Joining cable through small hole

[pilsbury]

Got a minor issue. After ideas. My lighting circuit for the kitchen downlighters was put in as per my design. Nice loops left that would poke through the holes once the ceiling was boarded and plastered. So plastering finished, 58mm holes cut and good as gold 22 out of the 23 loops of wire are in exactly the right place. In fact all are as per my design. But, my design was flawed. Only when I was cutting the holes did I realise this and corrected to make even spacing. Problem now is that one of my loops is on the other side of a joist. I can see the wire going through the joist to the loop, about 30mm from my new correctly placed hole but I can’t pull it back through the hole as the cable is clipped by each loop.

To me the idea is simple. Cut the wire and join in a new loop for this downlight. But access (58mm hole) and very little play in the wire to be joined into is the issue. Kind of like keyhole surgery. No access above and I have a boarder of joists around preventing threading new wire. Thoughts?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Depends on the layout. Is this the only time/place the cables go through a joist?

If not, disconnect the too-short cable(s) at their other end(s) and feed new cable(s) to a light/hole on the same side of the joist.

 

[pilsbury]

There are several places the cable goes through a joist. However, Sod’s law has dictated this particular light is bordered by joists and noggins. Many of the other lights would have been far simpler to sort.

 

[JohnW2]

... So plastering finished, 58mm holes cut and good as gold 22 out of the 23 loops of wire are in exactly the right place.

Someone is probably going to have something to say about 23 lights in one room

... I can see the wire going through the joist to the loop, about 30mm from my new correctly placed hole but I can’t pull it back through the hole as the cable is clipped by each loop. .... To me the idea is simple. Cut the wire and join in a new loop for this downlight. But access (58mm hole) and very little play in the wire to be joined into is the issue. Kind of like keyhole surgery. No access above and I have a boarder of joists around preventing threading new wire. Thoughts?

Are there any other lights/holes in the same space between joists? If there were you could probably run a cable from that to feed the problem one.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

That's life.

As you can see the hole, can you not just feed new cable through and ignore the too-short bit(s)?

 

[Seb101]

Yes it will be tricky but not impossible - I would (after ensuring the circuit is isolated) hook the cable with something and strip the outer sheath from the cable with a knife before cutting it as you'll be able to get more purchase on it to do the stripping. Cut it, do a bit of keyhole surgery with the wire strippers to get the insulation off, then grab the ends with needle nose pliers and push these on: https://www.screwfix.com/p/ideal-spliceline-in-line-wire-connectors-pack-of-10/42201

Then you can just put your loop in the other ends of the splice connectors and you're away.

 

[Edddd]

Could maybe strip the sheath carefully, leave the cores intact and add splices with a short length of new cable to the light

Would need some kind of box to clip around the joint afterwards

 

[pilsbury]

You can all sleep easy tonight. Your suggestions got me thinking outside the box.

With the neighbouring spot, 2 joists away, I managed to pop off the cable clip. This then let me pull some of the wire through to now have 2 smaller loops. Both just enough to collect the downlights. Great success!

 

[Seb101]

Winner!

 

[winston1]

Someone is probably going to have something to say about 23 lights in one room

Indeed, it does seem rather a lot. Why so many?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Because either

a) The kitchen is the size of an aircraft hangar

or

b) He decided to light up the room with lights which were designed to not light up rooms, so he needed to use lots of them as a way to deal with that unsuitability.

 

[John D v2.0]

it's not the quantity that is a problem, it's the brightness. I have a 5m LED tape in the kitchen with an led every few CM, but the overall lumens is 150 per watt and it's only a few watts so I believe is less than a 100w bulb.

 

[pilsbury]

Because either

a) The kitchen is the size of an aircraft hangar

or

b) He decided to light up the room with lights which were designed to not light up rooms, so he needed to use lots of them as a way to deal with that unsuitability.

a) not quite, but nearly 40sqm
b) I’m aware of the thoughts on downlights, but I like the minimalist style.

The trade packs I bought come with 2.5w bulbs. I imagine I’ll have to up that to 5w+

 

[securespark]

Was gonna suggest Quickwire!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I’m aware of the thoughts on downlights, but I like the minimalist style.

But you don't like equally minimalist lights which actually do the job you want them to do?

Or is the "minimalist" to which you refer their ability to light up a room?