discreet method for surface mounting cable

[studentspark]

I need to run some surface mounted cable.
Putting it in trunking /conduit is not wanted. Clips look ugly

Finding discreet fixings is proving difficult.

I've come across in older installations, metal bands that nail into the wall, and then wrap around the cable. I presume these are out of favor now (I guess because of potential damage the insulation)
They did however give a very slim line fastening.

Is anything similar around today?

Thanks

 

[ban-all-sheds]

http://www.buckle-clips.co.uk/

 

[studentspark]

Thats what I was after thanks

 

[JohnW2]

I've come across in older installations, metal bands that nail into the wall, and then wrap around the cable. I presume these are out of favor now (I guess because of potential damage the insulation) ... They did however give a very slim line fastening.

ASs BAS has indicated, you can still get buckle clips, if you look hard enough, but they are not 'readily available'. Like you, I liked them, and still have a good few in service in my house. I can but presume that it was the thought of the metal becoming live if the cable were damaged which sent them out of favour. As for 'doing the damage', I would say that they are less likely to (at least, during installation) than standard plastic clips - with the latter it's quite easy to chop through the sheath, and sometimes even insulation, if one is careless in fitting them (i.e. not pushing them fully onto the cable before wielding the hammer!).

Kind Regards, John

 

[Adam_151]

I can but presume that it was the thought of the metal becoming live if the cable were damaged which sent them out of favour.

Nah, wouldn't have thought so, If that was the case then we would also have a problem with using metal P clips to support a flex to a heater, or supporting bundles of twin and earth cables in metallic banding above suspended ceiling.

It'll be down to the fact that its quicker and therefore cheaper to use plastic clips.

There is something in the next admendment which will require metallic support to cables run in fire-escape routes.

 

[JohnW2]

I can but presume that it was the thought of the metal becoming live if the cable were damaged which sent them out of favour.

Nah, wouldn't have thought so, If that was the case then we would also have a problem with using metal P clips to support a flex to a heater, or supporting bundles of twin and earth cables in metallic banding above suspended ceiling.

Possibly. However, AFAICS we're only talking about a 'fashion' (I'm not aware of any regs forbidding buckle clips), and fashions can be fickle and inconsistent!

It'll be down to the fact that its quicker and therefore cheaper to use plastic clips.

Yes, possibly, although I would have thought that the difference in speed/time would be pretty trivial. Whatever the reason, they certainly went of fashion in a big way, and fairly 'suddenly'.

There is something in the next admendment which will require metallic support to cables run in fire-escape routes.

Indeed (the new 521.200.1, for anyone interested). It's an interesting and fairly usual reg to find in BS7671, since it appears that it is not primarily (if at all) to do with electrical safety (or anything electrical at all) - but, rather, is to avoid cables falling and thereby impeding escape routes or fire-fighting activities. I would personally thought that by the time there were cables dangling across escapes routes as a result of a fire, there would probably far bigger problems/hazards to worry about!

Kind REgards, John

 

[333rocky333]

Whatever the reason, they certainly went of fashion in a big way, and fairly 'suddenly'.

Wernt they more designed for lead cable, they lasted a few years longer I suppose as newer pvc T+E was usually grey, once White T+E became popular I would have thought they looked a bit odd and demand fell

Didnt someone start making nail gun staples for T+E a few years back

 

[JohnW2]

Whatever the reason, they certainly went of fashion in a big way, and fairly 'suddenly'.

Wernt they more designed for lead cable, they lasted a few years longer I suppose as newer pvc T+E was usually grey, once White T+E became popular I would have thought they looked a bit odd and demand fell

Yes, I imagine that they were first developed for lead cable, and they clearly look better on grey than white - although I've seen many painted (cable+buckle clips) - and I suppose that white buckle clips could have been produced (just as plastic clips were/are produced in both white and grey). What I inherited in my current house, 25+ years ago, was nearly all grey PVC, and nearly all secured by buckle clips.

Something else which 'disappeared suddenly' were 'double' plastic clips (2x1mm², 2x1.5mm² or 2x2.5mm²) - white or grey! Was that perhaps because of a realisation of the regs regarding 'grouping' of cables?

[Didnt someone start making nail gun staples for T+E a few years back

Yes, I believe they exist, although I've never met one, nor the staples inserted by one.

Kind Regards, John