Difficulty in Wiring a socket

[bobbinboy]

Hard to believe I know but in the house I have just moved into I need to replace a couple of sockets. The old socket which was cracked had quite large holes to terminate the wires into, but the new socket I got from the DIY store has much smaller holes and it is proving difficult to get them in and tighten the screw at the same time.

Because there is very little slack on the cable can anyone advise the best way to put the wires in? Should I crimp them or can I buy more expensive sockets with larger holes to accommodate the cable?

 

[Sarahspark]

Do you know the size of the cables you are trying to terminate.How many cables are there?

Sarah

 

[Steve]

Crabtree and MK are the ones to watch for.

If theres space in the backbox, terminate the wires there in a connector block, running tails to the socket. This is how the Americans do it i think, but in theory makes this socket a spur.

 

[1511]

I know it sounds ridiculous but have you opened the screw up as far as it will go but not so it will fall out. If it is thicker cable it`s a pain as they are hell to work with so patience is required of which i have non of.

 

[Sarahspark]

Or crimp each wire with through crimps as these will take up less room than connectors but you would need to use the ratchet style crimpers rather than the horrible 'manual ones'!

 

[breezer]

get a differnt brand of socket

 

[DESL]

I would think socket outlets should accomodate 3 x 2.5 mm2 and 2 x 4 mm2

 

[plugwash]

buying a good brand like MK will get you bigger terminals but MK have a bit of an unconventional terminal arrangement which may be an issue if the wires are already short, not sure about crabtree. Your best bet is to probablly look arround a few diy stores and look at the different brands they sell (and maybe take your old one with you to compare)

It also might be worth looking inside some other sockets arround your house to see if there is one of the same style with more slack on the wires that you can swap.

 

[bobbinboy]

Many thanks for the responses. I will endeavor to get hold of some quality sockets with larger tunnels and I will also look at using connection blocks with tails to the socket.

Many thanks.

 

[Steve]

I found an old JAC socket in the shed today, and was surprised at how small the terminals were. Will never buy cheap sockets again.