choccy block / connector strip question

[Tim Nissen]

hello
I have a ceiling spotlight trackbar which uses an inbuilt choccy bar as its connector. Trouble is it is now quite old (20 yrs+) and the little screws in the choccy block seem to have lost their grip and just spin around so they don't grip the copper wires anymore, nor can I remove them. Is there a trick I can use to make a good connection some other way?

Thank you for reading this

tim

 

[trev]

Wagos will work but are you an electrician Tim?

 

[Tim Nissen]

nope trev. what's a wago?

 

[trev]

It's a maintenance free method of connecting cables. Be very careful, you may think a lighting circuit is easy but it can and will bite you on the backside.

 

[mayfair]

Tim, just switch the power off for the house cut the cables as close as possible to the old connector block strip the cables and re wire. probably better to do it one at a time so you dont get mixed up. You dont need to be an electrician to do this just common sense make sure that no one will switch the electric back on put a big sign on the box saying you are working, dont presume people know. If the wires are to short you could probably take the fitting down and take it to a local electrical shop to be re-wired. Be careful and you should be ok with this simple job.

 

[Tim Nissen]

thanks!

 

[telectrix]

as mayfair. isolate. cut close to connector. re-strip 1 at a time and fit new connector strip.

 

[Tim Nissen]

problem is connector strip is built in to the track and permanently so cannot be replaced seperately. unless i'm being an idiot i will check it out again thursday thanks anyway for input thus far. to be resumed?

 

[telectrix]

usually, the connector is secured to the fitting with the earth terminal. if it isn't, then you'll need to by-pass it.

 

[Tim Nissen]

thanks I'll take another look Thursday