Swapping fluorescent kitchen cabinet lights for LED

[HannibalSmith100]

I’m hoping to replace my mains-wired under kitchen cabinet fluorescent light fittings with some LED strip light units and need some advice please.

The current lighting system consists of a mains cable running into a fused switch on top of one of the kitchen cabinets (photo 1). This then feeds into a junction box which in turn has three cables running off to each one of three fluorescent light units (photo 2). There is also a fourth light that is connected to one of the others via a connecting cable.

Having seen where the existing cables are routed (inside dry walls and behind cabinets) I was thinking it would be easier to keep all the cables in place and just change over the connector plugs from the old lights (photo 3) to the new type (I'm hoping to buy these lights). Is this a feasible plan and would the existing cabling be suitable for supplying power to LED strip lights rather than the fluorescent units they were originally installed for?

My plan is to use these in-line connector boxes to connect the old cables (after removing the connector plugs) to the new cables/plugs. Is this a suitable junction box to use for this purpose (it’s rated at 24 Amps)?

Having seen the installation instructions for the new LED strip light units, I understand that with them being a Class 2 luminaire that they should not be connected to the earth wire. The existing cables contain an earth wire inside them so how would I best isolate this? Can it just be fed into the in-line connector box mentioned above and left screwed down inside the terminal block?

 

[flameport]

That could be done, although you may have problems connecting to the very short ends where the existing wires are.

Another option may be to use the existing wires to pull the new ones through and just connect them all on top of the cabinet. Depends on exactly where the wires are routed and if they have been clipped inside the walls or not.

 

[Sureitsoff?]

reading the description of the proposed lights at least one requires a mains feed in and the others could be linked from the first one to the second to the third by choosing the correct cables. as flameport says the new cables(s) might be able to be pulled into place using the old ones. is there any slack in the existing cables (there might be spare cable behind the wall cupbord) ie if you pull gently down do they move if yes at least you might have more to work with

 

[HannibalSmith100]

Thanks for the replies so far. My first plan was to use the existing cables to pull the new ones through but it was going to be more trouble than it was worth with the way they are routed. And as Flameport mentioned, I have no idea if they are clipped in behind the dry wall either. Hence why I thought it would be far easier if I could just use the existing cables to supply power to the new lights.

I can see I might have an issue with not having enough cable at the ends to fit into a connector box but the plugs look like they unscrew anyway so that should save having to cut the cables. Does anyone know if those connector boxes I linked to would be suitable for this purpose?