'Go, no-go', for outside socket?

[Sponge]

I want to install an IP rated, double socket on an outside wall for some Christmas lights.

My plan:

I have a double socket, downstairs in a bay. I was going to cut a channel in the wall and take it around the corner (2.5mm T&E) and install a 13A (neon) SFCU (inside of) an outside wall. Probably this one.

Drill directly out the back of this SFCU and take some more 2.5mm T&E into the back of an outside socket. Probably this one.

(So there'll be no exposed T&E.)

I understand there's no need for an external socket with RCD protection as that'll be provided by the consumer unit.

 

[ericmark]

I see nothing wrong with your plan. But there are a few points.
One socket your coming from needs to be suitable i.e. not already an unfused spur.
Two you will need to inspect and test.

 

[Chri5]

You might want to take it via an internal fspur, as a point of isolation (read on /off and to stop next door borrowing it to use the electric mower and pressure hose).

It would also allow you to turn off the lights without disconnecting the stuff in the socket.

Also be aware that wall wart type transformers won't fit and if they do, the ip is broken.

 

[JohnW2]

You might want to take it via an internal fspur, as a point of isolation (read on /off and to stop next door borrowing it to use the electric mower and pressure hose).

Very true - but is that not precisely what the OP is proposing to do?

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I was going to cut a channel in the wall and take it around the corner

//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:walls

Probably this one.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/mk-masterseal-plus-13a-2-gang-switched-socket/98279

 

[phatboy]

To sum up what BAN means:

You cannot channel the cable and go around a corner, as nobody would know where it was and may drill it - it can go around the corner in trunking or clipped to the wall.

Also, buying a cheap outdoor socket is not a good idea. The MK one linked will be much better and more resilient.


If you drill directly through the wall make sure there is a downward slope to outside to prevent damp coming in. You should also use some weatherproof compound to seal where the cable enters the socket.

Also, if the circuit you are connecting in to isn't RCD protected, you need to add one. Either by using a socket box RCD inside, or a RCD socket outside, or upgrading the consumer unit.

 

[mfarrow]

You cannot channel the cable and go around a corner, as nobody would know where it was and may drill it - it can go around the corner in trunking or clipped to the wall.

Yes he can - the OP has proposed a socket on one wall leading round the corner to an SFCU on another. There you have it - cable in a safe zone on both walls.

 

[phatboy]

You cannot channel the cable and go around a corner, as nobody would know where it was and may drill it - it can go around the corner in trunking or clipped to the wall.

Yes he can - the OP has proposed a socket on one wall leading round the corner to an SFCU on another. There you have it - cable in a safe zone on both walls.

I don't think that around a corner counts as a safe zone? Unless the socket and SFCU are within 150mm of the corner.....

 

[mfarrow]

Safe zone = horizontal or vertical from a socket/accessory. Doesn't matter if it's running into a corner.

 

[JohnW2]

Safe zone = horizontal or vertical from a socket/accessory. Doesn't matter if it's running into a corner.

That's true, and it remains compliant with the regs no matter how long the vertical or horizontal cable run from the socket/accessory.

However, if one thinks of psychology, rather the regs, I rather suspect that the person with a drill or hammer/nails in his/her hand is problem much less likely to think about the possibility of a cable in a horizontal safe zone which is heading for a corner (particularly an external corner) than they would with other safe zones created by the socket/accessory. I'm not defending them (safe zones are safe zones) but, pragmatically, I do think that a cable heading for an external corner in a safe zone would probably be more 'at risk' than cables in other safe zones.

Kind Regards, John

 

[THRIPSTER]

Does any account need to be made for the recommended bending radius of the cable?

Regards

 

[JohnW2]

Does any account need to be made for the recommended bending radius of the cable?

Of course, and that can theoretically be a bit of an issue for internal corners - but for external corners, there's usually no problem if one is prepared to dig deep enough into the wall!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Of course, and that can theoretically be a bit of an issue for internal corners

Not if you diverge from the horizontal. Which you could do on a path from accessory to accessory, if you put them at different heights.

 

[JohnW2]

Of course, and that can theoretically be a bit of an issue for internal corners

Not if you diverge from the horizontal. Which you could do on a path from accessory to accessory, if you put them at different heights.

Yes, I think we've been through this 3D geometry (a subject I've always had problem getting my head around!) before - but ISTR that was on the surface of an outside wall where safe zones were not an issue. In the indoor, buried cable, scenario, is there not a problem getting enough room to play with (in terms of bend radius) without any of the cable being outside of both of the safe zones? The safe zones would presumably have to at least 'touch'(if not overlapping) in the corner. Of course, if one turned double sockets through 90 degrees,that would considerable increase the height of the horizontal safe zones

Kind Regards, John

 

[mfarrow]

Any deviation from the horizontal plane that causes the cable to travel outside the horizontal zone of the accessory can be done 150mm from the corner, on either wall.

Probably best just to look at the diagram!