Extractor fans and armoured cable...

clobs · 15 Jan 2008

These two are connected in any way - I just need to know for planning things out...

...after an official debacle with a certified electrician who did my rewire last year I need to reposition where armoured cable comes from my house out into the garden. It is not live and I need to cut through it (the muppet brought it through the cavity wall under a bedroom window in the middle!) - so what is the best tool to do this (bearing in mind I need to be up a ladder to do it.

When the (new) electrician finally connects will he run a smaller cable to the fuse box from a junction box and then the armoured cable from that junction box out to the garden?

Next question... do extractor fans that you fit in bathrooms/loos etc just connect to a junction box? Or do they need their own fuse?

Many thanks,
X

plugwash · 15 Jan 2008

armoured cable is a PITA to cut, presumablly the pros have some special tool for it or something.

using an old pair of side cutters (that you don't mind ruining) to go through the armour one core at a time will work but is pretty slow.

It may be easier to wait with cutting it until after it has been unthreaded from the old hole and threaded through the new one.

ad13 · 15 Jan 2008

regards the fan, it doesnt need to be fused but putting in an isolator is a good idea, as for cutting the cable, it depends on the size/thickness of the cable. 1.5/2.5 3core armour can be cut with cable shears (as long as they are sharp) but anything else i would use a hacksaw.
BUT MAKE SURE THE CABLE IS DEAD OR DISCONNECTED.
As for the cable size to the junction box, i would think its good practise to keep the cable the same size unless its some crazy size that is not really required>
good luck

electronicsuk · 15 Jan 2008

plugwash said:
armoured cable is a PITA to cut, presumablly the pros have some special tool for it or something

A hacksaw will go through any armoured cable you are likely to find in a domestic environment with ease.

Lectrician · 15 Jan 2008

Cutting SWA?

Use some old cable croppers (the armour blunts the croppers), use a hacksaw, or some bolt croppers if they are large enough.

When installing large cables (as in 16 upwards), you are pushed to a hacksaw or grinder really. For larger cables again (say 50 upwards). I tend to cut to length using a grinder. Obviously I do not use a grinder to terminate the cable!

plugwash · 15 Jan 2008

electronicsuk said:
plugwash said:

armoured cable is a PITA to cut, presumablly the pros have some special tool for it or something

Click to expand...

A hacksaw will go through any armoured cable you are likely to find in a domestic environment with ease.

maybe i'm crap at using a hacksaw or maybe my hacksaws are blunt but i've not had much luck when i've tried this. I find the blade tends to catch and become almost impossible to push.

daytona · 15 Jan 2008

try not to do it too quickly and hold it open a little when you cut it.that nearly became a double entendre didnt it

ian cotts · 15 Jan 2008

I use a battery grinder with a .5mm cutting disc, goes through very easy.

ban-all-sheds · 16 Jan 2008

If hacksaw blades catch it's not because they are too blunt....

It might be because they are too coarse - remember you are not really cutting something several mm in diameter - you're cutting some fairly thin steel wire - 32tpi might be in order....

plugwash · 16 Jan 2008

well I would put not knowing how to select suitable hacksaw blades and just assuming the supplied one would be adequate under my category of being rubbish at using a hacksaw.

Lectrician · 16 Jan 2008

24 and 32 Tph are typically stocked at wholsalers, but hacksaws always come with a cheap and crappy 24 Tph blade.

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Extractor fans and armoured cable...

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