As part of the free service "ask an electrician" on my website, I often receive questions from various people. I would say - even 80% of them definitely do not classify themselves as electrically qualified persons. Just ordinary people, ordinary users of electrical equipment. And they often have specific questions, to which I tried to give answers not only in the most simple, but also in the most literate language. The questions themselves from readers are often extremely illiterate. But nevertheless - I try to "guess" what the asking question meant and answer the question as I understood it.
Therefore, on Zen, I decided to start a series of publications of these questions and my answers to them, in order to help other people - already readers of my channel. After all, the problems people face are often repeated.
If you consider yourself a "super" qualified person, you may not be interested in these publications. But at the same time, well-founded criticism / addition is also welcome. So, let's begin!
Question N1. Anton asked. The question itself is literally:
Hello! I recently purchased a BOSCH PKF 645 hob, tell me, can it be connected to a standard 220 V euro socket? Or could there be problems?
My answer was given like this:
No, for the hob, you must use special power outlets that can withstand a high load current. Let's explain in more detail. The power of a typical hob is about 7 kW, which means, according to Ohm's law, the load current will be 32 A (I = P / U = 7000 W / 220 V ≈ 32 A).
Considering that ordinary sockets are designed for a current of 10 or 16 amperes, then connect the hob through such a plug connection is impossible, as this will lead to heating of the contact connections, which in turn can cause fire. By limiting the current with a circuit breaker, for example 16 A, you will not be able to use the full power of the hob.
Question N2. Alexey asked. The question itself is literally:
It so happened that only one power line goes to my kitchen, protected with a 32 Amp diffautomat. How can I connect a hob and an oven to this line at the same time?
My answer was given like this:
Ideally, separate electrical circuits should be used for the oven and hob. If it is not possible to lay separate electrical circuits, then the oven can be connected to the wires of the hob. How to do this is shown illustratively in the figure below.
On the RCBO (as the people call the diffautomat) 16 A with double terminals, we connect the wires of the hob and the input power circuit. To the RCBO output we connect a standard 16 A European socket (type F).
The protection of the power circuit is organized depending on the power of the hob. For typical 7 kW devices, it is enough to install a 32 A.
Question N3. Nikolay asked. The question itself is literally:
Good afternoon, I need advice. This winter I bought a touch-sensitive hob, I noticed that the control unit is heating up on it. I went straight to the store, they told me that it was normal. Now (in summer) the sensors are so hot that there are problems with the control of the hob. Is this really normal or is it a manifestation of a defect?
My answer was as follows:
This is a common problem with some models. In some cases, the heating of the hob sensor unit can reach such a temperature that control becomes uncomfortable, and sometimes simply impossible. As a rule, sellers do not consider this defect to be an obvious manifestation of a defect, referring to the manufacturer.
By making a request to the support service, the buyer will learn from the official response that the heating of the touch control area is considered acceptable. At the same time, information on the permissible parameters of the heating temperature of the sensors is not provided and the dependence on the current power is not indicated.
In order not to face such a problem, I recommend that you carefully read the reviews for a particular model before making a purchase.
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If the reader likes this useful format, then part 2, 3, etc. will be without such a long introduction as in this introductory part and will contain 4-5 question-answers.