Chocky blocks?

chocky blocks must be totally enclosed in a non-flammable enclosure and bits of ceiling void don't count, so not legal and junction boxes correct way to go

Owain

It is not an ideal way of doing it since there ought to be not only insulation for the wires but overall insulation for the connection as well. Tape sort of achieves that, but not in a very elegant way.

You can get special "chock box" covers for chock block strips that do meet the regs however:

Tape can hardly be described a elegant or 'workmanlike' IMO.

I have used those, but they need a similar size hole to go through and are more of a PITA to wire up than a JB.

Do they make a smaller JB?

There are some proprietary systems for doing this stuff that are easy to wire and small - they have been mentioned on the group before (but a few years ago) and I can't recall the name at the moment. I will see if I can find anything...

Some lights have a large enough base to leave the ceiling rose base fixed to the ceiling behind them, in which case I do that. Otherwise, I replace the supplied choc block with a 4-way one, to support the loop-in wiring.

I've found quite a few of the lights from IKEA are like that, really good design.

Dave, bare the wires back, twist them together and put some sellotape or similar to help hold it all together. This worked...ish for the guy who did the electrics in my last house. Tim

"> Every light fitting I come across has a chocky block connector, so the

You're correct , loop in ceiling roses as we know them don't exist in France. They use a junction box system which results in a single cable at the ceiling light. They just connect to the supplied choc block and use a cover which slides up the light cord to cover the connection.

As a simple husband, therefore (in my house anyway) destined to be the one that does anything either on ladders or to do with electricity, its baffled me for as long as I have owned a house that there hasn't been designed a more simple way to wire up lights. The amount of time I've spent putting lights up which have involved a screwdriver in the mouth, (expensive) light fittings dangling from the ceiling held in place only by the wires that connect to the power whilst trying to secure some other essential fitting part.....

Is there any logical reason why lights aren't supplied with two "molex"(?) style power connectors (the sort that are in PCs), one to be attached to the power supply, another already fixed to the cables on the light, so that all one has to do is then plug the two of them together? Maybe the PC style connectors can't handle the 240V / 13A etc, but surely some-such solution could be devised? Or maybe the product already exists, I just don't know about it.

Matt

You can buy plug-in ceiling roses. I bought some for some horrid light fittings my wife chose which are almost impossible to change the bulbs in without getting them down from the ceiling. Screwfix sell them.

There are pluggable ceiling roses but (a) they vary between manufacturers, (b) they really only work with ordinary pendants in white plastic, and (c) they're more expensive than ordinary ceiling roses.

I expect soon all ceiling roses and electrical faceplates will come with security screws with only members of selected guilds allowed to have the matching screwdrivers. Unlicensed possession of a security will be prosecuted under "going equipped to wire"regulations.

Owain

I fitted these:

Now I'm confused. Are un taped chocky blocks legal or not?

I prefer to change the rose for a junction box, but often find chocky blocks wired so that a neutral/ live & a neutral are wired into the fitting. If I find an existing chocky block jobby, am I obliged to remove it & install a juction box, or can I swap 'like for like'?

The JB is, to my mind, the best way of doing the job, but adds time & cost for the client.

Not unless they are enclosed in an enclosure ie a junction box or the luminaire. It makes no difference whether they are taped or not. Taping them just makes a sticky mess.

You cannot swap like for like as all new work should be to current regulations and good practice. You are responsible for the safety of anything that you bring in to service regardless of the state of the existing circuits. Would you be prepared to tell a coroner that taping over a chocky block was good practice?

But gives peace of mind and a nice warm feeling inside of having Done The Right Thing :-)

Owain

Good point. So if I find a taped chocky block I should replace it with a JB?

Indeed it does and that is my objective, but how come I find so many chochy block jobs, many of which have apparently been done by 'qualified electricians'?

Still want a smaller JB though :-)

Because most bodged wiring you find is done by "qualified electricians"?

The chockbox cases are almost the best I have seen - except for the one that I referred to mentioned here a few years back.... Alas my searches have brought up nothing so far.

IIRC it was one of the pro sparks who commented on having found a quantity of them being given away at a trade show or exhibition of some sort. It was a small box that did what you require but in a novel way (perhaps with IDC joints)

This is reminding me of an embarrassing issue that I found on Wednesday this week. I took down two ceiling light fittings in a lounge in order to emulsion the said ceiling. One fitting- taped connections of circuit and fitting wires through narrow hole in plaster. Other fitting - chocky block that was difficult to extract from ceiling void.

Wiring now modernised!

It is my house - I can only conclude that I'd put a temporary "fix" to the wiring on the day that we moved into the new build house just over

Hijacking this thread slightly, what's the correct thing to do when permanently removing a light fitting?

We've taken down a couple of wall-lamps to paint our living room, and at the moment just have chocky-blocked wires protruding from the walls. Is it okay to put junction boxes/connector covers on and just leave the wires inside the walls? We just want to patch/plaster over the holes, no intention of putting lights back there.

I've heard that the wires should be wired into blank covers on the walls, but wouldn't that mean you can never remove a light fitting without leaving an ugly plastic panel there for the rest of time?

Thanks for any advice, Dave

The best solution here is to find where the wires come from (if the lights were switched with the main light then they will probably come from the ceiling rose), and disconnect them there. You can then just trim the end of the dead cable and plaster it in.

If you can't easily disconnect the wire then you need to make off the wire ends safely (I would use butt crimps with nothing in the other end), slap one of the small plastic boxes round the end like discussed above, and then plaster that into the wall.