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I recently bought a 2nd hand washing machine, when it was delivered there was no plug attached, just the standard 3 wires and a wire holder.

I pulled the plug off an old power strip and attached it to the end of the washer.

I got nervous when I read the wire holder, It said 25A, the plug is 13A fused, and the socket is 20A.

Will this work or will I need to change it?

I could not find anything on the washer regarding its electrical input.

This is what came attached to the wires when I received it: enter image description here

This is the standard plug and wiring I changed it to:enter image description here

This is the wall socket and power source just says 20A Thanks for the help.

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    Note: best practise is to trim the wires so that the green wire is longer than shown in your photo, it needs more slack between connector and strain-relief clamp. That way, if the cord is pulled out, the live wire and neutral wire get pulled out before the earth wire is disconnected.
    – RedGrittyBrick
    Nov 13, 2016 at 12:29
  • Knowing your country would help.
    – Speedy Petey
    Nov 13, 2016 at 15:24

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The markings on the terminal block should indicate the rating of the terminal block, not the electrical consuption of the appliance.

Also, washers usually do not consume more than 1,000 watts or so; at 120Vac things would be fine given about 8-9 amps current draw @ 1,000 watts. At 240Vac, you should be golden with a current draw of 4-5 amps.

I say wash away without worry. Could be wrong though I guess.

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  • This is correct. The 13amp fuse installed in the plug, which is British Standards Rated will protect the appliance from currents which would make a 13amp device unsafe.
    – Chris Rogers
    Nov 14, 2016 at 22:45
  • Your first sentence was correct, but the rest of your post is making the dangerous assumption that appliances everywhere are like american ones.
    – Peter Green
    Jan 23, 2021 at 1:34
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The rating printed on a terminal block is the rating of the terminal block.

If it's a UK domestic specification washing machine then it will be fine on a 13A plug. People in the UK expect to be able to plug domestic washing machines into normal domestic sockets and the machines are designed accordingly. They are however often designed to use pretty much the full power available from a domestic socket, so they should not be plugged into power strips etc.

There do exist commercial machines that draw more than 13A though. I would expect it to be pretty obvious if you have acquired such a machine but it's something to be aware of.

The machine should have a rating label or plate on it somewhere, often you find them on the back of the door.

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