Removing a bathroom shaver socket

[Duetto96]

Hi Folks,

I have a working, but redundant, shaver socket mounted on a bathroom studwall that I need to remove. That shaver socket is wired into the lighting ring and when removed, each side of the ring will need to be joined back together. That joint/connection will be inside the stud wall about half way up the wall and will not be accessible after it has been tiled over. What is the official way to make this connection? Should I use a regular junction box a connector block or do the wires need crimping, soldering or what?

I'm assuming that even though the shaver socket is currently in the bathroom, it wont be after its removal and therefore this is not a notifiable alteration. Is this correct?

Thanks,

David

 

[Edd]

I would have removed the shaver point, fitted a switch spur and a downflow heater in the shower cubical. something to keep the family warm while showering.. Regs,, what regs,, and part P who cares!! DIY and DIE....

 

[Deleted member 26818]

Souldn't P in the shower anyway.

 

[a1guvner]

Thats where i thought the option of leave it in place would work, next year it will be "fab idea what about a new shaver socket" unless having alayout change obviously

 

[trev]

Duetto, having read this and your other thread I have to say your enthusiasm is great. It's your skill level that worries me, it is incrediby unlikely that your lighting circuit is on a ring but you insist that this is the case. Your other thread asked some fairly basic questions about notifiability. So, a few basic questions for you if I may
1) What do you know about safe isolation procedures?
2) How do you know you have selected and installed correctly any cables and accessories you have chosen?
3) What test equipment do you have at your disposal?
4) How did you learn to use it?
Obviously I could go on but the questions may be harder for you to answer.
If you cannot answer these questions may I urge you to consult a qualified electrician as has been previously suggested. This will give you peace of mind that a job has been done to a high standard and the money spent could save an enormous amount of heartache

 

[a1guvner]

Duetto, having read this and your other thread I have to say your enthusiasm is great. It's your skill level that worries me, it is incrediby unlikely that your lighting circuit is on a ring but you insist that this is the case. Your other thread asked some fairly basic questions about notifiability. So, a few basic questions for you if I may
1) What do you know about safe isolation procedures?
2) How do you know you have selected and installed correctly any cables and accessories you have chosen?
3) What test equipment do you have at your disposal?
4) How did you learn to use it?
Obviously I could go on but the questions may be harder for you to answer.
If you cannot answer these questions may I urge you to consult a qualified electrician as has been previously suggested. This will give you peace of mind that a job has been done to a high standard and the money spent could save an enormous amount of heartache

And the possibility of saving the life of your family

 

[richy3333]

I would have removed the shaver point, fitted a switch spur and a downflow heater in the shower cubical. something to keep the family warm while showering.. Regs,, what regs,, and part P who cares!! DIY and DIE....

Freakin funny. Should be the forums mantra - DIY AND DIE

 

[Duetto96]

I'm sorry to say you are another DIYer happy to take "guidance" over the web but have no intention to do the right thing and keep you or your family safe.

Thanks for that Murdoch. Very helpful. The reason I put this thread out there in the first place was because I was concerned about the safety issue and regulations. Joining two wires together is hardly the most technically demanding exercise in the world and if I was prepared to sacrifice safety I would have just buried them behind the stud wall.

I am on a budget but I also like to do things myself anyway and do them properly, hence the request for guidance. If the answer to all questions is, get a sparky in, there's hardly a point in the website is there? The suggestion with the Ashley MF box seemed logical and I read the guff on that box and it appears to be designed for just that job. If you have a better solution, feel free to assist.

 

[malcolmsanford]

Thanks for that Murdoch. Very helpful. The reason I put this thread out there in the first place was because I was concerned about the safety issue and regulations. Joining two wires together is hardly the most technically demanding exercise in the world and if I was prepared to sacrifice safety I would have just buried them behind the stud wall.

I am on a budget but I also like to do things myself anyway and do them properly, hence the request for guidance. If the answer to all questions is, get a sparky in, there's hardly a point in the website is there? The suggestion with the Ashley MF box seemed logical and I read the guff on that box and it appears to be designed for just that job. If you have a better solution, feel free to assist.

I did post #11 which I assume you either never read or did not take note off.

