Re-routing Tails

[Careful_Bodger]

If I were to *ahem* 'specify' re-routing of my meter tails from their present position (appearing at the top of the cavity in a bungalow), by removing a breeze block and pulling through so they appear at a more convenient location with more usable length at the CU, how might I go about back-filling the void in the inner leaf?

Would a timber panel be okay? Or would I need to re-brick? In either case would some kind of conduit be appropriate running the depth of the inner leaf? Is there any type of gland plate appropriate for this purpose?

Any thoughts - as ever - greatly appreciated.

 

[Lectrician]

At what height do you want the tails to 'appear'??

 

[Careful_Bodger]

2 meters from the floor, but possibly higher if this is an issue.

The ceiling height is 2.45 meters.

 

[Lectrician]

Cant you drill a hole and get your arm down the cavity.........Removing a block sounds too extreme to me.

 

[Careful_Bodger]

Thanks for the suggestion Lec

The cavity is only a couple of inches wide & my hands are to large to get in there.

I suppose I could stitch-drill a smaller hole & try to pick the tails with a bent coat hanger.

Back, though, to my original question. Are there any rules on how the tails should be protected passin though the wall?

 

[dw3101]

'ideally' they shouldnt be in the cavity, however I would be tempted to run each one through in 20mm - 25mm round pvc conduit.

Personally Id just smash a hole through too.. or drill the motar out and then cement back after..

 

[Careful_Bodger]

Interesting DW - thanks.

What is the problem with Tails in cavities? Does this also extend to the 16mm^2 earthing cable too?

 

[Malc]

One problem is the cable could form a bridge for damp. Any cable through the wall (or pipe for that matter) should ideal slope down towards the outside wall. Where a cable dangles in the cavity it is harder to be sure that it doesn't touch the outside wall then the inside as it falls (i.e. S shape).

As for feeding cables through I'm surprised nobody has yet mentioned old steel tape measure trick. Drill the lower hole then push in a loop of steel tape measure. Keep feeding this in and so inside the cavity you will get a steel loop tight to the sides of the cavity. Drill the upper hole and feed in a length of string with a weight at the end. Withdraw the steel tape measure and there will be the string. Now of course you can use the string to guide the cable through while someone feeds it at the other hole. Of course this works better with thin flexible cables. Meter tails would be tricky and you would need to make the hole larger so the bend on the tail was possible (straight line would be best of course).

Note this scratches the steel rule so use an old/cheap one.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That plastic strapping used on parcels etc (the wide stuff) also works.

Used to be handy as well for opening locked car doors back in the days when they had those mushcroom-shaped pegs on the top of the capping....