Cat 6 cable and mains wiring. (1 Viewer)

[pappajohn]

Good point PJ, a whole area we haven't even mentioned yet. In the same vein, the timber wall battens should be drilled, as with a new installation. I think I would just cap the slots DBK has cut, like we used to do with floor joists.

agreed.

Any cable less than 50mm from the surface of the wall (with the exception of stud walls where the cable SHOULD pass, protected or not, through the centre of the studwork) MUST have suitable protective armour in any case.
While the type of protection isnt specified, idealy this should be a steel plate so it cant be drilled with a normal masonary/wood drill bit at a future date.

That said, we use oval plastic tubing for socket and switch drops which is generally just below the plaster surface but the diagram rules are always followed...ie: no diagonal chases.
Even an electric cooker cable is chased down from the switch then across to the outlet.

 

[peterc10]

Anyway, the main point of this long-winded post is to extol the virtues of a magical tool which I had heard about but have never used.

You will see in the picture below the lower holes have ragged edges. These were done by hand with a pad saw. This worked fine but I was then lent an oscillating saw - one of these Broken Link Removed

It quickly produced fine cuts in the plaster with very neat edges. I also used it to cut into the battens so I can chisel them out tomorrow to give more space for the three cables. It doesn't produce much dust, a fraction of what an angle grinder would make, although it does get into the air a bit so covering things up is advised.

Good aren't they. I bought one a while ago - not the Fein, which are very expensive, but a Bosch at a good price in B&Q. First use was putting in a couple of mains sockets in the motorhome. Very neat finish.

 

[DBK]

I think I will put in a fused switch just to be on the safe side as I have also added some more 13A sockets, which you can't see in the picture. They are all coming off the same existing 13A socket and are close to it. The aim of these is to run the PC, printer, router etc., which are currently being powered off a short extension lead with half a dozen sockets on it. It is all these flying leads I'm trying to tidy up.

If I put a 13A fuse in the switch I should comply with the regulations, apart from the depth of the cables, and it will also give me a single switch which I can use to isolate all the electronic stuff when we go away.

You wouldn't think I used to a member, before it changed its name, of the Institution of Electrical Engineers would you? Understanding electricity doesn't mean I know anything about the latest regulations. I am sure Europe must be to blame somewhere. I shall just have to say the wiring is done to UKIP standards.

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[Techno]

You'd have saved lots of trouble had you just bought a 3 metre length of 2 compartment dado trunking and mounted it a foot above your existing points. You coould then have had enough length to bring you cables back up the wall (inside the wall) and in through the back of the trunking. You'd have maintained the ring and could have just put blank plates on the old outlet boxes. No filling in to do.

 

[pappajohn]

Excuse my ignorance but i didn't think anyone but a qualified electrician was allowed to put spurs in now under the new regulations. I wouldnt think your insurance would be very happy if something untoward was to happen.

as techno said, anyone with the knowhow can fit a spur circuit.
you can add to an existing circuit but you cant alter that circuit......ie: you cant add a socket WITHIN the existing circuit.

each circuit has been tested and certified as safe so any alteration will affect that test....adding to it does not constitute altering it as the existing wiring is not disturbed.

in other words...if you have to replace ANY of the existing wiring it must be by a qualified tradesman.

additional fused spurs are invariably taken from an existing socket so no alteration has been undertaken

 

[Ed Excel]

The regs are clear second paragraph.
That cable will not even get warm never mind hot. A sledgehammer to crack a nut me thinks.

Sorry for the gap in communications, been of wifi.

I can only repeat, the regs are not cast in stone. You are at liberty to make informed engineering decisions.

As for the cable temperature, I think you will find the conductors will rise to 70C in an ambient of 20C when running at full rated current. 70C is the maximum temperature PVC can 'withstand' and very hot to the touch. Add some thermal insulation and this maximum will certainly be exceeded and you probably won't need a fault to occur to cause problems.

Use an adequately rated cable and you won't need get the hammer out.

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[Ed Excel]

as techno said, anyone with the knowhow can fit a spur circuit.
you can add to an existing circuit but you cant alter that circuit......ie: you cant add a socket WITHIN the existing circuit.

each circuit has been tested and certified as safe so any alteration will affect that test....adding to it does not constitute altering it as the existing wiring is not disturbed.

in other words...if you have to replace ANY of the existing wiring it must be by a qualified tradesman.

additional fused spurs are invariably taken from an existing socket so no alteration has been undertaken

I haven't brought my regs on holidayoh: but I seem to recall you shouldn't install in the 'special locations' eg bathroom, etc.

 

[DBK]

I haven't brought my regs on holidayoh: but I seem to recall you shouldn't install in the 'special locations' eg bathroom, etc.

I am sure that is true. I was also not supposed to install an outside socket. So didn't. Honest.

 

[DBK]

Just for completeness, here is how I got on. It still needs final sanding, plastering and painting. There is also a cover to go over the sockets which I will fit when everything is finished. Not perhaps the neatest of jobs but it is better than the trail of cables we had before. The cables from left to right are co-ax aerial, Ethernet and HDMI.

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The HDMI sockets were a surprise. I was expecting them to have terminals at the back but in fact they are really more of a female to female connector and are connected to each other by a standard HDMI cable with plugs on, which I had to pull through the wall. Awkwardly the connections are at right angles so the plug sticks out of the side of the dry-lining box...

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...which needed a bit of surgery. As shown below.

With the plug connected, the plug pokes out of the side.

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The plug is now too close to the surface to fit under the plaster board. So I cut a slot for it and covered the plug with a little polythene bag to protect it from the plaster.

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With the other sockets added it now looks like the top picture, ready for final finishing.

There is a similar socket in the corner of the room where the router and Blu-ray player sit. The co-ax cable is taken off the back of an existing aerial socket.

All the bits came from these people; http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/

Many thanks for everyone's help.

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