What if anything Is availablee

R

Robb1e

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Hello members.

Some advice/opinions would be great if you can help.

I have a large media setup at home which entails a lot of plugs and sockets which leaves an unsightly "clump" of plugs on the floor. Is there anything new that you have seen or could recommend that I could use instead of the generally obtrusive extension leads? Obviously something that didn't require the plugs would be brilliant and clearly cut down the size of the "clump" but simply cutting the plugs off and wiring them all into a junction box would certainly be frowned upon, lol.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Andy78 said:
Get some more sockets installed behind the media setup ?
Click to expand...

Hi Andy78,
I can't really do that as it's a tv mounted on a concrete wall with an AV Receiver below it and a sub woofer and a PC below that. All the cables are hidden in trunking neatly down from tv/av and along skirting trunking for speaker wires. It all congregated at base of tv location and I have to use a large extension lead (10 socket) which is unsightly. Somehow doing away with plugs would be more tidy.
 
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Thanks for all your replies so far folks.
The setup is as minimal as possible. There are no cabinets or units at all. Just a tv on the wall, a very short length of trunking, a floating glass shelf, another floating glass shelf, and then another small length of trunking to hide wires which are going behind the subwoofer to the floor.
It's THERE that all the plugs are, approximately 8 in total. 8 plugs require more space than 8 smaller connections/plugs/etc.

Murdoch, your link is good however there are not enough plugs on this and every other cable that would go into this is already hidden and connected via the trunking/conduit. That item is pretty much what I already have at the base but it has ten 13amp sockets on it which is too bulky.

I may have to go down the route of disconnecting everything and replacing all the power cables with longer ones so it all plugs in away from the media location. This will void many warranties but possibly no other choice guys.
 
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What power leads does the kit come with, are they unpluggable from the kit or direct wired?
If they are IEC, clover leaf or figure 8 connections then they can be fed from an IEC distribution block, which would look a lot neater, with appropriate adapter cables to the kit, or you could change all your plugs to IEC plugs instead. You can also get IEC splitter cables up to three ends.
 
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In professional AV, when space is limited IEC is the normal solution. I rather like these compact 4-way splitters:
SCHURTER - R47470000 - QUAD IEC UNIT + INLET | Premier Farnell CPC UK

I'd tuck a couple of them behind clusters of units, make custom-length jumpers for everything with detachable cables and put IEC plugs on the captive ones. Then feed the splitters with an IEC Y or 3-way split cable from the socket. Avoid long daisy-chains of cables and splitters as the earth continuity starts to get suspect when there's a dozen connections between appliance and socket. Also avoid cheap nasty brands of rewireable IEC connectors, some of them are almost impossible to wire properly and safely, Bulgin and Schurter are good choices. Use ready made cables if poss, e.g. you can get 0.5m long IEC - IEC which are very handy.
 
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I would love this to be the answer I am looking for but I somewhat doubt it. As I've been out of sparking for too long and not up to speed on regulations, I am going to assume that I can't use these http://m.screwfix.com/p/8-way-push-wire-connector-773-series-pack-of-50/78075 and simply use one for each power cable LNE and the other 7 spare ones to wire each component to and house it in as neat a junction box as possible?

This would do away with all plugs and would save a hell of a lot of space.
 
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Those push-wire connectors are not suitable for flexible (fine stranded) cables used on appliances, only for installation cables. There are alternatives that are, such as the Wago 222 or screw terminal block, but it would be a bit odd to have everything permanently wired together by their captive cables. In any case you would have to provide secure anchorage for each cable such as a cord-grip bush or gland.
 
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Lucien Nunes said:
Those push-wire connectors are not suitable for flexible (fine stranded) cables used on appliances, only for installation cables. There are alternatives that are, such as the Wago 222 or screw terminal block, but it would be a bit odd to have everything permanently wired together by their captive cables. In any case you would have to provide secure anchorage for each cable such as a cord-grip bush or gland.
Click to expand...

So it is doable if I use lever connectors instead of push connectors?
 
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If you chop all the plugs off then the equipment won't be individually fused any more, plus you'd be in a situation where you can't just unplug something and plug it in elsewhere. That may not be the intention right now, but it's worth planning for the future; some electricians like to use loads of cable ties in a consumer unit to make it look neat and tidy, others don't because as soon as anyone has reason to remove the cover to be able to see the neatness, the cable ties will more than likely be getting cut off again and not replaced.

It would be worth having a look at what's already on the market and choosing one of those solutions instead of trying to come up with something creative.
 
