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https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl DIY Forum >> Electrical Questions >> thatch and mice https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1092164372 Message started by dthatch on Aug 10^th, 2004, 7:59pm

Title: thatch and mice
Post by dthatch on Aug 10^th, 2004, 7:59pm

can anyone point me in direction of cable suitable for upstairs wiring in a cottage that can support 4 sockets and not be eaten by the odd rodent(s) that visits in winter.

I do not want to use steel conduit , a nice semi-armoured flexible cable would be great

thanks in advance for any info / pointers

Title: Re: thatch and mice
Post by Lectrician on Aug 10^th, 2004, 8:16pm

PVC conduit, MI, or the steel conduit that you aint fond of ;)

Title: Re: thatch and mice
Post by L.Spark on Aug 11^th, 2004, 2:26am

As Lectrician said, Mineral Insulated cable sounds like a plan :P

Title: Re: thatch and mice
Post by plugwash on Aug 11^th, 2004, 2:42am

steel conduit=thick and very hard to work with
SWA=thick and hard to terminate to badly designed accesories
MICC(pyro)=thin requires special tools to terminate (not really a problem if doing a lot of connections) and hard to terminate to badly designed accesories
PVC conduit=thick but easier to work with than steel

the advantage of conduit is if you use T&E inside you don't have to terminate it to every assesory you can just leave a small gam

wheras with MICC SWA or conduit with singles you are going to have fun terminating it to roses etc without leaving exposed single insulated cores and you will probablly have to fit conduit boxes behind said items

Title: Re: thatch and mice
Post by plugwash on Aug 11^th, 2004, 2:42am

the other advatage of MICC is it contains nothing carbon based so it shouldn't degrade AT ALL

Title: Re: thatch and mice
Post by Beanzy on Aug 11^th, 2004, 5:17am

Don't put it on the RCD side of your board if you can avoid it. Can cause nusiance tripping.

Reckon in terms of ease of installation the T&E in PVC conduit is simplest. or just T&E in some mini-trunking.

Title: Re: thatch and mice
Post by HandyMac on Aug 11^th, 2004, 6:10am

Just a thought here for comment by the sparks, but couldn't SWA (armoured cable) be used in this situation? It gets used to run cables down to garden sheds etc - might be a bit thick and might not go round corners particularly well, but under the circumstances might offer a solution?

SWA has a wire mesh around the conductive parts.

Andrew

Title: Re: thatch and mice
Post by Beanzy on Aug 11^th, 2004, 7:17am

Could be. Many lugs, boxes and terms to do though, so would be a bit OTT, unless the're real monsters in that attic. If you use T&E mini-trunking or oval conduit cliped direct, you just butt it up to the accessories or run it through the rubber gromits, quick & easy.

Title: Re: thatch and mice
Post by plugwash on Aug 11^th, 2004, 10:53am

swa is bloody thick though so it would be a pita for switch drops

i've seen a 1.5mm swa and a 6mm swa next to each other and they look near identical in size (both 3 core)

Title: Re: thatch and mice
Post by The_Trician on Aug 11^th, 2004, 10:35pm

Why not try Oflex or SY cable? Very flexible, comes in many sizes, has a flexible steel braid and is clear-pvc coated.

You still have a termination problem though with glanding etc.

TT

Title: Re: thatch and mice
Post by L.Spark on Aug 13^th, 2004, 2:20am

2 days later, but PVC Conduit sounds like the best option after MICC, Oval Or Round, Light Or Heavy Gage, High Impact etc.

Does the job for me ;)