How to park spare feed for mains smoke alarm - pattress box?

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I've got battery powered smoke alarms fitted throughout the house.

During a project I've got the ability to run a cable to where one of them is - but once I finish the project I won't be able to get back behind it again - it's on top of a door frame.

I thought the best thing to do would be to put it in a choc block (without stripping the wires) with a label on it so it's clear for the future what it is, if anyone ever takes it off to put a new one on.

The current smoke alarm has no space inside to park the wires, and I don't really want to leave a big hole in the plasterboard (not that you'll see it as it's behind the smoke alarm) to be able to pull the choc block through.

I thought about one of those round plasterboard back boxes but that seems a bit OTT.

Any ideas?

EDIT - The forum has broken the link... if you search "APPLEBY CIRCULAR DRY LINER BOX 35MM" you'll see what I mean.
 
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I would have suggested one of those. With a plastic BESA box lid screwed over.

But is the proposed site in the ceiling or the wall?
 
I would have suggested one of those. With a plastic BESA box lid screwed over.

But is the proposed site in the ceiling or the wall?
I was going to put it back on the wall, although I can’t remember why I chose that place in the first place.

I was hoping for an installation where I wouldn’t need a lid - the smoke alarm would fit over the fitting (ie the box) but I’ve not measured that.
 
OK. Some manufacturers like Fire Angel have multiple fixing holes in the base. I'm not 100% sure if they line up with a standard single dryline box (fixing centres 60.3mm) or a BESA/ conduit box (fixing centres 50.8mm). I believe the circular dry lining boxes have the same fixing centres as BESA/ conduit boxes.
 
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Is it on the wall, above a door? That is a dead space for smoke, so an alarm there may not be that effective.
 
Is it on the wall, above a door? That is a dead space for smoke, so an alarm there may not be that effective.
Yes. I think I'll just move it to the ceiling and then I can wire it up later anyway and negate this whole problem.
 
You need to follow the manufacturer's instructions which are based on knowledge of where the smoke moves to, and are probably related to regulations. I have never heard of a wall as being a suitable location.
 
Are there any plans to provide wiring to all the smoke alarm positions?

Typically you would have them in the hall, landing, and a heat detector in the kitchen, not to mention other possible rooms.

It's a bit pointless only fitting one (though you could argue one is better than none) because the main advantage of mains smoke detectors is that they are interlinked when you have more than one - which means when one alarm goes off, all the others do as well.

If you are only fitting wiring for one now, use 3 core+earth cable. Since you have mentioned this wiring will be hard to get at, using a 3 core+earth will provide the extra wire for the interlink, so you may have half a chance of adding to the cable 'somehow' in the future.

Always strip the ends of the wires off before blanking off into a connector block - anyone testing the wire in the future may have a nasty surprise.
 
Go to Aico.co.uk and get a free copy of their alarms handbook.

specifically it says

• alarms should be ceiling mounted only
And
• 300mm minimum from walls, light fittings and obstructions
 

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