Mitchman81
DIY
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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?
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?
- TL;DR
- I want to replace fluorescent kitchen lights with LED strip lights. Can I use the existing cabling and just swap out the light units and plugs? If so, is it ok to use connector boxes to swap over the connector plugs? What's the best way of terminating the earth wire in the cables before connecting?
