Cable Run Advise

Discussion in 'Electricians' Talk' started by mackie, Sep 15, 2018.

  1. mackie

    mackie Member

    Hi, I need to run some cables and need some guideance. I dont want to keep bothering my Electrician with questions, I will use you lot for that.

    1) I went round a friends house the other day and he is also having his kitchen changd. The cables have been run for all the sockets by the electrician and he has simply clipped them to the wall using pads and cable ties, only chasing them into the wall when they will be above the worktop ready for plastering over the top of. Is this normal practice nowadays?

    2) I need to run 2 x 0.5 cable from under the worktop in the kitchen, up the wall to behind the wall cabinets for the under cabinet LED lighting. What is the norm for this, does it have to go in trunking or can it go straight into the wall. The wall will be tiled at the end.
     
  2. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Suppose it's conveince & speed, just chasing in were needed,I'm old school, like all my cables chased in.

    I myself would run the two cables in a bit of oval conduit,rather than just plaster over them.
     
    mackie likes this.
  3. It is just lazy and rough,with the just throw it in and get out of the door as fast as you can attitude.

    I do not know why people can do jobs like that with no pride in their work whatsoever,even although it will not be seen it is still a lash up.

    You surface clip cables in a loft,not in a kitchen in my opinion.
     
    Jord86 and KIAB like this.
  4. seneca

    seneca Screwfix Select

    If the cables are behind fixed units what's the point in chasing them in? It's got nothing to do with laziness or a lack of pride in workmanship it's just making more work just for the sake of it, and/or making more money.
     
    tore81 and Coloumb like this.
  5. Coloumb

    Coloumb Screwfix Select

    It's nonsense to suggest cables should be chased in behind cabinets, making work just for the sake of it. Clipping them or running them in trunking is perfectly fine, and makes any future changes far easier.

    I hope you customers are aware of the extra time your charging them to do this!
     
    seneca likes this.
  6. I would rather spend a bit bit more time and do a decent job.I have ripped out kitchens in the past with cables all behind the units and thought, who threw this lashup in.

    When I walk away from a job I would buy it,I would not buy something with the cables lashed in and hanging about.
     
  7. Coloumb

    Coloumb Screwfix Select

    Question: why acceptable in the attic yet not in a kitchen?
     
  8. seneca

    seneca Screwfix Select

    Agreed Col, it does seem that some people make unnecessary work just for more money, I always have sufficient work without resorting to that sort of practice.
     
  9. Coloumb

    Coloumb Screwfix Select

    I expect in reality @Deleted member 11267 has one standard for the forum and one for real life. I wouldn't think for a minute he would pass up work for the sake of a bit of chasing.
     
    seneca likes this.
  10. For your information I do not charge more for chasing in cables regardless of what people think.I work to a very good standard.
    What I say on here is what I do,I do not need to make up stories.You and Seneca can be as rough as you like,I am not.
     
  11. Coloumb

    Coloumb Screwfix Select

    In what way is it "rough" to run cables in conduit? And what about attics? Why is it ok in attics? Whats so special about attics? If your running cables in attics clipped or in trunking then surely you must be doing, by your own standards, work that is rough?
     
  12. Conduit has never been mentioned in this thread.
    Lofts as an open area,clip behind the binders and clip to ceiling joists to lights an switches.

    You are trying to start another to start an argument,so carry on and argue with yourself.
     
  13. Coloumb

    Coloumb Screwfix Select

    So the same as the space behind a kitchen unit? Or this "space" is somehow different to tat in the attic?

    No I'm not. I am genuinely interested to know why you think cables behind kitchen unit's should be chased in. Obv.s you feel pretty passionate about it, so much so that you feel justified to say my work is "rough", and given that you have no actual visibility of the work that I've done, is a pretty stupid statement based entirely on your opinon rather than fact. So it's seem your happy enough to challenge anyone else's preconceptions of what is actually allowed to be done under 7671 yet when anyone does it to you can can't actually find any comprehensible way to make a decent counter argument, other than to say "well you carry on with your "rough" ways, without being able to actually justify what "rough" is.

    Your happy to dish it out yet when someone does it you your crying over it.
     
  14. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select

    Whilst the pros argue..........:D

    The cable going in wall will be carrying 240v or low voltage ?

    May have some bearing to cable depth in wall and also if circuit is RCD protected or not, also ‘safe zones’ to be considered

    Not sure why you don’t want to be bothering your own pet electrician with such tiresome questions ?

    I mean, if he/she (unlikely) is carrying out the work, then ur paying for his/her (unlikely) superior knowledge, as well as the actual grunt of the job o_O
     
  15. retiredsparks

    retiredsparks Super Member

    Questions I have often asked myself are;
    How long can that be left like that with absolutely no deleterious effects whatsoever.
    and
    If I expend more money and time to change it ......what are the actual practical advantages.... or in fact disadvantages.
    Aesthetics ignored if applicable at all....in some circumstances.
    I would not consider cables firmly and vertically clipped behind Dot & Dab ..as "rough".
    The same reasoning must be applicable to the same cables suitably clipped behind kitchen units.
    If I was running several cables ...I might consider MT3 or such like for ease of use...particularly if the walls were very hard or loose.
    A rodent problem may also dictate the protection preferred.
    RS
     
  16. mackie

    mackie Member

    The cable in the wall is 24v up to the LED strip that I have bought, the driver is in the cupboard as the end (as there are three sets of undercabinet lights in total. It will be protected accordingly.

    As for my Electrician, the reason I don't want to take the urine out of him is because he has done so much for me in the past. He is a reputable local electrician and for some reason he seems to like me. I did my shed and wanted to do the grunt work, he came out (FOC) said what I needed to do to get the power from the house to the shed, and wire the shed, which I did. He even left me some of the stuff I needed (cable). The rest I had to buy but he gave the nod to his local Electrical Factors for them to give me his discount! Then he came out inspected / tested it and signed it off.

    Then there was the time the Consumer unit had to come off the wall, he came out on a Sunday Morning. Within 30 minutes the CU and the meter board were off the wall, reconnected and checked ok. I had to drop a bag of real ales off at his house as he would not taken any money (again).

    Then a couple of weeks ago I wanted the board back on the newly plastered wall, and again he came out and sorted it for me, no charge, again. Reminds me, I need to drop some more Ales off to him again.

    So all I can say, bloody nice guy...........
     
  17. Bazza

    Bazza Screwfix Select

    I don’t want to be pedantic (oh yes I do!)
    240v IS low voltage.
     
  18. seneca

    seneca Screwfix Select

    Agreed Bazza, but it's only low until we grab hold of it! :p
     
    Bazza likes this.
  19. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select


    Clearly a very nice fella, and generous with his time and finacial expectations - something of a rarity I would imagine :D

    Hope you give him bluddy good biscuits with his tea or perhaps a slice of homemade cake ?
     
  20. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select


    Fair enough mate, if I’m wrong I’m wrong, will happily admit it, no sweat - I’m only a diy bodger and was kinda thinking out loud (via my phone keys) !

    Along the lines of if 240v, then RCD protection, cable depth in wall, zones, etc needs to be factored in to the design

    If true low voltage - SELV, ELV, etc (thanks Google) ! Then I guess such issues can be partially ignored ?

    Really I don’t know but, happy to learn
     

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