Battery Smoke alarm. Changing from mains to battery.

[pe2dave]

Removing a 20 yo smoke alarm, wired in. Two cables coming through a rafter 'hole', fastened into the alarm. Chocolate block (whatever they are called these days) used to connect the alarm to the incoming mains.
Question: Entire chocolate block (5 connections) won't go through the rafter hole. Seems unsafe to just tape each 'group' up and push them through?
Suggestions please.

 

[Midwest]

Scholmore do a 4 pole and 3 pole flow connector.

https://www.scolmore.com/_pdfs/flow.pdf

 

[littlespark]

Make the hole bigger.

depends on the new detector.
I’ve fitted some that a customer supplied that needed a back box in the ceiling to make a joint. No room on the detector for any more than a thin flex.

 

[pe2dave]

Make the hole bigger.

depends on the new detector.
I’ve fitted some that a customer supplied that needed a back box in the ceiling to make a joint. No room on the detector for any more than a thin flex.

Tks. No need for wiring its battery.
Concerned about enlarging the hole - weakening the rafter?

 

[Pete999]

Removing a 20 yo smoke alarm, wired in. Two cables coming through a rafter 'hole', fastened into the alarm. Chocolate block (whatever they are called these days) used to connect the alarm to the incoming mains.
Question: Entire chocolate block (5 connections) won't go through the rafter hole. Seems unsafe to just tape each 'group' up and push them through?
Suggestions please.

Get someone that know what they are doing involved.

 

[UNG]

Two cables to a detector would possibly suggest an interconnection to another detector, I think you need to check you are not altering your fire protection

 

[Dartlec]

Removing a 20 yo smoke alarm, wired in. Two cables coming through a rafter 'hole', fastened into the alarm. Chocolate block (whatever they are called these days) used to connect the alarm to the incoming mains.
Question: Entire chocolate block (5 connections) won't go through the rafter hole. Seems unsafe to just tape each 'group' up and push them through?
Suggestions please.

Definitely don't just tape and push up through. If it were to be put up into the ceiling it would need correctly terminating and enclosing in an enclosure, something like a WagoBox.

5 connections seems a lot, so it seems likely that either some are not live, or there is a feed to something else - in which case you don't want to disconnect anything else accidentally and it may need someone who can test the circuit and determine what is happening.

When you say 'rafter', is it the bottom of a joist (thick and solid), or a batten that has been placed between joists and you can tell is fairly thin. If it's a structural joist then I doubt you'd easily make the hole bigger anyway, at least without doing damage.

One alternative may be to install a surface smoke alarm 'box' like this:

To terminate the existing cables in and then mount the battery alarm to that. It would allow a mains one to be reinstalled in the future.

Is there a reason why you are going from mains > battery?