Mounting socket in TV cabinet

[SkipFeeney]

Hi,

I have got a wall mounted TV cabinet (besta) that I would like to put a socket in by running a spur from an adjacent socket.

Which of the following meets current regs:

1) Surface mount a socket in cabinet and run twin and earth out side of cabinet then under plasterboard until it reaches the socket

2)Install metal back box behind cabinet with twin and earth buried under plaster board until it reaches socket. Mount front of Socket on back of cabinet so its flush.

3) Surface mount a socket behind cabinet and cut out cabinet back around where socket is so it is accessible

Thanks

 

[big-all]

not quite what you are asking buuuut
when i make tv computer or hifi units i mount a 4 or 6 gang extension under the top or around that area so gravity will keep the extra cable neat and tidy and i also allow space for the cables to sit out off sight but easy to get at
this also means no extra wiring required

 

[EFLImpudence]

Which of the following meets current regs:

The regs. are not concerned with the sort of things you are asking.

All three are fine as long as you install the parts in compliance with the regs. which are to do with safety of the users.
E.g. circuit loading and protection, earthing, cable runs in correct zones in relation to accessories (horizontal or vertical) - that sort of thing.

 

[JohnD]

I'd prefer (3) so the cabinet can be moved in future without wrenching cables out of the wall.

 

[JohnW2]

I'd prefer (3) so the cabinet can be moved in future without wrenching cables out of the wall.

As has been said, if done properly, any of the three options mentioned could be reg-compliant, but I agree with what you say.

With (1) and (2), there is obviously a risk that someone subsequently trying to move/remove the cabinet would not 'realise' the problem with the attached cables, and therefore would find themselves trying to wrench the cables out of the wall or socket.

I must say that in similar situations I have tended to have socket(s) installed within the cabinet but fed through a flexible cable from a plug/socket below (or above) the cabinet (or whatever), using some aesthetically acceptable method of 'camouflage'/containment of that vertical bit of potentially visible cable.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The regs. are not concerned with the sort of things you are asking.

All three are fine as long as you install the parts in compliance with the regs. which are to do with safety of the users.

IMO #1 & #2 contravene 134.1.1.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I must say that in similar situations I have tended to have socket(s) installed within the cabinet but fed through a flexible cable from a plug/socket below (or above) the cabinet (or whatever), using some aesthetically acceptable method of 'camouflage'/containment of that vertical bit of potentially visible cable.

I've got a multiway socket lying inside mine, behind the DVD player, with its flex going through a cable aperture provided.

I don't agonise about seeing that flex, any more than I do the aerial cable, which necessarily comes out of the wall and runs to the unit.

 

[JohnW2]

IMO #1 & #2 contravene 134.1.1.

As you say, that is a matter of personal opinion.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I don't agonise about seeing that flex, any more than I do the aerial cable, which necessarily comes out of the wall and runs to the unit.

I personally wouldn't agonise about it, either, but others around me tend to - but I've never had difficulty in finding a way of 'concealing' the cables (power, aerial and/or whatever) in a manner which they find aesthetically acceptable.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It is.

TBF I hadn't spotted "wall mounted" cabinet - I thought it was free-standing, so sockets fixed to it supplied by T&E would not have been at all right.

 

[JohnW2]

TBF I hadn't spotted "wall mounted" cabinet - I thought it was free-standing, so sockets fixed to it supplied by T&E would not have been at all right.

Agreed - that would be very different. Free-standing and attached to fixed wiring would not only be non-compliant with 134.1.1 but quite probably other regs as well.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Skip - there are lots of Ikea "hack" websites/blogs/etc out there - might be worth perusing them for ideas.