nick205
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| posted on 27/10/22 at 08:03 PM |
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Removing a house mains socket
Need to remove a domestic electrical mains socket. Happy to cover the socket back box with a blanking plate.
Is there a recommended method?
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BenB
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| posted on 27/10/22 at 08:54 PM |
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Is it part of a ring or a spur?
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Prof_Cook
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| posted on 27/10/22 at 09:14 PM |
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Query where is the socket thats no longer needed? We had new kitchen going in and while it was a doddle for me to put a new socket in the ring further
along the run, I had to get a qualified electrician in to remove the socket that had to be removed to allow a new kitchen cabinet to be installed. He
used spring loaded torsion connectors to splice the ring together. He said any of the older methods risked a fire years in the future and latest
specs didnt allow such things as connector blocks....
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 28/10/22 at 06:12 AM |
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Wagos or similar
They are regarded as "maintenance free" unlike anything with screws.
Toolstation sell a 3 pole version which is handy. https://www.toolstation.com/in-line-spring-lever-connectors/p78346
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nick205
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| posted on 28/10/22 at 07:05 AM |
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On a ring.
A qualified electrician will be doing it.
My curiosity makes me ask.
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SteveWalker
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| posted on 28/10/22 at 08:41 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Prof_Cook
Query where is the socket thats no longer needed? We had new kitchen going in and while it was a doddle for me to put a new socket in the ring further
along the run, I had to get a qualified electrician in to remove the socket that had to be removed to allow a new kitchen cabinet to be installed. He
used spring loaded torsion connectors to splice the ring together. He said any of the older methods risked a fire years in the future and latest
specs didnt allow such things as connector blocks....
Wago blocks are spring loaded and suitable for the task. However, if the location remains accessible (i.e. not plastered over or behind a new built-in
feature), normal terminal blocks are still perfectly acceptable - they'd have to be really, as they are so similar to the screw terminals in a
consumer unit, the round junction boxes, sockets, spurs, light switches, etc.
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stevebubs
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| posted on 31/10/22 at 10:17 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Need to remove a domestic electrical mains socket. Happy to cover the socket back box with a blanking plate.
Is there a recommended method?
If you're just putting a normal blanking plate over the front, I would
- power the circuit off
- use Wago connectors to restore the ring
- put cover on
- power the circuit on
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craig1410
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| posted on 2/11/22 at 11:55 AM |
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Another vote for Wago connectors to complete the ring but in order to be truly "maintenance free" the Wago box has to be closed with a tie
wrap or similar through the fastening lug. This is to satisfy the regulation that it must only be accessible with a tool, in this case something to
cut off the tie wrap. It's a pedantic point I know. 
The other "maintenance free" option is good old crimps but only if properly made off with a proper ratcheting or hydraulic tool, not just a
quick squeeze with a pair of pliers.
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James
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| posted on 3/11/22 at 09:34 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by cliftyhanger
Wagos or similar
They are regarded as "maintenance free" unlike anything with screws.
Toolstation sell a 3 pole version which is handy. https://www.toolstation.com/in-line-spring-lever-connectors/p78346
Thirded (fourthed?) on the Wagos.
I've been recommended them by many different electricians I know personally and they're pretty common on all the big electricians youtube
channels.
I would *only* use actual Wagos (grey with orange lever) not the unbranded on that link as the proper ones are so cheap it's not worth the
risk.
Now I have 3 kids (or is it just my age?!) I'm rather more risk averse and am gradually going back round my house re-wire of 2012 and improving
it!
Have fun- I love doing electrics compared to most DIY jobs!
James
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"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
- Muhammad Ali
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craig1410
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| posted on 3/11/22 at 01:50 PM |
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@James, yes a very good point to avoid unbranded or knock-off Wago style connectors. Even if they look like Wagos (eg grey with orange lever) they can
often be knock-offs too. So buy from good sources such as TLC, CEF, Screwfix etc rather than eBay and other less regulated sources.
There is a good video by one of my favourite YouTube electricians here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9JTBTrcDSE
John Ward is a bit of a legend in the electrician online community and has a dead-pan but razor-sharp wit that I really enjoy, not to mention decades
of experience. As he says in the above video, "...these are direct from China and made from solid Chinesium..." 
Interestingly, the knock-offs he tests in the video perform pretty well but the wider point he makes is still valid - that you don't know from
one batch to the next what quality level you might get unless you buy via a reputable supply chain with appropriate ISO and other QA methodologies in
place.
In other videos by John, he tests various connector types to destruction using current from a welder and these show just how much overload these
things can take (not just Wagos) when used correctly.
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