Cable section for washing machine

Preparing for the overhaul of the kitchen or bathroom, it is very important ahead of time to think over the composition and location of electrical and other communications. Even if you cannot predict in advance what equipment will be installed in these rooms, still think for the future. If you are going to install a washing machine in a bathroom or kitchen, think in advance about laying a separate wire for it, and even a wire of a suitable section. What for? Let's talk about this in the framework of this publication.

Do I need a separate outlet?

To begin with, we will answer a legitimate user’s question about why a washing machine needs a separate, and even a protected electric line, which, moreover, comes not from the junction box, but directly from the shield? As you know, a washing machine cannot:

• connect to an outlet through an extension cord;
• connect to an outlet to which a large consumer is already connected;
• plug into a weak outlet with unreliable wiring.

Why such restrictions? Everything is very simple - the washing machine is one of the largest consumers of electricity, creating a large load on the power grid. The wire experiences the greatest load at the moment when the spinning program starts at the high speed at the washing machine. In such situations, the aluminum wires of the outlet to which the washer is connected, having a small cross section, overheat and may well cause a fire.

The solution in this case is only one - before making repairs in the room where the washing machine will stand, lay a separate wire of a suitable section directly from the shield, from a suitable material that will feed the moisture-proof outlet. This outlet will power your home mate. If you do it differently, you risk creating a fire in the house or, at least, spoiling expensive equipment.

If in the same room you plan to connect, in addition to a washing machine, also a dishwasher, you can not lay a separate line for it, just take a large copper wire (with a margin) so that you can later supply a second outlet from it.

Wiring and other accessories

First of all, you need to decide which wire to use. Namely, with what section will it be, how many will have lived, and what material will it consist of? Let's start with the material. Experienced electricians do not advise taking aluminum wires to connect large consumers, and in general they say that wires from such material need only be selected, as a last resort. Therefore, the choice is not great - we take a copper wire.

Next, you need to determine the number of cores. According to the technical regulations of any modern washing machine, the power cord is grounded, which means we also need to make a grounded outlet for washing. So, we just need to take a wire with three cores: one core is a phase, the second is zero and the third is earth.

Now you need to calculate the cross-section of this three-wire wire that powers the outlet for the washing machine. Of course, we could give you a table that shows the cross-section of the wire, current and power, for which a cable of the appropriate thickness is designed, but we will not do this. Firstly, the average power of any modern washing machine is 2500 kW. Secondly, we have previously agreed that we will take a wire that has a margin of power, you never know what will happen in the future.

Therefore, guided by our own conclusions and relying on the opinion of reputable experts, we take a three-core copper wire (cross section 2.5 mm), with good insulation. In addition to the wire, we need:

• moisture resistant socket;
• difavtomat;
• copper terminals and socket;
• plastic cable channel.

A moisture-proof outlet is necessary, since the washing machine is used mainly in the bathroom or in the kitchen, and these are rooms where dampness and moisture reign. Difavtomat will provide universal protection against failures that periodically occur in an imperfect Russian energy system. Choose a machine (RCD) for the washing machine the publication of the same name posted on the site will help you. Copper terminals are needed to ensure a reliable connection of parts of the wiring, but it is better to do without connections at all.

In no case and never dock the copper wire with aluminum. Such savings are likely to damage electrical appliances powered by this network and may cause a fire.

To install the outlet, which is supposed to be heavily loaded, take only the highest quality socket outlets. There have been cases when cheap plastic rosettes caused a fire. Plastic cable channel is also better to take the highest quality.

Some electricians do not see anything wrong with laying the cable directly into the trough in the wall, because it has insulation. In our opinion, it is better to protect the wire additionally with a cable channel, you never know what situations happen, because the electric network will function for a decade.

Pull electrical communications

Before pulling and connecting the cable, it is necessary to determine the most favorable location of the outlet. It is important to consider not only the height at which the socket will be placed, but also its removal from the distribution board. You need to understand that the farther from the shield the socket, the greater the cost of components and the more you will have to ditch the wall under the wire, and grating is a very time-consuming job.

Having laid the route of the cable, mark it with a marker directly on the wall, also mark the place where it will be necessary to drill a hole for the socket. Further actions will depend on what material the wall is made of in which the gutter must be hollowed out.

If the wall is made of soft material, then the gating can be done "the old fashioned way" using a hammer and a chisel. If the wall is made of reinforced concrete, you will have to use a puncher and a grinder. With a puncher, we drill holes along the future gutter, and then connect them with a chisel and a hammer. On the way we will definitely come across reinforcement. It is not advisable to pass the wire under it, therefore, to partially remove it, we will use a grinder.

We begin to pull the electric cable from the shield to the outlet. We outline the places for connecting the electric cable (phase, zero, earth), but we will not connect the wire yet. In the shield we will have to install also a diphatomat. We let the zero and phase wires through the diphatomat, and connect the earth separately.

It will not be amiss to recall that all compounds must be carefully insulated.

We withdraw the wire from the electric shield and pull it along the slotted channel. At the same time, it is possible to put a plastic cable-channel into the hollowed channel, enclosing a copper wire in it. Having brought the wire to the place of installation of the outlet, we leave it alone for now and proceed to the installation of the outlet itself.

1. We drill a hole in the undercutter with a puncher (for convenience, you can use a special drill).
2. We insert the socket into the recess and "sit" it on cold welding or sealant.
3. We bring the ends of the wires to the socket.
4. Unpack a new moisture-proof outlet, pull out its “offal”.
5. We connect the phase, zero core, and also the earth to the corresponding contacts of the outlet.
6. We fix the base of the outlet in the socket so that it "sits" tight and does not hang out.
7. We fasten the plastic part of the outlet and make sure that nothing hangs.

That's almost all. It remains only to connect the phase, neutral wire and ground in the electrical panel and test the outlet by connecting, for example, a table lamp to it.You can use the tester to check if there is power in the outlet for the washing machine. If the outlet works fine, then in the finale we need to put the wall in order, covering the slotted recess with the wire and cable channel laid in it.

In conclusion, we note that electrical communication for a washing machine should be taken care of in advance. It is important not only to choose the right wire, but also to plan the placement of the line, as well as its protection. If you are not confident in your skills in working with an electrician, it is better to call a specialist who will help you to lay the cable and connect the outlet. Good luck