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Electrical

Connecting new kitchen hood - wiring colours don't match

Anonymous user 16/03/2024 - 2.47 PM

Hi there, I'm a DIYer installing a new kitchen hood, all find up until connecting it up. It's a direct replacement, and wires are already there but are red, black and yellow. The old hood was removed by someone else so don't know the previous configuration used. The new hood has wiring that follow current wiring colour standards, so blue, brown and green/yellow. The red and black make sense as live and neutral on the old wiring, but I'm cautious about assuming the yellow (not green/yellow, just solid yellow) is the ground! Anyone know what might be going on with the old wiring? I'd attach a picture if I could... Hugely appreciate some advice before I do anything. Thanks, Brendan.

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1 Answer

Internal Repairs

Rating: 5 out of 5

Epsom

Yeah it's bad wiring. I'd buy a multimeter if your determined to do it yourself. Can pick one up for a tenner from Argos. You'll get 230v across the live and earth if it is the earth. You'll also get 230v across live and neutral! So it's not a definitive test. The hood needs to be connected via a fused spur though. It can't be wired directly to a ring circuit. That's a sign of dodgy wiring if all you have is cable poking out of the wall that's live. It's should have an origin somewhere like a nearby socket. See if you can trace it back. It does need a proper connection though like a socket that the fan can be plugged into or a fused connection unit. If you can't trace where the wire comes from you may want to get an electrician to take a look.

Answered5 August 2022