4 Cables into a Junction Box

timtheenchanter · 30 Aug 2007

Hi all,

Just doing some prep work before I tile my kitchen floor, and theres a junction box under there, Ideally I want do do something with it before the floor is tiled,

However, there are 4 cables in it, Im presuming 2 are the ring, one is for a spur socket in the consevatory, but whats the 4th doing there??

All the sockets in the kitchen are on the ring (at least theres 2 cables in the back of each) and the consevatory is definatly a spur from the JB.

but i cant find where the 4th goes to? any suggestions?
the dishwasher and washing machine run from sockets under the worktop as part of the ring, so its not that.

next question is can I crimp 4 2.5mm cables together?? if not whats the alternative?

breezer · 30 Aug 2007

timtheenchanter said:
However, there are 4 cables in it, Im presuming 2 are the ring, one is for a spur socket in the consevatory, but whats the 4th doing there??

if you cant /won't follow it dissconect it and see what doesnt work

timtheenchanter said:
next question is can I crimp 4 2.5mm cables together?? if not whats the alternative?

you can try

electronicsuk · 30 Aug 2007

I know this isn't really the correct solution (so take it as a pinch of salt!) but if this is your house then I would check all terminals in the JB are tight and then forget about it. I can't see that crimping four 2.5mm conductors together would be much more reliable than a JB with the sort of tools you will have access to (even if it does make it compliant) and will no doubt cause you more hassle than it's worth.

*gets coat*

megawatt · 30 Aug 2007

I'm presuming 2 are the ring, one is for a spur socket in the consevatory

If someone has gone to the effort of bodging the wiring in this way I wouldn't make any assumptions if I were you and, the Trouble is Tim, the wires could go absolutely anywhere.

Good start (assuming you have a voltage tester/meter) is to ...
Turn off the power
Separate the wires and make safe
Power back on
Identify any supply(s) and mark.
See what doesn't work

Where you go from there depends on what you find

Don't even think of crimping 4 cables!

Taylortwocities · 30 Aug 2007

You may have a figure of eight. Like maybe a ring with another ring attached to it.

I would not recommend burying a JB with screwed terminals under a tiled floor, that wiring could be there for 50 years and the terminations could work loose as the conductors heat up and cool down. One fine day it may go faulty and then you have a floor to dig up.

i know its going to be a couple of hours hassle to find out what has been done but it will be worth it to do the job properly.

timtheenchanter · 30 Aug 2007

Thanks for the advice, I`ll get my detectives hat on 2morrow then

Steve · 30 Aug 2007

glue the screw terminals up.

Taylortwocities · 30 Aug 2007

timtheenchanter said:
Thanks for the advice, I`ll get my detectives hat on 2morrow then

Do tell us what u find - we like a good laugh

securespark · 31 Aug 2007

What with?!

megawatt · 2 Sep 2007

Crafty wrote:

glue the screw terminals up.

Perhaps site admin could move this one to the Stupid Advice section

OP: I'm hooping Crafty was joking here

MW

Steve · 2 Sep 2007

megawatt said:
Crafty wrote:

glue the screw terminals up.

Click to expand...

Perhaps site admin could move this one to the Stupid Advice section

OP: I'm hooping Crafty was joking here

MW

Its surely better than just leaving the JB unaccessible with no protection from the screws loosening.

ricicle · 2 Sep 2007

Crafty said:
glue the screw Its surely better than just leaving the JB unaccessible with no protection from the screws loosening.

No - do the job properly.....

Steve · 2 Sep 2007

ricicle said:
Crafty said:

glue the screw Its surely better than just leaving the JB unaccessible with no protection from the screws loosening.

Click to expand...

No - do the job properly.....

Yes of course, I meant if there was no other option / the DIYer cant be bothered approach!

theshogun · 2 Sep 2007

Whats the betting somebody wired a ring from a spur then connected in another spur?

Reynardine · 3 Sep 2007

I also have a 4 wire JB under my floorboards. I have the same detective work to do. I'm hoping to find that 2 of the 4 wires are simple spurs. I only have slight diy knowledge so you should ask an electrician how best to replace a 4 wire JB. My suggestion would be one of the following:

Slightly Better : replace the single 4 wire JB with two 3 wire JB's i.e. once you know that the 2 mystery wires are spurs, separate them and use two JB's to move the spurring to separate points in the ring main.

Even Better : move any JB's away from the floorboards. Embed each JB in a dedicated patress in the wall, protected with a blanking plate.

Best : Eliminate JB's altegether and use existing wall socket(s) as junction boxes - one spur from each.

diynot

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4 Cables into a Junction Box

breezer

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