Earths twisted up outside of joint boxes.

[PEG]

I have seen plenty of the same type of job,in properties of the 30's and 40's,where any bare copper wires,are wrapped round a nail,next to any junction.
I also met an old spark,who was swapping his tools over,from a large cantilever box,to a later model,and i spotted a long,silver plier type tool,with a knurled rear knob.

It was an aircraft wire lock tool,which is used to lock-wire fastenings,and was a individual trade in itself.

Now i know some of the early metal clad boxes,isolators,etc,had drilled fixings,but i'm sure i glanced a copper sheen,on the jaws

 

[Timbo]

Found this one the other day in a friend's roof. The cpc's of loop in/out are under the clamp at top right, the other 4 just twisted into that scruit externally. Might connect???

 

[Pete999]

all that needs is a couple of them american wire nuts. sorted.

Reckon whoever did that mess want's shooting, crikey what a mess.

 

[telectrix]

Reckon whoever did that mess want's shooting, crikey what a mess.

it's a non-combustible joint box. what could possibly go wrong?

 

[Pete999]

Found this one the other day in a friend's roof. The cpc's of loop in/out are under the clamp at top right, the other 4 just twisted into that scruit externally. Might connect???View attachment 40226

Made for lead sheathed cables if my memory serve me well.

 

[Timbo]

Similarly, but more of a recent bodge, I was doing an unrelated job and custome said can you pop your head in the roof and tell me if those junction boxes are alright!
Turns out he'd had some work done by Polish "electricians" nice and cheap........

Redid that lot into this:

 

[telectrix]

maybe cheap but deffo not nice. how do the buggers get away with shyte like that?

 

[Timbo]

maybe cheap but deffo not nice. how do the buggers get away with shyte like that?

Search me, pal. Worst bit was after redoing it all and connecting all the cpc's, on of the landing light circuits kept tripping every other time it was used (was 2-way).
Took the switch off and found cpc had been cut off leaving a short tail just enough to touch a switch wire. All the wires into the switch were stripped back too far, leaving copious amounts of live copper exposed.

 

[willy fixit]

Deleted due to idiocy on my part!

 

[willy fixit]

Neat Timbo- Never thought of using a surface box in that way - cheaper than a wiska and tough if a PVC box is used - will defo use that idea if the need arises!

 

[Taylortwocities]

Neat Timbo- Never thought of using a surface box in that way - cheaper than a wiska and tough if a PVC box is used - will defo use that idea if the need arises!View attachment 40234

Where's the strain relief on those cables!

 

[Taylortwocities]

Made for lead sheathed cables if my memory serve me well.

This is a lead sheathed lighting box, done properly

 

[willy fixit]

Where's the strain relief on those cables!

It's just a JB in the loft!

 

[Andy C]

Reading this thread. what do people do with double insulated LED downlighters that do not have an earth connection in them? Lap from Screwfix do them, only bad comment is that.

 

[Pete999]

Reading this thread. what do people do with double insulated LED downlighters that do not have an earth connection in them? Lap from Screwfix do them, only bad comment is that.

Terminate the cpcs in a Suitable JB

 

[Andy C]

Terminate the cpcs in a Suitable JB

When I think about it, a daft question. I am going to be replacing a surface mounted light in a kitchen and a bathroom. So i will just have 1 JB replacing the light accessible from the loft and the daisy chain 2 core flex to the three downlighter, using IP65 for the bathroom/wetroom. Should have thought more before posting.

 

[Pete999]

When I think about it, a daft question. I am going to be replacing a surface mounted light in a kitchen and a bathroom. So i will just have 1 JB replacing the light accessible from the loft and the daisy chain 2 core flex to the three downlighter, using IP65 for the bathroom/wetroom. Should have thought more before posting.

What about the earth being present at each point?

 

[Taylortwocities]

The earth will be present at the junction box which is adjacent to the downlight. A short length of 2-core flex used to connect to the Class II downlight.
Same principle as the drop cable in a pendant.

 

[Andy C]

The earth will be present at the junction box which is adjacent to the downlight. A short length of 2-core flex used to connect to the Class II downlight.
Same principle as the drop cable in a pendant.

Exactly except I will have 3 flexes into the JB as I am replacing one surface mounted light with three downlighter, or a daisy chain.
I thought as the main JB replacing the light would have the cps terminated there. it would be okay to take three pieces of 2 core flex to the class II downlight. If they were ever changed in the future and required an earth then an electrician could rewire to the JB.

A down side of doing this is I believe that i would only be able to get an R1/R2 reading at the JB.