While those Junction boxes providing they are marked MF are maintenance and inspection free, you will still have the problem of cables not run in a prescribed zone, without additional protection advised in reg 522.6.101

 

[Spoon]

I understand that you are on a budget but we have regulations to work to. We let you know that if you remove the socket the cable may be not within the prescribed zone as early as post #2, but you dont anything about this in any of your posts. If you are going to ignore regulations that you dont like, because they cost you money, then what is the point of asking the question in the first place. You have had some useful posts.
If you read past posts you will see that the people on here give good advice to questions. We recommend that people get a sparky in when the work can not be done by the general public, because of regs and test sheets that need to be filled in. I would be interested in your answers to post #19

 

[a1guvner]

All i say is lets remind ourselves the title of this forum (An electrical forum for electricians in the UK)

Say no more

 

[Edd]

If the so mentioned Lighting circuit is on a ring, and i really doupt it is but the OP says it is then just disconect both ends of the cable running up in the bathroom then there will be no cable in the zone.
It will be fed from the other side of the lighting ring!,,

oh and dont forget to make sure that the over current protective device is downrated to take into acount the new radial lighting circuit..

 

[Duetto96]

Ok folks, many thanks for all the responses, even the 'smart' ones. I won't be continuing the dialog any further. I am obviously not qualified but in my defense, I did completely rewire my previous house (25 years ago). I obviously took advice from a helpful electrician before hand and the electrician then tested the work and connected me up to the mains. Nobody got killed in the process and I now have a grown up family who all managed to survive the perils of my work. I am happy to accept that I just got lucky.

Incidentally, I have also built a large extention single handed. I always do my own brickwork, plastering and plumbing. I service my own car etc etc. I like to be able to do these things.

In contrast, I have very recently had a new boiler installed by a tradesman. The house got seriously flooded and I also had a gas leak. Thats why, if I can, I like to do work myself. I take care, I ask questions but most of all, I enjoy doing these things.

Reconnecting two wires back together that were already connected doesn't appear to be overly complicated. However, I do accept that the wire might remain in a zone where someone might conceivably put a shelf or soapdish holder sometime in the future. I also accept that even though I am joining the two wires back together that I won't be able to 'test' the circuit even though thats how they were before. I'm pretty sure that the lighting side of my consumer unit doesn't have RCD so if by separating two wires and rejoining them I now need RCD protection, I'm bemused, but I also accept that.

As a result, I will indeed get an electrician in to give me his professional opinion on what is required and as long as it isn't too embarrasing (for me) I'll even post the outcome for your further amusement.

Apologies for not responding to every comment individually.








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[malcolmsanford]

Duetto mate it is not for our amusement that we have tried to point out things. You yourself stated in a post you want to do them as per the regs and I think the majority have tried to help you, perhaps a few comments were a little ironic let's say, but you kept coming back that you had the solution with a maintenance free JB, and yes it was part of a solution, but not the whole.

I have no doubts you are a capable DIY'er and you would have done a good job on the connection itself, but you would still have not adhered to the regs regarding zones, which is what a lot of us pointed out.

Please post back and let us know the outcome, I personally, if your revamping the bathroom to this extend would have run a new cable from the CU, but that is your choice, or placed a MF JB in the cable going down to the CU and placed it fixed under the floor boards and then run a new cable.

 

[Spoon]

I might have come across too negative in my last post, but this is where Im coming from: I also helped fully rewire my house 17 years ago and did a good job. No problems with it. The regs have changed since then. Recently the missus wanted the kitchen doing up. New units and stuff, also a socket moving and a spare fuse for the extractor chimney. Simple job for me, but this came under Part P, which im not registered. So I got a sparky in to do the work and got it all checked out and he handed me the appropriate test sheet, filled in. Job done. Didnt cost me much and its all to regs and I have the paper work to prove it. Modification to circuits in the bathroom also comes under Part P.

 

[MarkieSparkie]

I would have removed the shaver point, fitted a switch spur and a downflow heater in the shower cubical. something to keep the family warm while showering.. Regs,, what regs,, and part P who cares!! DIY and DIE....

That's definitely taking the Part P ... adding water to it!:biggrin5: