New sockets/wiring in kitchen

[Banni]

Hi Guys

New kitchen install coming up and I need to do a few bits of rewiring.

1) I need to install mains sockets on the wall under the upper units. There's a convenient socket on the wall behind where the units are going to go. It's on a ring. Is ok if I remove the socket and extend the ring by a loop of 2.5 between the two ends with choccies and then blank off the box?

Does the new run of cable need to run in mini trunking or can I just fix it to the wall behind the units with clips, observing vertical and horizontal routing?

2) Cooker Hood - Can I install a switched and fused connecting box as a spur on the new bit of ring to power the hood?

3) Tricky one.....The existing cooker main switch will end up behind (inside!) a wall unit. It needs to be moved down about 30cm. The supply and load cables are buried in the wall. I don't mind a new run of cable from the switch to the cooker (just a fan oven actually) as I can run a bit of trunking that won't be too obtrusive but is it ok to extend the supply cable from the old switch to the new one and if so what's the best way to join the cables? (Choccy, solder and heat shrink etc).


Kind regards

Malcolm

 

[Nijinski001]

1. Connect the cables using choc block and tape and extend to the new socket assuming vertical cable run is observed. Keep the old socket box in place. Put a blanking plate over the old socket box. Regs says the connection should be easilly accessible so strictly speaking there should be access to the connection via the back of the cupboard.

There is nothing to say the cable can't be clipped to the wall behind the cupboard again assuming the safeyty zones are observed. Is it likely that someone is going to put a nail or drill through that par of the cupboard? If not then no worries.

2. Yes. Assuming you will be stepping the cable down to the correct size, the fused spur is fitted as appropriate and the safety zones are again observed. (Vertical or horizontal)

3. Cooker. Why not keep the isolator inside th cupboard and cable from there?

 

[Banni]

Cheers, Thanks for the help. Problems solved.

Malcolm

 

[DJM]

3. Cooker. Why not keep the isolator inside th cupboard and cable from there?

How does that comply with the easily accesable no further than 2m requirment?

All of this work is notifiable as it is in a kitchen.

 

[davy_owen_88]

Don't wrap tape around terminal blocks - put it inside one of these.

The reason is that tape dries out over time and then falls off. It also leaves a sticky residue all over the block and ends of cables and makes it a chore to get to the terminals if you need to prior to the stuff falling off. I don't know why people seem to love to wrap insulation tape around anything they can.

 

[Nijinski001]

3. Cooker. Why not keep the isolator inside th cupboard and cable from there?
How does that comply with the easily accesable no further than 2m requirment?

Easilly accessible - in the cupboard, open the door!!!
No further than 2M - In the cupboard above the cooker. My kitchen is only 2.5m from floor to ceiling!!

 

[JohnD]

Ha ha.

So, by a curious combination of burning toast wedged inside the oven, breadknife used to remove it, and earth fault, you are being electrocuted by your cooker.

Alerted by your screams, I rush into the kitchen.

Unknown to me, the isolating switch is concealed inside a cupboard. The cupboard door is closed. Even if it were open, all I would see is piles of plates and cornflake packets which have been placed in front of the switch.

As I am only five foot tall, I can't reach the cupboard above the cooker anyway. And even if I stood on a chair, i wouldn't be abe to get it due to the thick smoke and flames from burning toast and human fat which are rising verticaly from the cooker.

While I look around for a switch, you die.

If the isolator isn't in plain view, obvious what it does, and easily accessible, it might as well not be there.

 

[jondiy]

Why not use butt crimps to extend your ring final . Far neater, and take up less space.

Wrapping insulation tape around anything - says ' Cowboy'. - Do it properly - Or not at all!

 

[CallEdsFirst]

A lesson to us all JohnD, and whilst I might mock just a little (all tongue in cheek) due to your vivid imagination, it has to be said this is really valid.

I'm getting worried about the "it'll be alright if you just...." crowd. Helping nobody by teaching the bodges!

I love a good story!