above-ceiling wiring technique required.

[catnipsta]

Hi

I am planning to install several LV halogen downlights in my loft-conversion room - where access to the upper side of the ceiling is virtually impossible.

Can anybody please advice me in what the best way is to thread/guide the necessary wiring from one downlight hole to another.

Are there such products available to assist with the task in question?

many thansk in advance

Peter

 

[breezer]

yes there is its called a wire coat hanger. (straitened out)


seriously you "poke" up a on bit of cable up one hole and fish for it with a coat hanger at the other then you attach the wire you really want and pull it through.

you can also use a length of trunking if you have it

edited by me because i spelt really wrong

 

[securespark]

There is a product new in at wholesalers (TLC have it too) Flexible rods that screw together with a variety of terminations (hooks eyesetc) There are a couple of mfrs of a similar system TLC's code is FXPPR

But this is costly justfor 1 job.

I find trunking lid is indeed a good mouser MT2 is a little stiffer than MT1, and you can always tape a hook onto the end

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

this has been a godsend

 

[AdamW]

Alternatively you can cut out small bits of plaster where your studs/noggins are, channel the wood, slide in some trunking/conduit and run your cables through these. The trunking is to make sure your wires stay running vertically or horizontally so next owner hopefully won't drill into them. Don't think it is required by code but surely it can't hurt.

I am having to do this as when I remodelled my place I hadn't properly thought where all my speaker wires, network cables, coaxes etc. were going before I got the plasterer in so I now have to do this to my pristine flat-as-glass plaster. Bah.

 

[another_sparky]

If you're fitting LV transformer into the ceiling??
And if you cant get into the joist-space above, how will you get to the transformer if it goes wrong?

Or are you advocating just pushing it into a hole and replasrtering over the hole?

just a thought ..

 

[AdamW]

Depends on the size of light and transformer. I have some LV halogens where the transformer is slim enough to fit through one of the light holes. That would allow access quite easily.

I certainly wasn't advocating plastering a transformer in! The issue I was thinking was actually getting the cable past the joists. The guy downstairs from me has no space between joists and plaster (obviously) but the joists are then mounted to my concrete slab. Thus you can't just get the cables over the ceiling joists there and need to make a channel.