thread.

The good thing with kitchens is that you can make fairly big holes in walls behind fixed cabinets, which can be patched and hidden again. If you can remove an entire unit, you can cut a square of plasterboard between the joists and have a good look…
These inspection cameras can only see so much.
 
Is it normal for a cable to come down then slightly diagonal to right and continue going right.
It is a requirement that all buried cable runs, up to a depth of 50mm, are in safe zones.
There are no diagonal safe zones, but it would be compliant (or would be if the job had been finished) if the cable came vertically downwards from the fitting above the worktop, then turned through 90 degrees to run horizontally to a socket for the dishwasher. The vertical zone would be created by the fitting above the worktop and the horizontal zone by the under worktop socket.
 
Thanks every one for your replies. House is 11 years old and I've lived here since house was finished being built. We were never given any test certificates when moved in so have no idea what it might say about fused switch.

As I've mentioned before there are 3 cables wired in to switch 2 come in to switch from the top and only one cable coming in from bottom. It's this cable at bottom that I've followed down.

The cable going down that I've found is directly below dishwasher switch. Under counter so I think it is right cable. Definitely has power when switch is switched on and no power when switched off. I'll check again though just to make sure.

It's hard to see which holes each wire is wir d in to on switch as it's so tight behind but again I'll have another look.

I'll draw a diagram and post in a minute that shows exact layout of kitchen where sockets and switches are and cables going in and out of switch incase this helps.

Thanks again everyone for all your help so far
 
Back to an earlier query…. Is there plumbing in for this dishwasher?


You’re not going to find it without breaking a wall.
It could be behind the drawer unit as well…

Can the cable just be cut, and a socket fitted where it is?
 
Yes there is plumbing behind cabinet just no socket. We have thought about cutting cable and putting a socket where it is but don't want to cut until I know if definitely correct cable hense trying to follow it see where it goes.

They were what I can only describe as cowboys who built this house, I don't even know how It passed all inspections. As a example when we moved in we discovered house hadn't even been connected to main drainage. How did we find out you may ask well we used bathroom day we moved in ran bath for children the next day, after bath I pulled plug out and after a few seconds bathroom light went out. Went down stairs to check, and as I was going downstairs I heard water turned to look towards kitchen and saw water and raw sewage pouring through ceiling and cuboard with boiler. Boiler was ruined. They sent out a drain un blocker as they were convinced drain must be blocked. Drain guy blasted water down pipes but this just caused more water and sewage to pour through ceiling. Stopped and then put a camera down to confirm pipe was capped off.

Builders still did not want to believe it but came out and dug upfront garden and what did they find a cap on pipe and no pipe connecting in to main drainage.

How can you make such a mistake, alot of damage caused, and a lot or repairs had to be done they even had to replace boiler.

Wiring is strange in this house. For example there is a switch on each side of living room to control living room lights but lf you try to use one near back door completely stops other switch from working.

So you see I don't trust anything in this house so want to make sure before cutting any wire. Nothing would suprise me.
 
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