New fabric covered wiring

[danieljamesscott]

Hi,

I'm looking to replace some old, white, Twin & Earth Cable (black and red) which supplies two ceiling lights in my living room.

The house is old, with exposed wooden beams and the existing wiring is just run along/over the beams. I've found this 'fabric covered' cable:

http://www.urbancottageindustries.c...x/dark-brown-fabric-lighting-flex-cable-round

Which would match the colour of the beams, and not stand out as much. Is this type of wire suitable for a lighting circuit?

Thanks,

Dan

 

[bernardgreen]

There are lower cost suppliers of "vintage" flex.

http://www.lampspares.co.uk/braided-flex-cables/

 

[danieljamesscott]

Thanks - looks good.

Is this cable suitable for my use case? Running from the switch, along the ceiling to the rose, and then on to the other rose?

 

[Iggifer]

Yea it's fine to use, as long as you get the three core and continue the earth from the switch through to the end light.

How are you going to fix it?

 

[danieljamesscott]

Thanks.

I was planning to use brown cable clips, unless that's unsafe? Or you have a better suggestion?

These are a bit over the top for me... and very expensive.

http://www.urbancottageindustries.com/historic-lighting/lighting-accessories/cable-management

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Seems to me that a chap could make these himself, very easily.

 

[danieljamesscott]

Sure could... but they're a little OTT for me, and I'm a little short of time right now though, so cable clips are probably the way I'll go.

The plan is to try and hide the wiring as much as possible, so brown wire and brown clips will do fine. I'd use standard cable if it came in brown.... but I can't find it anywhere.

 

[winston1]

I'd use standard cable if it came in brown.... but I can't find it anywhere.

Paint comes in brown.

 

[danieljamesscott]

It does, but someone's already tried to colour the existing white cable with brown paint/stain/something... it looks terrible.

It's easier and quicker to just buy brown cable, no?

I should also mention that I'm moving the light fixture, which requires me to re-run the cable anyway, I'm not just doing this to fix the cable colour, that will be a nice side effect.

 

[JohnW2]

The plan is to try and hide the wiring as much as possible, so brown wire and brown clips will do fine. I'd use standard cable if it came in brown.... but I can't find it anywhere.

How long is the visible length of cable? If it's not too long, then brown heat-shrink sleeving might be an option.

Kind Regards, John

 

[sparkwright]

Those bits of wood Ban has shown make me think about getting a long length of batten wood, and cutting a groove along one side and fixing to the beam. Then wood dye/stain to match.

How possible is it to gain access above the ceiling? That may be the easiest and cheapest solution.

 

[danieljamesscott]

How long is the visible length of cable? If it's not too long, then brown heat-shrink sleeving might be an option.

Kind Regards, John

Good idea, thanks. It's about 5m long.

Those bits of wood Ban has shown make me think about getting a long length of batten wood, and cutting a groove along one side and fixing to the beam. Then wood dye/stain to match.

How possible is it to gain access above the ceiling? That may be the easiest and cheapest solution.

Cutting/grooving/fixing batten is more work than I'm willing to put in right now, I also think it would look a little strange, modern wood fixed to the old beams.

Access above the ceiling is not really possible, but I don't think it would help anyway, the ceiling beams are the joists for the floor above, so there's no way to get the cable through without drilling, and I don't want to drill holes through them, or the boards above.

Thanks for the ideas though.

 

[JohnW2]

How long is the visible length of cable? If it's not too long, then brown heat-shrink sleeving might be an option.

Good idea, thanks. It's about 5m long.

You can get heat-shrink in almost any length you want (and it wouldn't necessarily have to be one continuous length, anyway), and I've certainly been known to do it to cables longer than 5m (again for aesthetic reasons).

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

Cutting/grooving/fixing batten is more work than I'm willing to put in right now, I also think it would look a little strange, modern wood fixed to the old beams.

'Old wood' is readily available, and often cheap (I've used plenty of it in my daughter's centuries-old cottage!), but I can understand you not wanting the hassle of the work.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

How long is the visible length of cable? If it's not too long, then brown heat-shrink sleeving might be an option.

Bit of a faff, though.

Since it would have to be disconnected at least at one end, why not just replace it?

Or find an electrician who can do pyro.