wires

[Unregistered]

hi guys, great site u have here. just a quick question. the wife asked me to change a few of the sockets throughout the house as they were a bit tatty. changing them is no problem at all, i'm being very safety conscious and all that.

anyhoo, some of the backboxes which had 3 cables coming into them were a bit of a tight fit to get back on and seem to put a bit of strain on the wires themselves, am just wondering if there're any trade secrets to bending the wires in certain ways to make gettin the socket back on any easier. any thoughts, tips, tricks would be great. thanks.

colin

 

[markthespark]

Hi mate if you can't get the sockets back the only thing to do really is to take the back box out and try and pull some length up from under the floor boards, you could also move the socket down abit, or you could put a joint box under the floor and run a new piece of cable from there to the socket, you could also crimp the cables in the back of the socket but i wouldnt recommend it, its not good practice.

 

[LukeScotty]

hey, heres a picture of what you'd need http://www.moccsplace.com/images/harley/acc/crimp_640.jpg

 

[Cirrus]

Sorry to say it Luke but that style crimper should not be used. You should only use a ratchet crimper really

 

[markthespark]

If there was 1 or 2 sockets that the cables wouldnt reach i would be tempted to use crimps if i didnt want to spoil the decor but if there was a full house full there is noway id use crimps on them all, it would look like a proper botch job.

 

[LukeScotty]

.... or one of these for £20,99 http://www.screwfix.com/sfd/i/cat/10/p2987410_x.jpg

maybe he means theres too many wires init and wants a method of bending them a certain way to squeeze them in....?? "any trade secrets to bending the wires in certain ways to make gettin the socket back on any easier"

 

[markthespark]

O sorry Scott i was jumping to conclusions haha, well in the case i dont know any trade secrets but you can always tell if its going to fit or not, just try evenly spreading the wires in the back of the box making sure you dont put any behind the screw holes for obvious reasons. I usually put the lives on the left and the neutrals on the right depending on what sockets your using and the earths just spaced evenly. If that fails id recommend a deeper box.

 

[LukeScotty]

I dunno mark, the unregistered user who probably wont come back, now has both scenarios answered

 

[rumrunner]

Hi,why mess about with crimps ,rip it all out and do the job right, because if theres no slack anywhere its likely to be a crappy job anyway ,i always try and leave some slack available somewhare ,its only polite
all the very best
rumrunner