Collingwood ground lights

[Soulsurfer]

Anyone ever put in any of their lights such as the GL016's they look like they're wired in series through the joint boxes but just trying to work out if any old adaptable IP rated boxes could be used rather than buying collingwood own made JB2's or JB4's at a higher cost. Customer had some fitted before in paving blocks and says he had prev electrician run jb to jb in swa but thinking might be a pain trying to fit multiple jb's under ground using swa between them if plastic boxes and he wants magic gel as used last time. Costly stuff by the looks of it !

 

[telectrix]

i'd always fit any JBs above ground.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Ditto, I have been to so many failed joints underground, Gel or no Gel!

These Pratley jobbies seem to work well underground though

 

[Soulsurfer]

Ditto, I have been to so many failed joints underground, Gel or no Gel!

These Pratley jobbies seem to work well underground though

Cheers chaps, prev bloke put the basic plastic boxes under the pavers in sand with magic gel, and he wants same as customer is a landscape gardener so doing grounds himself but as you say it could be a nightmare & just seen more posts on here about those 1W constant current LED lights ! Saw those pratleys but they're expensive too.

 

[Soulsurfer]

So customer wants same as before except when I said any chance of pulling up couple of paving blocks to see what exact joint boxes he used before, he wasn't keen. He just said he thinks the guy used swa for all links between joint boxes then the ground lights have a pre made HO5RN-F flex connected to each head 1 metre long all joint boxes filled with magic gel.
So I'm limited as neighbour few houses down has had some same done and another company used swa to first jb then H05RN-F 0.75mm two core between JB2's made by collingwood in flexi conduit in the sand which seems a bit slack but they said no issues and less hassle then endless making off armoureds. Wholesaler reckons more trouble with the drivers !

 

[Soulsurfer]

Wholesalers trying to push some niglon supplied armoured jb's but they're a bit pricey at £16 a piece and glands for them are around £7.50 a piece too. Don't think client will go for them ! Cost is getting bit bonkers.

View attachment 35138

 

[mattg4321]

Surprised so many have problems with magic gel. I'm yet to have a problem on probably 30 or 40 jobs over 5+ years. I just use besa boxes and gel fill them. The Collingwood JB's are quite nice to use but pricey and most don't want to pay the extra.

 

[Soulsurfer]

Surprised so many have problems with magic gel. I'm yet to have a problem on probably 30 or 40 jobs over 5+ years. I just use besa boxes and gel fill them. The Collingwood JB's are quite nice to use but pricey and most don't want to pay the extra.

Thanks, yes work out £6.40 a box here plus gel on top.

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Soulsurfer if you try and cut costs on this you'll have endless trouble. If the customer wont pay for a quality job walk away. When substandard joints go down,which they will sooner rather than later.....you'll be expected to sort it for free.

 

[Soulsurfer]

Soulsurfer if you try and cut costs on this you'll have endless trouble. If the customer wont pay for a quality job walk away. When substandard joints go down,which they will sooner rather than later.....you'll be expected to sort it for free.

Fair comment and I don't want substandard joints at all, I'm thinking the JB2's must be fit for purpose as made by them and rated for the task, well rated to 2 metres underground submerged, surely they'll be fine then but certainly not going to accept swa in and out of them though !

 

[1Justin]

I have used Collingwood JB2 series connectors only the once, and won't touch them again. They are pointless anyhow, use your own decent sized box and just make the series connections your own joints. The JB2 are small and incredibly fiddly to fit, the H07 needs to be cut and trimmed to such an exact length, the terminals are small, and I definitely wouldn't trust the glands.
Despite my painstaking efforts I even had one fail after a few weeks because the screw connector block came away from the internal board, meaning I had to return to the job and bypass it.
And the cover screws are fitted from the back!
They have no mounting lugs.
The plastic is soft and the gland nuts have little grip, threads pop.
One gland always faced upwards which is just daft.
I would not dream of fitting them underground.

..I keep editing this as I remember how bad they really are!

 

[Soulsurfer]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll be avoiding them then ! & find a better box that seals well and gel it up as best possible.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Pratley

 

[Soulsurfer]

Pratley

Price of them can't see them getting used much !

 

[mattg4321]

Just to add to this, I never used the JB2, only the JB4, which I found to be half decent. I used 2 core NYY cable I think.

However these rely on gel to seal. I still use besa boxes and magic gel if I'm buying and haven't yet had a problem.