Plug sockets

[james2006]

Hi - I live in a 1960's house and I am justupgrading the plug sockets. The cable is still good (its PVC in black an red).
The issue I face is that the original plug sockets and back boxes have the screw holes and the top and bottom - does anyone know of a modern socket that has screw holes at the top and bottom?

Regards

James

 

[Taylortwocities]

No, they went out of fashion a long time ago.

If the boxes do not have fixings at the sides (to suit modern accessories) then the only thing you can do is to dig out the old back boxes and fit new.

That will involve a fair bit of making good of plasterwork.

 

[NewOrder]

I've had similar issues and had to replace a few back boxes, in one case it because it corroded due to damp. As far as I am aware the type of back box you have in your house hasn't been used since the early 70's but even for a DIY hopeless person like me its not that much of a big job, providing you can get the old box out and the new plaster finish doesn't need to be perfect (e.g if wall paper or tiles are covering it).

Hardest one was converting a single to double, but I simply don't bother making them flush any more and just buy a converter box.

 

[sparkwright]

Those boxes almost certainly always had fixing lugs at the sides as well, so have a look.

If not, you could drill and tap your own fixings into the back of the box, and use long 3.5 mm screws or extensions.

If you fit new screws to the old fixing lugs you may find they don't go in, so buy a 3.5 mm rethreader tool from an electrical wholesaler.

 

[Paul_C]

As above, the boxes often had lugs top & bottom and at the sides, so you may not need to replace them anyway. Just check on the threads, as they may be metric 3.5mm or they may be the older 4BA types. If the latter, then it might be easiest to just re-use the existing mounting bolts.

 

[james2006]

Thanks - I think i might be digging them out of the wall - fun!!!!