Convert or blank off 2 gang socket.

[shabbaranks]

Hi guys

I need to blank off half of a 2 gang socket so I can fit a tall kitchen cabinet in. I was wondering what would be the best approach as I still need to have a single socket for the fridge freezer.

You can see in the picture where the cabinet gets to (typical its right down the middle) and I know I could possibly cut around the 2 sockets but ideally if I could blank off or something that would be better.

Thanks!

 

[sparkwright]

Just move them to one side.

 

[shabbaranks]

That means chasing out and filling in which obviously no problem but would prefer a less messy approach

 

[flameport]

That means chasing out and filling in

Yes, it does.

prefer a less messy approach

That may be, but there is no other option - they need to be relocated.
You can't blank off half of a socket and you can't leave it in the present location either, as it will be impossible to remove for future replacement or repair.
When relocating, all cables must still be in the appropriate zones, which is likely to involve additional work.

 

[JohnW2]

That means chasing out and filling in which obviously no problem but would prefer a less messy approach

That depends upon where the cable enters the back box of the existing socket.

If it enters the side, or in the 'right hand half' of top or bottom of the box, then you may well be able to replace it with a single box (and single socket) in the right-hand side of the existing chase (for the socket) in the wall with little or no additional extension (to the right) of that chase required. If you wanted a double socket, then you would merely have to extend the chase for the chase for the socket to the right.

On the other hand, if the cable entry position is such that its route would be covered by the new kitchen unit, then there would be more of a problem, which could well require a new chase for the cable.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

That may be, but there is no other option .....

Unless you know more than the rest of us about the OP's situation, there are potentially a number of "other options" which your dogmatic assertion does not seem to acknowledge.

 

[flameport]

Replacing the double box with a single, or moving the double to the right will involve chasing out and filling in.
Any relocation of those sockets however minor will require damage to the walls and subsequent repair.
Just replacing the backbox in the exact same place with an identical one will involve damage and repair.

The only option that doesn't involve damage to the walls is to leave them exactly where they are, which is obviously not possible if the cupboard is to be installed.

 

[plugwash]

What sort of cabinet is this? my experiance with kitchen cabinets is they usually have a recess on the back and you can notch the sides to accomodate stuff on the wall.

 

[shabbaranks]

What sort of cabinet is this? my experiance with kitchen cabinets is they usually have a recess on the back and you can notch the sides to accomodate stuff on the wall.

Its a tall Howdens larder syle I was thinking the same but the problem is if I notch out the lower right hand side of the unit you will see it.

I'm thinking notch for the left and change the lower right for a single socket.

 

[foxhole]

Larder unit ideally needs extra space for infill panel to effect a perfect fit to wall ,or to allow door to open back to wall so infill panel could be placed back behind socket edge.

 

[JohnW2]

What sort of cabinet is this? my experiance with kitchen cabinets is they usually have a recess on the back and you can notch the sides to accomodate stuff on the wall.

Indeed, but as flameport wrote, that would render the socket inaccessible for testing or replacement, without detaching the kitchen unit from the wall and moving it. Off the top of my head, I can't think what reg (apart from very general ones) that would contravene, but ut certainly wouldn't be a very clever idea.

Having said that, I've been known to do precisely as you suggest

 

[shabbaranks]

Indeed, but as flameport wrote, that would render the socket inaccessible for testing or replacement, without detaching the kitchen unit from the wall and moving it. Off the top of my head, I can't think what reg (apart from very general ones) that would contravene, but ut certainly wouldn't be a very clever idea.

Having said that, I've been known to do precisely as you suggest

If it was that important for testing etc then there is nothing stopping me from either blanking off that socket or even cutting a hole in the back of the unit to access the socket if needed.

 

[JohnW2]

If it was that important for testing etc then there is nothing stopping me from either blanking off that socket ...

One of the 'options' (which does exist ) would be to replace the existing socket with a balk plate (slightly trimming the back of the unit to allow it to sit over that plate) and then to run cable from behind that back plate to a nearby newly-located socket - so that the only work on the wall would be to chop a hole for the new socket and a very short chase for cable from it to the blanked-off box.

It's unlikely that there would be enough slack in the existing cable for it to reach a new socket, so there might well have to be a 'join' in the blanked-off box. Since that joint would not be "accessible for inspection and testing", it would have to be an acceptable form of "maintenance-free" joint, but that would not be impossible.

... or even cutting a hole in the back of the unit to access the socket if needed.

For it to remain possible to remove the socket, should that ever become necessary, there would have to be an appreciable amount of space in front of it, and I suspect that would be impractical because it would probably require destruction of all of the vertical side rail of the unit, as well as making a hole in its back.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ebee]

Replacing the double box with a single, or moving the double to the right will involve chasing out and filling in.
Any relocation of those sockets however minor will require damage to the walls and subsequent repair.
Just replacing the backbox in the exact same place with an identical one will involve damage and repair.

The only option that doesn't involve damage to the walls is to leave them exactly where they are, which is obviously not possible if the cupboard is to be installed.

Yes I`m pretty much in agreement with that stance.

If you are very lucky and very crafty you might just be able to mitigate the effect to a very small amount so fairly minimal but likely by far to be much more of a damn blast arghhh sort of thing.
It might (or probably might not) be feasable to put a narrower unit in place sufficient to leave the sockets untouched but that requires more work in other ways .

 

[SUNRAY]

To me the obvious thing to do is:

1) Check where the cables are for; a) safe zones and b) cupboard fixings.
2) Either remove the 2G backbox and replace with single (subject to location of cables). Or
3) Remove 2G backbox and move to the right (subject to location of cables)

All of this has been mentioned already, so unless you are altering the unit or its position you must start with #1. As a starting point isolate the circuit(s) and withdraw the frontplates to see where the cables enter the backboxes to see if 2) or 3) are even feasible.