2 spurs from a junction box

[ban-all-sheds]

compared to what?

they are a lot cheaper than TLC on swa

show me one of their prices and a price from another online retailer (with proper online catalogue) that is significantly cheaper

MK Switched FCU:

Electrical Shop.net £7.98
QVS £6.60
Screwfix £4.49


Unswitched:

Electrical Shop.net £7.17
Screwfix £4.73

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Just thought.

Is the FCU easy to connect.

Never seen the inside of one and unsure, is it the same a connecting a new socket red-red, etc

Cheers

Not the same, but close enough - if you can cope with light switches and sockets you'll have no trouble with an FCU.

This is what the back of MK ones is like:

If your load wiring will be concealed, e.g. for a socket, use the bottom-outlet type, and don't remove the little blanking plug. If I'm putting an FCU onto a ring, I prefer to do it directly - i.e. the ring cable coming in and going out of the supply terminals just as if it were a socket.

 

[securespark]

Yes, it is the same as socket, but you have TWO sets of terminals ie those on the FEED side (ie you connect supply to these) and those on the LOAD side (which run through the fuse in the FCU) which you connect the outgoing cables to.

There are many different designs and terminal layouts - DON'T get FEED and LOAD confused!!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

There are many different designs and terminal layouts - DON'T get FEED and LOAD confused!!

With a switched FCU it barely matters if you do, and with an unswitched one it doesn't matter at all.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

they are a lot cheaper than TLC on swa

True - but are you comparing like with like? TLC's cables are all XLPE, theirs don't say - probably PVC??

 

[plugwash]

sure but unless the runs are very short it doesnt make any difference anyway as cable rating is *NOT* the limiting factor

 

[kai]

If you are running three sets of buried cables into a fused spur unit, it makes sense to use a 35mm deep box, otherwise it can be a devil trying to squeeze all those cables in, and fir the frontplate on!

 

[securespark]

There are many different designs and terminal layouts - DON'T get FEED and LOAD confused!!

With a switched FCU it barely matters if you do, and with an unswitched one it doesn't matter at all.

Except when a neon is involved. If nothing else, Ban, it is just plain good practice to put the conductors in the correct terminals. Saves confusion & possible hazard.

 

[AdamW]

Bloke decides to do wiring. Switches FCU to "off" position, decides this is ample isolation. Removes FCU faceplate from wall, sticks his metal screwdriver in the "LOAD" side live terminal to undo the screw. Ouch!

I'll bet it happens!

 

[mjjmcguire]

Thanks to everyone for their reply

In the end I ran 2.5mm cable from the junction box to the FCU, I then took two 2.5mm cables from the FCU. First cable went to a double socket, second cable went to a 2nd FCU with a 3 amp for my outside light. As yet power hasn't been provide to the JB so I just wanted to check a final time before going ahed. I thought this would be the best way to allow me to add further spurs form the new double socket at a later stage. I hope this isn't overkill. Could someone confirm this is Ok to finish, thus highlighting that this forum has been invaluable with it's advise and that I have learned from you all

Cheers

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Except when a neon is involved. If nothing else, Ban, it is just plain good practice to put the conductors in the correct terminals. Saves confusion & possible hazard.

Well - if you had a neon on a switched one, it would alert you to the mixup, and confuse the hell out of you if the fuse blew in an unswitched one.

Youre right about what you say - I didn't mean that it doesn't matter what you do, I was just trying to point out that it's not a dangerous catastrophe.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Bloke decides to do wiring. Switches FCU to "off" position, decides this is ample isolation. Removes FCU faceplate from wall, sticks his metal screwdriver in the "LOAD" side live terminal to undo the screw. Ouch!

I'll bet it happens!

I'll bet it does - either to idiots who wire it up in reverse, and then don't look at it in a reversed sense the next time, or to idiots who don't verify that the circuit is dead before fiddling with it.

 

[phil_ballard]

With a switched FCU it barely matters if you do, and with an unswitched one it doesn't matter at all

Surely the riskiest thing about this is somebody (even onesself) coming along later and adding some other cct to the SOURCE side when they think (and the terminals say) they've added it to the LOAD side?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

OK - I give in.

On the basis that at some unspecified time in the future a careless idiot, maybe the same one, or a different one, might come along and blindly assume without checking that no predecessor had made any mistakes, it does indeed matter which way round you wire the FCU - it is not just an issue of convention and neatness.

 

[securespark]

Sorry, Ban! A large part of the regs is to make things pretty much as foolproof as possible. Finding what you expect to find when opening up accessories is a bloooooody good start!