Fitting a blanking plate

[Justy]

Hi there - I want to remove the face plate of a plug socket and replace with a blanking plate. Can I just use electrical tape to cover up the bare wire ends tucked inside? Anything else I need to know?

(I'll be turning off power at the fuse box first of course )

Many thanks in advance,
J

 

[Taylortwocities]

NO!

Insulation tape loses its sticky and will drop off in time.

Use a piece of insulated terminal block.

Will the blanking plate be removable, or are you planning to cover it over?
With plaster for example?

 

[bongos]

Hi there - I want to remove the face plate of a plug socket and replace with a blanking plate. Can I just use electrical tape to cover up the bare wire ends tucked inside? Anything else I need to know?

No, not really. Use terminal blocks to terminate the cable. Much safer and the cable will be secure in them.

(I'll be turning off power at the fuse box first of course )

I hope that wink means you will be isolating the power!

 

[sparkwright]

Use 30 amp connector blocks.

 

[ColJack]

nobody mentioned ring continuity?

is this socket part of the ring?
if it is then you need to connect the 2 reds together, the 2 blacks and the 2 ( or 3 ) earths together..

 

[Paul_C]

Even if it isn't part of a ring, you'd still want to connect the cables together (assuming more than one) to keep power to other outlets downstream on a radial.

 

[nozspark]

Whatever you do DO NOT twist & tape.. use junction block and keep the joint accesible

I did some work in a take away (on the lighting circuit), unbeknownst to me the owners had twisted & taped and then tiled over...

A week later the place burnt to the ground, including the upstairs flat and roof.. 2 regular fire engines and the regional platform engine attended to put it out..

When I found out about it my bum was twitching for several weeks!!

 

[ColJack]

I must admit that I did burry a single socket in my first weeks of being a sparky...
it was / is at my parents house and I used terminal blocks to connect it back together..
I then fabricated a 3mm stainless steel plate to fit INSIDE the box..
it was a good fit and sat on top of the lugs..
it was screwed in plast using the normal holes..

it was then tiled over...

now I could argue that I technically just fitted a blank plate and that the kitchen fitters covered it up making it inaccessible, but at least we all know it's there and as it's the breakfast bar along that wall it's not going to have any cabinets put up or anything..

 

[Justy]

Hi there - many thanks for the quick replies.

Yes I'll definitely isolate the power first - my little wink was just to show I'm not a complete dumbo!!

So I've checked the wires and there's just three - live, neutral, earth. I assume this means it's not part of a ring and makes life a little easier.

A little confused by paul_c's reply - you seem to suggest I should connect the wires together. Surely I should put each of these three wires into separate sections of the termimal block? So they are not joined in any way. Can someone pls confirm.

I want to use a blanking plate as the socket is in my young daughter's bedroom and one day we might want to re-instate the plug point. So no, it won't be plastered over.

Cheers all,
Justy

 

[electronicsuk]

A little confused by paul_c's reply - you seem to suggest I should connect the wires together. Surely I should put each of these three wires into separate sections of the termimal block? So they are not joined in any way. Can someone pls confirm.

Yes, three terminals are required.

 

[GaryMo]

Connect the two reds (or browns) together, the two blacks (or blues) together and the bare CPC's which should have green/yellow sleeving on together. A total of three terminal blocks.

 

[electronicsuk]

Connect the two reds (or browns) together, the two blacks (or blues) together and the bare CPC's which should have green/yellow sleeving on together. A total of three terminal blocks.

So I've checked the wires and there's just three - live, neutral, earth. I assume this means it's not part of a ring and makes life a little easier.

 

[Paul_C]

A little confused by paul_c's reply - you seem to suggest I should connect the wires together. Surely I should put each of these three wires into separate sections of the termimal block? So they are not joined in any way. Can someone pls confirm.

Sorry if my comment wasn't as clear as it could have been. I was referring to if there were two (or more) separate cables connected to the socket. In that case you would need to use terminals to connect red to red, black to black etc. (or brown/blue as appropriate) in order to maintain power to the rest of the circuit.

If there is just a single cable, with one red (or brown), one black (or blue) etc. to the socket, then there's nothing else to connect to once the socket is removed, so you would just terminate each wire in a separate terminal so that they are protected and isolated.

 

[GaryMo]

Connect the two reds (or browns) together, the two blacks (or blues) together and the bare CPC's which should have green/yellow sleeving on together. A total of three terminal blocks.

So I've checked the wires and there's just three - live, neutral, earth. I assume this means it's not part of a ring and makes life a little easier.

Connect them separately then

 

[Justy]

All safely done - each of the three wires in their own little section of the block.

Many thanks for everyone's help

J