I removed our old kitchen cupboards yesterday and found the ring main has been joined using two choc blocks covered in insulating tape in an open cavity in the plaster behind one of the cupboards. What is the correct way to join those cables please? And can it be plastered / covered over or should the cables just be secured and the hole in the plaster be left open with the new cupboard in front of it? Thanks.
Joining ring main in wall behind kitchen cupboards
Terminal block is fine if it's in an enclosure and is accessible (in your case you'd need to cut a hole in the back of the cupboard). If you don't want a hole in the cupboard then Wago blocks and a suitable Wago box can be used to create a maintenance-free connection (which doesn't have to be accessible).
Either way, to keep the (buried) cables in a safe zone there should be a fixed electrical item in line with the cables in the direction they travel (so horizontal or vertical), ideally visible without pulling a cupboard off the wall (so anyone contemplating a bit of Black and Decker action can see the item)
Either way, to keep the (buried) cables in a safe zone there should be a fixed electrical item in line with the cables in the direction they travel (so horizontal or vertical), ideally visible without pulling a cupboard off the wall (so anyone contemplating a bit of Black and Decker action can see the item)
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As the kitchen is already a demolition zone, and presumably you need to fit new outlets around the kitchen, I would carefully chip out some plaster to see where these ring final circuit cables go.
Is the plaster applied to a solid wall or is it plasterboard over a stud frame?
Either way, it should be possible with a little cautious bashing to remove some more plaster(board) and reveal the direction the cables are heading in. In an ideal world, these cables can be pulled back to accessible (new) outlet positions so there is no need to make a concealed joint.
Some pictures would be helpful.
Is the plaster applied to a solid wall or is it plasterboard over a stud frame?
Either way, it should be possible with a little cautious bashing to remove some more plaster(board) and reveal the direction the cables are heading in. In an ideal world, these cables can be pulled back to accessible (new) outlet positions so there is no need to make a concealed joint.
Some pictures would be helpful.
It's a solid wall. In the cavity is, from left to right: 1) a cut-off dead cable from an old water heater switch which was behind a cupboard and which we have never used. It won't pull out so I'm planning to cut that off to where it enters the cavity and remove the switch and plaster over the hole that end. The wiring to the switch is old rubber and is dead. 2) ring main from socket below going from the cavity direct into the living room behind the wall, 3) spur to extractor fan from switch next to sockets. 4) other half of the ring main. Both sides of the ring and the fan wiring are joined in choc blocks under the tape, the fan wiring appears to be damaged which I need to look closer at. We are not adding anything except a new 10mm T&E from the fusebox for an electric cooker and its switch on another wall. Is there enough slack in the cables for the Wago solution do you think? That would be ideal. If not can a back box be fitted and the chock blocks be mounted in that, with a blank front cover? There will be a wall cupboard covering this when it's been tidied up.
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Depending on the cable length and installation conditions, of course.
Can you draw a diagram of the wiring?
There seems to be a lot of cables there and more than one cut off.
Can you draw a diagram of the wiring?
There seems to be a lot of cables there and more than one cut off.
Double-checked and there is only one dead cable cut off.
OK, should have taken the tape off earlier…
The two cables going into the wall on the left of the choc block drop down from upstairs. The two on the right feed one double socket below the cavity. Do the cables feeding that socket need separating into two pairs so the ring is actually a ring and the double socket isn’t effectively a spur being fed by two cables in parallel?
OK, should have taken the tape off earlier…
The two cables going into the wall on the left of the choc block drop down from upstairs. The two on the right feed one double socket below the cavity. Do the cables feeding that socket need separating into two pairs so the ring is actually a ring and the double socket isn’t effectively a spur being fed by two cables in parallel?
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To the right in the horizontal chase cut in the plaster is a cut off cable.
The resolution is poor, but where it is marked "elec?" on the wall, there appears to be a cable dropping down vertically from the ceiling that looks like it is snipped too.
Could it be that someone has joined together two pairs of cables from two different ring final circuits?
Do the wires connected to that terminal block go dead when just one fuse is removed (or circuit breaker switched off)?
It would help if you could draw a diagram of all the cables and where they go to/ come from and take a photo of it and post it.
The resolution is poor, but where it is marked "elec?" on the wall, there appears to be a cable dropping down vertically from the ceiling that looks like it is snipped too.
Could it be that someone has joined together two pairs of cables from two different ring final circuits?
Do the wires connected to that terminal block go dead when just one fuse is removed (or circuit breaker switched off)?
It would help if you could draw a diagram of all the cables and where they go to/ come from and take a photo of it and post it.