Adding a switch to Security light.

[dishman]

I cannot see how. The cable is embedded into the wall (internal side) and the sleeving has been cut right up to where it exits from the wall. So I just have a long (20cm or so) length of line and neutral.

As I said, cutting the cables shorter would leave me no where to place a choc box out of the way.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Ok, fair enough.

You said "it goes through the cavity wall into the garage" - I thought you would be able to pull it out.

 

[dishman]

Ahh, sorry, I meant that is where I have now routed it to power the in-line fan.

This cable came out of the wall where the old axial fan was positioned.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If you have removed an appliance but kept the cable which supplied it, and said cable is buried in the wall, is it still in a "safe" Zone?

[wiki]electrics%3Awalls[/wiki]

 

[dishman]

If you have removed an appliance but kept the cable which supplied it, and said cable is buried in the wall, is it still in a "safe" Zone?

[wiki]electrics%3Awalls[/wiki]

I would assume so. Based on that diagram, it comes out of the wall within or around 150mm below the ceiling line (blue zone). As it is a switched live I am pretty sure it is fed from the lighting circuit, so I assume it will trace up towards the ceiling toward the rose or the pull cord switch (although I cannot confirm this).

If it was not originally in a "Safe" zone, what would the implications have been? A requirement to wire it within a safe zone?

 

[dishman]

Just a bit of thread revival - as per the suggestions I bought a Salus wiring centre to tidy up the poor and cramped cable arrangement for the junction box in the garage (see post 9).

As per @ban-all-sheds picture in post 12, you can see the link cables that come with it. I noticed however that these cables have cores which are much thinner than the cores for all the lighting in the garage. Will this be an issue? Or should I strip some spare cable with a thicker core to use as the link cables in this instance.

I will post an update when I have finished it. It certainly looks a lot neater and probably safer. Some of the neutral cables came out of the block as soon as I started moving it. So they were not that secure in their original state.

Unfortunatly, due to restricted cable lengths it as been quite difficult to arrange all the line, neutral and earth cables in their own block areas, as some cables cannot reach.

As I said I will post a picture when finished to ensure there is nothing I have missed. Just the link cable thickness that is concerning me.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

They're just lengths of wire - if they are too small then replace them. You'll probably need different connections anyway.

 

[dishman]

OK, finished fitting the new junction box. I coded all the previous connections with dots (simple but effective), so it was a simple case of matching the dots....

Old box:
View media item 99888View media item 99887
New Box

View media item 99889
Is there anything that sticks out as being incorrect or that could be improved?

I coded all the cables beforehand to I am very confidant everything is connected correctly.

I can see a few bits of copper cable visible before the chocks, I shall fix that if people think it is advisable. My earth links are also not sheathed for now.

Anything else...?

It is a better solution than what was there before..... I hope.....

I must say it was a bit more fiddley than I thought it would be. I do not know how it all fit in that tiny box before. It was difficult enough with this box.

One issue was that the bottom entry gaps are really not big enough for two thick cables. They only just fit. With it being bottom entry only, I was also lucky all the cables could just about reach.

Also, one other question.

When combining cables into one connection (I have done two maximum), should I twist? Or as long as the screw is tight should it not matter?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Ideally there should be no copper showing, but it's not exactly a hanging offence.

Do sheath the bare earths though, and fit that cable grip 2nd from left properly.

 

[dishman]

... fit that cable grip 2nd from left properly.

.....if only I had not dropped the bloody thing....and they did not include spares...I was planning to locate a replacement

Just to check, my last query, is there any benifit to twisting two or more cables into a block?

 

[JohnW2]

Just to check, my last query, is there any benifit to twisting two or more cables into a block?

No. Particularly with solid conductors, there are very good reasons for not twisting the,

Kind Regards, John

 

[deadshort]

The original job was fine, you could have disconnected the feed to the external light from the jb to give you some 'slack' to install your DP switch and then added a new length of cable from the DP switch position to the original jb connection block.
Have you confirmed you have a functioning earth present at the external light ?

Kind regards,

DS

 

[dishman]

The original job was fine, you could have disconnected the feed to the external light from the jb to give you some 'slack' to install your DP switch and then added a new length of cable from the DP switch position to the original jb connection block.

DS

Appreciate the suggestion, although I tend to agree with ban's assessment that it was a bit of a rat's nest to begin with.Some of the connections were certainly loose.

Getting slack in the cable to the light was never an issue anyway. Adding the switch should be quite easy.

To be honest tidying it all up allows me a bit more space to easily add a permenant live to the extractor fan in the garage at some point in the future. That would have been impossible in it's original state.