Safe to Plumb In My New Washer-Dryer? (Cold Water Connection Above Electrical Socket.)

[This Old House]

Hi.

First post on this forum...

I've just moved into the house I bought recently, and this morning purchased a washer-dryer to put in a space beneath the kitchen units which appears previously to have been used for a washing machine or the like. I know little about DIY, but it appeared straightforward enough --- there is a cold water connection and an electrical socket, and it appears possible to feed the drain tube from the machine up through a gap under the draining board to the kitchen waste beneath the sink.

However, I am now starting to wonder whether it is safe to install the machine in this spot.

Firstly, the electrical socket would not be accessible (it'd be behind the machine), and therefore turning the thing off would require me to physically move it, unless of course I were to use an extension cable (which the installation manual says not to do).

Secondly, the electrical socket is directly below the cold water connection --- it occurs to me that this is rather a risky arrangement! You can see it here (not sure how to embed images).

I'd be grateful for an expert opinion on this, and any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[plugwash]

Are you sure there isn't a switch somewhere for the socket? often kitchen appliances are installed with a socket behind the machine and then a switch above the counter to provide a means of disconnection.

I would consider a washing machine without accessible means of isolating it from the power and water systems to be sub-optimal but not a disaster. If push comes to shove you can always isolate the kitchen sockets at the CU and the water at the main stopcock.

As for the location of the socket relative to the water connection I wouldn't be hugely concerened about that. Honestly if the washer hose breaks the entire area behind the machine is going to get soaked.

 

[Iamchamps]

How old is the kitchen? You sure there is not a switch somewhere for that socket?

 

[This Old House]

@plugwash
Thanks! I've hooked it up, and just need to check it with a spirit-level to make sure it's stable before I attempt a test run. (Presumably there was a washing machine here previously, so although it all looks a mess, hopefully it will work safely...)

@Iamchamps
I did look for a separate switch, but I couldn't find one: the kitchen has been rather shabbily DIY'ed by the previous owner, and so really it doesn't surprise me. (At some point I'd like to get it all redone properly, but for now it'll have to do.)

Thanks both, for your replies.

 

[EFLImpudence]

The majority of appliances are plugged in with the same arrangement as yours.

If you want a switch you can have one fitted but it is not a question of redone properly.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Well - the way the socket has been installed is a bit gash.

I wonder what that G/Y just lying there is meant to be for?

 

[JohnW2]

... (not sure how to embed images).

Provided the image is not too large, it is usually possible to simply copy/paste an image (certainly JPGs) into a forum post here.

Kind Regards, John

 

[This Old House]

Thanks for the additional replies.

In reply to @ban-all-sheds, I'm not sure about that G/Y cable, as it's not connected to anything, and the rest of it disappears under the units (as you can see here).

However, I'd noticed down in the cellar that there's a G/Y cable which appears to be heading into the kitchen, so maybe it's the other end of that. That particular cable is bonded to the gas supply...

...As I say, this house has had some pretty dubious DIY done on it.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Hmmm.

So you have a G/Y cable attached to the incoming gas supply, and it runs off, you know not for sure where?

A photo of that area would be useful, and where the water supply enters the house, and the electricity supply, the consumer unit/fuse board....

 

[winston1]

There is no requirement for an isolation switch for a socket feeding a washing machine.

 

[This Old House]

Thanks for the further replies.

Hmmm.

So you have a G/Y cable attached to the incoming gas supply, and it runs off, you know not for sure where?

A photo of that area would be useful, and where the water supply enters the house, and the electricity supply, the consumer unit/fuse board....

Your wish is my command: gas supply here and water & electricity here.

...And no, I don't know why there's a brick stuffed into the hole whence they enter.

Everything comes in from the street into the cellar, which is a bit damp (though not dripping).

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Provided the image is not too large, it is usually possible to simply copy/paste an image (certainly JPGs) into a forum post here.

Seems to work.

Gotta be easier for the OP, as well as the rest of us.

Anyway - the bonding conductor for the gas should go to the main earth terminal, unless the incoming service pipe is plastic. The bit we can see in the photo isn't.

Can't see any bonding for the water supply.

 

[JohnW2]

As I said to the OP, copying/pasting JPGs into a forum post usually works. However, as a 'warning' to people, and as I implied in what I wrote recently, if the image is above a certain size, it seems that it doesn't work. Everything seems to work, as usual, but the image simply does not appear in the post.

 

[This Old House]

As I said to the OP, copying/pasting JPGs into a forum post usually works. However, as a 'warning' to people, and as I implied in what I wrote recently, if the image is above a certain size, it seems that it doesn't work. Everything seems to work, as usual, but the image simply does not appear in the post.

That sounds a bit like the problem I had --- if further pictures are required, then I'll have another go!

Anyway - the bonding conductor for the gas should go to the main earth terminal, unless the incoming service pipe is plastic. The bit we can see in the photo isn't.

The G/Y cable which is bonded to the gas is partially obscured, and it now appears (after giving it a gentle tug) that it is not the one that disappears off into the kitchen (and to which that loose end may belong). There is a second G/Y cable which emerges from behind the consumer unit, and that's the one which disappears into the kitchen, and which may terminate in that loose end.

The two G/Y cables which you can see connected to the electricity supply (on the right half of the picture) may thus be the bonding cable for the gas and the cable that disappears into the kitchen. Again, it's hard to say, because they are partially obscured.

Can't see any bonding for the water supply.

I couldn't either.

But then I noticed the thin bare-looking wire running from it behind the plywood board (top left quarter of the picture)!

 

[JohnW2]

That sounds a bit like the problem I had --- if further pictures are required, then I'll have another go!

I'm pretty certain that the problem is simply size-related since, whenever it has happened to me, after I've used a utility to reduce the size of the image, it has then pasted without any problems. I've never bothered to do any controlled experiments, but suspect that the limit might be around 1 MB, and I certainly aim to stay below that for anything I try to paste into a forum message here.

Kind Regards, John