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Our new van has a 3 burner hob mounted with the controls diagonally across the bottom right corner. As both Marilyn and I are right handed neither of us could work out a way of easily operating the ignitor switch while tuning the burner control knobs. In particular I felt when lighting the lower left burner there was a risk of burning clothing or skin. So thinking hat on …
The solution I devised involves installing a non-latching rocker switch in the panel under the hob and extending the wires leading to the original switch to reach the new position. The original switch can be carefully prised out of the hob and the original wires detached before replacing it. The wires can then be pulled out from under the rear of the hob to be extended.
I obtained my new switch from Maplin where it was described as a Round Momentary SPST Rocker Switch Black with a product code of N83JZ. It is a standard item which should be available from other sources.
When extending the wiring please make sure that it is kept clear of the underside of burners – the casing on the original wiring is heat proof. Do be careful to check that before drilling the panel that any hole will be clear of the brackets on the rear of the panel. Be aware the panel is easily marked as it is relatively soft – I learnt the hard way when I cleaned off my pencil alignment marks.
By Alan Major
Existing switch partially removed showing retaining tabs
Existing switch fully extracted showing spade connectors which need to be disconnected
Rear of repositioned switch showing extended wiring
Finished job