Moving a spur socket upwards on a dot & dab wall

[AndyKnight]

I would like to wall mount my tv in my downstairs living room to an external wall however I need to get a power socket on the wall somewhere behind where I am proposing the TV to go.
The house is a new build and the developers put a spur socket (off a double ring main socket) to be used for an electric fire. The spur comes from the double socket, to a fused switch and then finally from the switch to the end socket which is roughly 2 metres ish.
I would like to move this spur socket up the wall by about 30-40cm as it is the closest power source and it won't get used for anything else. So my question is how to I go about doing this? The fused switch and the single spur socket are directly horizontal to one another and I am guessing that the electric cable will be attached to the thermalite block underneath the plasterboard.
The first thing I thought of was turning the existing socket into a junction and just running a new socket off of it higher up the wall as it seems the easiest but that leaves me with having to leave the junction accessible by way of a removable cover/plate.
What else can I do?

Thanks

 

[sparkwright]

As this wiring is supplied by a fused spur, keep the existing fire socket, and add your new socket from it. No doubt the old socket will come in handy.

 

[AndyKnight]

I didn't think you can have more than one socket in a spur. Is this because it is fused on the switch?
I was hoping to get rid of the fire socket altogether to leave a nice clean wall but then i've got no idea how I would get a run of electric cable from the fused switch to the new socket.

 

[securespark]

You could use it for a table lamp.

Is the fire socket directly below where you want the new one?

 

[securespark]

I didn't think you can have more than one socket in a spur. Is this because it is fused on the switch?
I was hoping to get rid of the fire socket altogether to leave a nice clean wall but then i've got no idea how I would get a run of electric cable from the fused switch to the new socket.

Yes, you can have as many as you like, because the total current drawn by them is limited by the fuse in the spur.

If the spur is not in line with proposed socket horizontally or vertically, you would need to protect the cable or fit special cable.

Have you tried fishing behind the plasterboard to see if there is a route across?

If you can't do this, you'll have to damage the wall.

 

[sparkwright]

You would keep the switched fused spur as it is, with a 13 amp fuse. Keep the socket it supplies, and spur of that for the new tv socket.

The old socket may come in handy for a dvd player or something.

With a 13 amp fused spur in place you can have as many sockets as you wish.

The fused spur will be useful to isolate the tv without reaching behind the tv.

As the wall is dot and dabbed, getting a new cable in will hopefully be easy if there is a hollow bit where you want. And cutting in a 25 mm deep flush metal back box should be easy too. Tap to find the hollow bits.

 

[AndyKnight]

Ok so this is what I have at the moment:

Untitled

• AndyKnight
• 28 Oct 2012
• 1

The masking tape square is where my proposed wall mounted tv will go, over to the left is the double socket that feeds the fused switch.

I need the new power socket to be somewhere in the square, preferrably towards the lower center as the tv has a recessed back which would reduce plug clearance problems etc

 

[sparkwright]

Ok so this is what I have at the moment:

Untitled

• AndyKnight
• 28 Oct 2012
• 1

The masking tape square is where my proposed wall mounted tv will go, over to the left is the double socket that feeds the fused switch.

I need the new power socket to be somewhere in the square, preferrably towards the lower center as the tv has a recessed back which would reduce plug clearance problems etc

Ok.

Perhaps the question is: do you mind keeping the old single where it is, or do you want to remove it altogether?

 

[AndyKnight]

If I keep it then it would be helpful to move it down the wall a little so it would be hidden by any unit etc I use for my av amplifier etc. This obviously causes a problem as the electric cable is attached to the wall which gives minimal movement potential.

 

[sparkwright]

If I keep it then it would be helpful to move it down the wall a little so it would be hidden by any unit etc I use for my av amplifier etc. This obviously causes a problem as the electric cable is attached to the wall which gives minimal movement potential.

Then you must be prepared for some damage.

I suggest you pull the cable from the single socket back to the centre line of the tv. Run the cable vertically downwards to where you want the low level socket. Then from here run a cable directly vertically upwards to the tv socket.

If you make sure all cables are dead in line horizontally and vertically with each socket then they are in safe zones - so accidently drilling the cables in the future is unlikely.

 

[kai]

Retain the fused switched spur, it's really handy for safely isolating both the original socket, and your new one safely - ideal for TV's that don't have proper on-off switches on them, likewise for DVD players.

When leaving the house or going to bed - one flick of the switched spur safely breaks both live and neutral feeds for total safety.