Hi All, I stupidly managed to drill through my downstairs ring main tonight, right in the centre of the longest run. I've fixed it in my eyes using a connection block. Is this method safe / advised? It's a 2.5mm T&E 32A ring main on RCD protected circuit. Photos of fix, the earth was sleeved before wrapping with the brown tape.
And because its our own house we'd all adhere to the letter of the law would we?, lol, just saying!. More to the point, how did you manage to drill through a cable that's so on view?, lol. Junction box as it's so obviously accessible.
Well done for braving it and posting your photos online. Many wouldn't! If it's being 'buried' in floor/ceiling void, or made otherwise inaccessible, then it should be a maintenance free joint. So that means Wago maintenance-free connectors in a Wago junction box, or similar (other brands are available).
Now don't shoot me down for this, I'm asking. If one were to use a connection block to secure soldered wires, would that be acceptable? Mr. HandyAndy - Really
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/DEBOX2.html New on the market - has anyone tried this one? Great for Steve's problem but cannot verify quality, so I don't know..if all go then excellent value for £1.50 + vat. If not 3 x Wago 221 2 pole plus box And some earth sleeving.
Morning Sen - looking at that box again, must agree that a choc box with Wagos in would be cheaper and just as good/better.
Thanks for all the replies, is there any argument to say pull out this cable in the ring and replace the full length? I can do this but it'll be a **** and if a junction box will be fine then i'll go down this route. As to how did i do it... well it was dusk, i was drilling bore holes for plumbing pipes using a new irwin blue groove auger bit and completely forgot that the cable was tacked to the other side of the joist. Fortunately the circuits aren't live at the minute so no shock for me just some choice words after realising what had happended
Hi Steve. No need to replace the whole cable. But, as said above, and for the tiny little cost of them, use a maintenance-free JB. These use spring clips to hold the wires rather than screws, so there's no risk of them loosening over time. Dead easy to use, and jobbie jobbed. You are lucky that you had spare cable to allow this repair - sod'slaw usually dictates that the damage occurs along a tight stretch of clipped-down cable, with absolutely no spare to play with...
Don't forget the pipe that is to come through the hole. You might not have room for a junction box and particularly if it is a hot water pipe they do not want to be in such close proximity. I personally would investigate replacing the length of cable between adjacent sockets. You might be able to use the damaged cable ends to pull through the new cable.
Thanks again for the advise, i went down the route of a wago box. Here's photos of the fix. It's a bit annoying that the connections can only enter from one end but at least it's sorted.
You should have used an Ashley J803 it would have been a much neater job.Although nothing wrong with it just looks a bit rough.
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