Can anyone help me please?

[Dilby]

Hi all - I have a little task I am looking at doing on the weekend and would really appreciate people's advice.

Our entrance hallway to our house annoyingly has a piece of conduit running right down the middle of the wall - it prevents us hanging anything on it and is one of the first things you see. Call me picky, but i'd really like to sink the thing. In the conduit is a mains cable, and three lighting cables that run to a 3 gang switch - so it's pretty packed. The socket sits at the bottom of the coduit and the light switch halfway (see photo). Please excuse the poor photos I had to take them with my phone - as you can see I have started channelling.

I want to keep the socket more-or-less where it is, but move the light switch around a metre to the left so it is next to the door instead of the middle of the wall. However I may not have enough cable for this so imagined I would use a junction box to simply extend the cable by adding new lengths of cable off it. If you look at my attached diagram, the green cables lead to the lighting in the room next door downstairs, and have their own junction box anyway, so I tohught it's not hard to just replace those cables between the siwtch and the junction box. But for the two cables that go upstairs (the mains and a light cable that is the light over the landing), could I use the same junction box for these - say a normal 30A box? They are both the same thickness cable (2.5 from what i can see) - is it okay to use a 30A box for lighting if it is running on thicker cable? Or will I need two seperate boxes to extend these wires?

Hope this makes sense - never had to explain something like this before so please ask questions if needed - I'd be really grateful for the help! Or is there another better idea?!

 

[High Tower]

If your going to the mess and the bother of chasing walls then lets not spoil it by cutting corners, NO jb's just rewire the socket back to its origin and the same for the light switch, dont be putting JB's in unless its complete neccisary

Pm if you need and advice im always appy to help

Looking at the third slide, in the switch id say cables are far too tight and exceed bending factors so again just rewire to neerest point

 

[ezzzekiel]

alternatively crimp the cables or use maintenance free connections as opposed to junction boxes to extend cables.

 

[DurhamSparky]

agreed with above post but don't use crimps! not good on t&e (well i dont think so anyway)

 

[Dilby]

Hi all - thanks for the fast replies! I agree that chasing walls is a messy pain, but all my walls are brick, and conduit in this area just doesn't look great. I would go back to the source, but it means pulling up a stack of carpets, floorboards etc to get to it. If I did use a junction, would the 30A be fine to use for the lighting and mains, even though it's the same cable diameter? Also, Ezzzekiel & DurhamSparky, what sort of maintence free connections would work well in this situation then where i am sinking in wall? I have never really used any of these before. Thanks!

 

[DurhamSparky]

Wago push wire and lever connectors


30A is more than sufficent!

 

[ecclescake]

I'm not being picky but thats mini trunking not conduit.

 

[Dilby]

Thanks - I remember coming across these before now but from memory they aren't stocked with any of the big boys (screwfix, b&q etc) - am i right in saying that? They popped up aroundt he same time as the new choxbox etc didn't they, and it all confused me what did what - from memory these are the ones with the spring loaded pads right and you just push it in? Is that compliant if cable is in wall?

 

[High Tower]

Thanks - I remember coming across these before now but from memory they aren't stocked with any of the big boys (screwfix, b&q etc) - am i right in saying that? They popped up aroundt he same time as the new choxbox etc didn't they, and it all confused me what did what - from memory these are the ones with the spring loaded pads right and you just push it in? Is that compliant if cable is in wall?

Dilby please dont take this the wrong way but it sounds like you a little out of your depth, this is a job most apprentices could do asleep and a spark wouldnt charge the earth to do for you.

Maybe its not worth taking the risk to save a few bob!

 

[eddielarge]

Also you can't bury a joint like that in a wall , it's not allowed

 

[Adam W]

Do you have mini trunking all around your house or just here?
It may have been put there for a reason, eg a qualified electrician couldn't find a suitable alternative.
Also the lighting cable which looks like 2.5mm is more like 3 core.