Outdoor Patio Lights - SWA Cable

[phykell]

Hi,

My patio has been fitted with SWA cable poking up from holes in some of the flags - please see the photos.

I've got post/bollard lights but looking at them, it's not obvious how the SWA cable will fit to them.

I think I've got two options - if they're wired for mains, I need an electrician or if I use low voltage, I can fit them myself - any ideas on how best to do it?

Thanks

 

[jj4091]

Are they suitable for low voltage ( presume you mean 12Vdc ) or are they mains voltage lamps. If they are low volts with mains supplied to the cables you will still need to connect the swa either to individual power supplies or jundtion blocks inside a suitable box. More info is needed really like where do the cables come from, are they connect to indoor switches etc.

 

[Murdochcat]

Interesting. Please be aware that you need to maintain continuity of the outer core of the SWA - so connecting these light (s) could be tricky to say the least.

Where does the SWA come from and go to ?

 

[phykell]

Are they suitable for low voltage ( presume you mean 12Vdc ) or are they mains voltage lamps. If they are low volts with mains supplied to the cables you will still need to connect the swa either to individual power supplies or jundtion blocks inside a suitable box. More info is needed really like where do the cables come from, are they connect to indoor switches etc.

Thanks for replying and my apologies for the late reply - I didn't have notifications on!

The cables from all of the lighting points (five of them) are all routed to a Wiska box on a wall which is in close proximity to an external double mains outlet - the idea is that it would be simple to mount a Paulmann outdoor transformer on the wall, wire it to the Wiska box and simply plug it in. That would mean I'd be able to do it myself instead of get an electrician in and I'd be able to control it from a Paulmann Zigbee gateway.

The luminaires are 240VAC rated but should work fine with 24v LED bulbs.

Interesting. Please be aware that you need to maintain continuity of the outer core of the SWA - so connecting these light (s) could be tricky to say the least.

Where does the SWA come from and go to ?

Yes, if it's wired as 240VAC by an electrician, I think it's going to need an external box by the side of each luminaire. Not exactly an elegant solution but perhaps there are external boxes that won't look too bad - I've not had any luck finding anything suitable so far though.

 

[briwire]

Firstly, you need some of the earth beneath the square cut out removing so that you have a little play in the cables and somewhere to lose the slack once the light is mounted.
Then assuming that there is nowhere to gland off inside the fitting, an option would be gland off each cable just above decking level. Use banjo washers, locknuts and M6 fastener to bond the two banjos together. Cable tying the two cables together. Leave the inner sheaths on the cables and takes them into the cable entry of the fitting.
It's not ideal as it is best to gland off into a fixed enclosure, but it is acceptable.

 

[jj4091]

So to sum up, you want to supply a switching device from a 13A external exsisting socket via a cable that goes from the switching device and is looped to each luminaire in parallel? You also need sutable junction boxes for each individual luminaire? I'm just a bit confused as to why there are 2 cables in the hole in the floor when you say they are individually wired to a to a wiska box near the socket.
You may find suitable J/Bs here if you cannot do it as briwire suggests.

Google Search

 

[Murdochcat]

Maybe look for alternative lights as those aren’t designed to be connected to swa and don’t have enough space in the body of the unit

 

[morqthana]

Ah - there's nothing like work done by a skilled craftsman.

And that's nothing like work done by a skilled craftsman.

 

[phykell]

Firstly, you need some of the earth beneath the square cut out removing so that you have a little play in the cables and somewhere to lose the slack once the light is mounted.
Then assuming that there is nowhere to gland off inside the fitting, an option would be gland off each cable just above decking level. Use banjo washers, locknuts and M6 fastener to bond the two banjos together. Cable tying the two cables together. Leave the inner sheaths on the cables and takes them into the cable entry of the fitting.
It's not ideal as it is best to gland off into a fixed enclosure, but it is acceptable.

Thanks, I'm going to get some glands to give that a try. The other option looks OK with a black Wiska box - thought I'd mount it as low as possible and gland into that. It wouldn't hide the cables like your method would though

So to sum up, you want to supply a switching device from a 13A external exsisting socket via a cable that goes from the switching device and is looped to each luminaire in parallel? You also need sutable junction boxes for each individual luminaire? I'm just a bit confused as to why there are 2 cables in the hole in the floor when you say they are individually wired to a to a wiska box near the socket.
You may find suitable J/Bs here if you cannot do it as briwire suggests.

Sorry if I didn't explain it properly. There are five lighting points so the last cable is a single, and the others are double. The parallel circuit is fed from a Wiska box next to an external socket. Turns out the cable then joins to one that enters the wall but I don't know where yet. The electricians disappeared with the builder! Either way, it's simple to take that cable to an LV (and Zigbee) transformer.

Maybe look for alternative lights as those aren’t designed to be connected to swa and don’t have enough space in the body of the unit

I've never seen a light fitting that would be designed to be connected to two or even one SWA cables other than something commercial/industrial.

Ah - there's nothing like work done by a skilled craftsman.

And that's nothing like work done by a skilled craftsman.

That's nothing...

 

[SUNRAY]

Thanks, I'm going to get some glands to give that a try. The other option looks OK with a black Wiska box - thought I'd mount it as low as possible and gland into that. It wouldn't hide the cables like your method would though

Try looking at the CET range of fittings, such as: https://www.cableglandsuk.com/products/cet-glands? they may take up a lot less space

 

[phykell]

I also found these on eBay which might do the trick if I was to run the cables up the side of the posts (not as elegant as running them internally):

 

[Murdochcat]

^ I doubt those are suitable for SWA

 

[Highway Man]

Looking at this. You have two options. Either change your lights to post lights that accept swa. That means has the room to get two swa cables in them on a jb.
Or you will need to take up each slab with the holes in and install an underground joint and bring the flex up through the paver.

 

[SUNRAY]

Mount the bollard on a decorative plinth such as a black ABS box to add some space for the joints.

 

[morqthana]

No room here for a couple of those CET glands?