Connecting galvanised pipe without threading

[Flipjango]

We've been slowly doing up our house for a couple of years and it has all been very recently plastered and painted. I'm now looking at putting up new light fittings, but we've realised that our kitchen lighting design isn't ideal and would like to add in a couple of extra lights. The wiring would have to run perpendicular to the joists, so we aren't keen to start carving up the ceiling, so we were thinking of using surface mounted galvanised conduit as this would go well with the style of the kitchen. We only have to run about 3m of conduit, and 5 junction boxes so its a pretty tiny job and I'm keen to avoid having to buy a pipe threader, but I'm struggling to work out any other way to connect the pipe to the junction boxes. I'd hoped i'd be able to find a male threaded to push fit/compression type fixing to connect them, but I only seem to be able to find 'push fit to push fit' connectors. I've seen the conlok boxes but we've been given a load of threaded junction boxes already that i'd like to use to keep the costs down. As this doesn't need to be water tight and is essentially aesthetic I don't really need the junctions to be all that stable as the junction boxes and pipe will all be independently screwed to the ceiling, so really its just a way of covering the joints. Have I missed something obvious here?

I'd also be interested to know, how to people connect the ceiling rose into a galvanised conduit box? I can't seem to find a galvanised pendent fitting, so I'm assuming I just need to put the plastic pendent filling into the ganvanised box?

Cheers

 

[ericmark]

Yes missed something sorry. The threading of metal conduit ensures earth continuity without the threads it would require some other method of bonding each lenght.

So likely you will need to use plastic.

There is conduit made without threads common in Germany but in UK hard to find. The Germans free air singles between lengths of conduit with no bends or boxes however we don't.

 

[Flipjango]

Thanks for that. Thing is, nothing running through the pipe is earthed so not sure it's relevant? Bit hard to explain, but basically only running lighting flex from the main ceiling rose, so just twin flex. Does that matter?

 

[JohnW2]

Thanks for that. Thing is, nothing running through the pipe is earthed so not sure it's relevant? Bit hard to explain, but basically only running lighting flex from the main ceiling rose, so just twin flex. Does that matter?

Unfortunately for you, that makes no difference. Any metal conduit would need to be earthed because if, say, the cable inside it were to melt, a live conductor could come into contact with the conduit, making it all live. By earthing the conduit, one ensures that a fuse would blow or breaker would trip if this happened, thereby removing the hazardous situation. It's nothing to do with whether or not there is an 'earth'in the cable inside the conduit.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Flipjango]

Thanks John. I'm so confused now, as I've seen threadless conduit connectors for galvanised in my electrical merchants which conform to IP67 (in QVS http://www.qvsdirect.com/Quick-Connect-Conduit-Coupler-20mm-Push-fit-pr-25155.html but only for connecting straight lengths of pipe - hence why I was looking for the same to connect straight pipe to threaded. I think its pretty new?

Any chance you could shed some light onto what to do with the cable coming into the galvanised when used for ceiling lights? I had planned to run the cable into a ceiling rose, then use then galvanised to entend the flex to the light fitting, but I need the 'ceiling rose' to be galvanised too, and this doesn't seem to exist so I guess Im wiring into a standard galvanised junction box. What do people normally do?

 

[Spark123]

I'm not sure what you are looking for, the couplers come in both straight through and in push fit to 20mm thread. clicky
The price will soon rack up when using these hence a stock and die kit from the same place will work out cheaper, all you need is to borrow a pipe vice.
I'm not sure on the aesthetics of galv conduit in a domestic kitchen, not seen it used in one before.

 

[Flipjango]

Thanks John, exactly what I was looking for. Don't know how i missed them! You could well be right on the price though. Didn't expect them to be so expensive. Though don't have anyone to borrow a pipe vice from unfortunately.

Our kitchen is pretty industrial in style so should work well in terms of aesthetics. But then we live in London so perhaps not your usual suburban kitchen?!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

We've been slowly doing up our house for a couple of years and it has all been very recently plastered and painted. I'm now looking at putting up new light fittings, but we've realised that our kitchen lighting design isn't ideal and would like to add in a couple of extra lights. The wiring would have to run perpendicular to the joists, so we aren't keen to start carving up the ceiling,

Excellent planning.

we've been given a load of threaded junction boxes already that i'd like to use to keep the costs down.

OOI does keeping the costs down include not applying for the required Building Regulations approval?

 

[Flipjango]

As far as I'm aware you are not under any obligation to apply for building regs to install light fittings, which in essence is all that is being done here. In fact I suspect they might laugh at me for wasting their time if I were to try! The full house rewire we had to undertake urgently before we could move in 28 months ago was all cleared by building regs however. Strangely at that point I wasn't really thinking about what light fittings I might want in a practically derelict house. I was more concerned with making it habitable.

Planning doesn't take into account changing your mind. Or are you perfect at everything and always know what you're going to want two years down the line ban-all-sheds?

Someone get out of bed on the wrong side this morning?!

 

[RF Lighting]

Don't worry, he get's out of the wrong side of the bed every morning.

How many pieces of conduit do you require, and what sort of lengths?

If you're not desperate, I could thread a couple of pieces and put them in the post to you for a few quid.

 

[Lectrician]

Makes me think of this site I came across quite a while ago. They had used conduit adaptors which had an allan key grub screw to attach to the conduit, which had a 20mm thread on it.

Not sure it would be my choice!

Not sure what you would call these, or where to source.

 

[Flipjango]

Wow, that's fantastically kind of you, thanks! I can see you're from Leeds- my home town once upon a time. Leeds people are always lovely!

I think we're looking at 3 or 4 bits of conduit of about 0.5-1m each but will have to plan it out fully before I could confirm. I may very well take you up on the offer though! Thanks again

 

[RF Lighting]

Drop me an email. My address is in my profile. I'm working away at the moment, so I'm a bit limited for time at the moment, but I should be able to sort something.

All Yorkshiremen are lovely. And handsome.

 

[RF Lighting]

Makes me think of this site I came across quite a while ago. They had used conduit adaptors which had an allan key grub screw to attach to the conduit, which had a 20mm thread on it.

Not sure it would be my choice!

Not sure what you would call these, or where to source.

I have worked on a site in the last couple of years where they were installing those horrendous things, but can't remember who the M&E contractors were or where the site was!

 

[JohnW2]

Drop me an email. My address is in my profile.

I can't see it - does one perhaps have to be your 'friend' for it to be visible?

Kind Regards, John