F-in FCUs.....

[GMM]

Whilst having a good ole struggle yesterday connecting a cable up to an FCU, I got to wondering (as you do) why they have to be so damned awkward: On this one, the connections are on the back, screws on top and the flex outlet on the bottom. Although the real problem was not having quite enough cable in the ring main side, fixing the flex around the connector block was a right pain. It's not helped by the fact that they're always inside or round the back of something unshiftable, so you have to stand on your head in the dark to do it.

I'm sure these things end up fiddly to keep costs down but does anyone know (for future reference) of an easy to use version? I'm thinking flex terminals under a plate on the front or some such design.

[Andrew Gabriel]

The MK ones, like just about all the stuff they design themselves, are designed to be very easy to use. Even supplied with the screws undone, ready to pop the conductors in. All screws accessed from the top (unlike an Ashley one I think, I was fiddling in last week, which needed access from all sides).

There's also the type with the flex terminals in a front detachable module to make connections very easy. More commonly called a plug and socket.

[GMM]

Yup - I've seen them there new-fangled plugs and sockets, but they wouldn't quite do the jobbie I was doing....

Actually, it was an MK I was working on and they are undoubtedly better than the rest. It was as much that it occurred to me that some kind of plate on the front of a DP FCU with the outlet connectors under it would allow wiring/unwiring without furtling about round the back of the thing, turning the power off etc etc. That would also prevent anyone from tugging the existing cabling out when they change whatever's connected to it (although if they are loose, it's probably a good thing if they do fall out and have to be re-fixed - like nearly every connection in a socket in my house did when I first moved in!). Some cooker outlets are a bit like it, in that there's a cover with a connection block behind but of course they're not switched within the unit.

[Martin Crossley]

A 13-A version of a clock-connector would be useful. Does anyone make one?

Martin.

[js.b1]

Cost, because most of the designs are "inheritive". Out of curiosity I did CAD out some alternative Grid ideas based on dissassembly. Terminals do have to be on the rear because of the frame, the problem is the existing "86mm footprint". If we had a 102mm footprint we could have front terminals.

Some things do help though. Use 47mm backbox in place of 35mm (more tail space), use 1G+1G 35mm to "magic up" longer tails & more space in place of 1G; use Wago 3-Lever & 5-Lever terminals with flying leads for Supply to SFCU (very useful for inaccessible cooker hoods where you can't lean on cooker hood or tiled in cupboards, sleeve the wires re screws obviously).

That said, I am sure MK used to do a "micro-plug with screw retention" decades ago. It might have been eliminated by the requirement for shuttered outlet & sleeved pins.

There are some amusing "defects" in MK. Masterseal grid screws inaccessible on some items when fitted. MK grid Cord-Outlets are incredibly deep even for a 40mm box, try 47mm. Tunnel Terminals, oh get real, they are incomplete so if the flat screwdriver tip is misaligned it will slip off the screw and jam between terminal & housing. Neon tails on 32A 1G switch & masterseal are fine solid core which even looped back on itself can still slip out of the terminal if solid-core. Most fans require a 3-pole isolator and fuse, so why is the 3P isolator slimline and the FCU like a *brick* - it looks so ugly.

Klik do some odd ones too. Their nice 3/4-pin plug-in ceiling roses do not actually sit well on a BESA box, they rock about. That requires the box to be sunk below the plaster or use of their own surface mount box. Also why Klik they screw-thread or hit-miss screw thread the lid on Klik? You almost rip the fitting out trying to spring the cover off, a great idea made clumsy.

[Andrew Gabriel]

How would it differ from a 13A plug and socket?

[Owain]

You could only plug in 13A clocks.

Presumably something like electrak

Owain

[Martin Crossley]

By the plug not protruding from the socket, like a Shuko but even more recessed, though with a 13-A fuse in either the plug or socket, and possibly needing a tool to release it to prevent accidental unplugging.