Old style metal strap cable clips?

Aug 09, 2012 10 Replies

.. the sort that had a nail or screw through the strap with a slot at one end. the other end goes round the cable, through the slot and folds back to secure.



What are they called? Are they still legal? Can you still buy them?



ISTM that, especially the screw ones, are much more forgiving on difficult surfaces than the plastic ones with an obo(?) nail on one side.


Memory says they were called buckle clips - there's someone on eBay selling= them but although googling shows there are people who claim to make them I= 've not seen them on sale for quite some time. I guess the extra time taken= to do up the buckle made them a non-preferred method.

They're uninsulated, so no longer compliant for mains use, but afaik still allowed for lower voltage.

I've not seen them in decades, no idea where to get them.

NT

Thanks both. Buckle was the keyword, but only adhesive versions seem to be readily available. Pity about the non compliance as they can be much neater when you "have" to surface mount. (I;m not sure how a finger in contact with a metal strap in contact with T&E is worse than just a finger in contact with the T&E.

I suppose it could be made to comply if the straps were all connected with a suitable CPC :-)

If you're putting the latter clips into brick/masonry, there are small grey plastic plugs available which help enormously. These look like miniature test-tubes in shape, maybe 1/2" long and are usually sold in boxes from the same displays as the assorted cable clips. You fit them to the masonry by drilling a narrow hole of sufficient depth then tapping in the plug. The plug has a fine central hole which then takes the cable-clip's nail and holds it securely.

Aka "pin plugs" eg Tower:

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you can still buy them. I know of no reason why they should be illegal.

I can't at the moment think of any specific regulation that would prevent their use...

Can't say I liked them much anyway.

I can see why someone getting paid for a job doesn't like them as they must take quite a bit longer to install, but they look a lot neater to me, so for DIY they seem to be a good choice in exposed areas.

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