I want to take some armoured cable into my garden for some lighting out there. I've got the cable, and I've got an RCD-protected fused connection unit. I'm planning on using the FCU to take a spur off the ring main. Is this OK? I've never worked with armoured cable before - any tips?
In particular, how do I physically connect it to the spur? I guess there must be some sort of box which will take 2.5mm T&E in on one side and SWA cable out on the other, but I can't see it on Screwfix or TLC.
I'll tell you what I did - I'm not sure whether it's cheating?!
I took the armoured cable out through an airbrick - enlarging one of the holes slightly so that it would go through. I mounted the RDC-protected FCU close to the airbrick, and drilled through sideways-ish from the back-box to the airbrick space. [The airbrick has a removeable cover on the inside]. I took a short piece of 2.5mm T&E from the FCU into the airbrick space, and joined it to the SWA cable inside the airbrick space, using a 30A circular junction box - having stripped back just enough of the armouring to make this possible.
OMG !!! I heard it all now !
Peter
you fit a gland and sleeve to the end of the SWA cable and secure this to the metal backbox with a nut.
Peter
This can be done with a metalclad surface-mount box. The SWA cable gland fits into one of the 20mm cutouts and the RCD FCU (fed with ordinary T&E from a nearby ring main) fits onto it like an ordinary socket. I suppose in theory you could use an ordinary metal box designed for flush mounting and bury the SWA cable and gland, but I wouldn't feel happy doing that myself.
I've recently done this. I happened to have a conduit terminal box with one threaded entry and a hole in the back. This is secured to the brickwork on the outside of the wall with two screws, and sealed. The armouring is terminated at a gland screwed into the entry point, with a cover. The inner cable goes through a compression gland on the back of the box, through the wall and terminates on a fused, switched spur on the inside.
I've used the wiring for what used to be a 13amp socket which was unused because it had been hidden behind some kitchen units. The switch is now in an accessible place. I guess to have done the job properly I should have used some conduit through the wall but I didn't have a 20mm drill.
I would add that I'm using 3-core SWA cable with one core as earth so I'm not relying on the armouring or continuity between the conduit box and house wiring for earthing. Where the steel armouring has been stripped off the cable is fairly stiff but workable.
Btw, TLC does have some weatherproof junction boxes if you want to terminate the SWA cable externally.
I hope you used the (supplied with gland) earthing washer inside the metal box to bond the swa to earth and didnt just rely on the locking ring/nut? You also terminated the house side earth to the metal box didnt you?
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