outdoor masterseal socket - running cable straight into it

[David Robinson]

The cable feeding this socket can emerge from the wall anywhere I want (within reason). I thought "behind" would make sense, but there's no rear entry on the MK masterseal socket.

So it look like it should enter from below. But that means making it visible. My reading of regs (and the Masterseal installation guide) is that this means the cable should be rated for outdoors.

It'll just emerge from the wall, straight into the socket enclosure. There won't be a "run of cable". SWA seems overkill (or is it?). So does conduit! What should I use?

Cheers, David.

[Ronald Raygun]

Nothing an angle grinder won't fix. :-) Or a drill.

Could you "hide" the cable in a cheap juction box, similar to one of these, mounted immediately below the socket?

Drill your own rear entry hole into the junction box if it doesn't have rear breakouts already, and mate its top breakout hole, possibly enlarged a bit if necessary, with the bottom entry of the socket. Then slobber the whole top and rear surface of this box with sealant, thereby glueing it both to the socket and to the wall.

[ARWadsworth]

Well you can but masterseal back boxes with a rear entry. Or simply drill a hole in the back of the box and use either silicone or electrical compound to seal the cable where it comes through the hole.

[John Rumm]

Not even with the aid of a drill?

[chris French]

Yup, pretty sure that's what I did when I put one in the old house.

[js.b1]

Masterseal boxes have a "thickwall" rear. There is nothing to stop you drilling it and fitting a generic 20mm female conduit coupler with 20mm conduit through the wall to say a 1G backbox with Switched Fused Connection Unit (SFCU) on the inside (to isolate the socket). However, you can not drill the rear box and use the Masterseal 20mm Coupler, Conduit & Cable entry fittings (those black or white highly plasticised PVC things) because the box rear wall thickness is too great for them to fit.

The proper Masterseal rear-entry box has a 20mm hole which is specifically rebated to reduce the wall thickness so permitting use of the special Masterseal fittings. However, the rear-entry box has only one rear-entry - there are no side, top or bottom entries.

If you are concerned about water tracking across a rigid horizontal

20mm tube in the cavity, you can find flexible conduit which has a 20mm outer diameter so slipping inside generic 20mm female fittings and whose convoluted surface is good at preventing water tracking across a cavity. If you do not have cavity insulation, a sleeve is required re polybead insulation not compatible with PVC sheath (leaches the plasticiser out although plenty has suffered and survives).