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Adam W said:
If you chop all the plugs off then the equipment won't be individually fused any more, plus you'd be in a situation where you can't just unplug something and plug it in elsewhere. That may not be the intention right now, but it's worth planning for the future; some electricians like to use loads of cable ties in a consumer unit to make it look neat and tidy, others don't because as soon as anyone has reason to remove the cover to be able to see the neatness, the cable ties will more than likely be getting cut off again and not replaced.

It would be worth having a look at what's already on the market and choosing one of those solutions instead of trying to come up with something creative.
Click to expand...

I agree that the individual fuses would be lost. I have no intention of moving anything again in the near future but if I did then I would only have to disconnect the appliance and stick a plug on it.
As far as I can see there is nothing really suitable for my needs currently on the market hence why I asked the question originally. I hope someone may have had better luck than I have had.
 
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Robb1e said:
I agree that the individual fuses would be lost. I have no intention of moving anything again in the near future but if I did then I would only have to disconnect the appliance and stick a plug on it.
As far as I can see there is nothing really suitable for my needs currently on the market hence why I asked the question originally. I hope someone may have had better luck than I have had.
Click to expand...
Of course you're not planning to move anything, which is why you're putting it all where you are. And of course you don't think there is anything currently available, or rather you haven't found it, which isn't to say it doesn't even exist.

You might think you've got a unique problem but the reality couldn't be further from the truth - you're not the first person to own a television, you're not the first person to want to hide all the cables, and you're not the first person to declare that there's no solution available off the shelf and will have to resort to bespoke ingenuity.

I hope you are prepared to accept that the equipment needs cables to function. It seems the problem is that you want to hide the other ends of the cables where they're plugged in. Your options are to hide them on the back of the equipment, either directly behind it or behind the unit it sits on, you could hide the cables in the wall or floor, using floor boxes, cable management holes, access panels, or you could box out an enclosure so it looks like part of the room, and hide everything in there. This way all you'll see is the cables disappearing off through a discreet hole or brush plate - you won't see any plugs at all, small or otherwise, like you would with what you seem to think is the only option.
 
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Adam W said:
Of course you're not planning to move anything, which is why you're putting it all where you are. And of course you don't think there is anything currently available, or rather you haven't found it, which isn't to say it doesn't even exist.

You might think you've got a unique problem but the reality couldn't be further from the truth - you're not the first person to own a television, you're not the first person to want to hide all the cables, and you're not the first person to declare that there's no solution available off the shelf and will have to resort to bespoke ingenuity.

I hope you are prepared to accept that the equipment needs cables to function. It seems the problem is that you want to hide the other ends of the cables where they're plugged in. Your options are to hide them on the back of the equipment, either directly behind it or behind the unit it sits on, you could hide the cables in the wall or floor, using floor boxes, cable management holes, access panels, or you could box out an enclosure so it looks like part of the room, and hide everything in there. This way all you'll see is the cables disappearing off through a discreet hole or brush plate - you won't see any plugs at all, small or otherwise, like you would with what you seem to think is the only option.
Click to expand...

As I posted earlier in the thread, there is no unit/box/cabinet/or other furniture. It is only a tv on a wall with two floating shelves. There is a subwoofer below it all but not an enormous one that is enormous enough to hide 8 plugs behind.

Anyway I think I've found the solution thanks to everyone who has replied.

Agreed though, I'm not the first, I won't be the last, and the next person is probably waiting for your help. Thanks again.
 
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Robb1e said:
Lastly guys, what is your opinion on having a non fused / non plugged appliance?
Click to expand...

If a 3A fuse in the plug of the supply cable to the mains distribution unit (whatever it is) survives, then its just fine.

No so keen on fusing the lot at 13A, assuming the typical size of flexible cable used for domestic AV equipment.

Absolutely not keen at all on a direct, unfused connection to the fixed house wiring.
 
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Ok. Points taken. Thanks for all your information. It is all very much appreciated.

HandySparks, do you mean that if I used THIS to connect all the items to and then used a cable with a plug on the end to power it all, so it is pretty much like an extension lead, then that would be more acceptable.? If it had a 3amp fuse in it instead of a 13amp?
 
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Most CE-marked AV kit is fine on a 13A fuse as it is intended for pan-EU applications. Anywhere outside the UK the protection will be either 10A or 16A MCB in the CU. You won't find anything with 0.5mm² flex these days, for that reason.
 
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I thought I had something knocking around that I got years ago for a hi fi set up but never used it , its called multi plug photos as shown IMG_0323.jpgIMG_0322.jpg
 
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