Which Wago

[Tricky Dicky]

I am about to re-route a cable which currently goes to a socket behind a wardrobe. It means connecting to two old round junction boxes under the floor. My intention is to replace the junction boxes with Wago boxes making them maintenance free mode. The circuit is a ring main and has a 32A MCB in a RCD protected CU and the cabling is 2.5mm2 T&E.

I have 222 series connectors but I am confused about which current rating to apply. This is the data sheet for the Wago box;

As you can see using 222 series with 2.5mm2 T&E the max. current is 20A but maximum aggregate current is 50A so which value do I consider when choosing the Wagos?

Richard

[Owain Lastname]

"The Max Aggregate Current (Iag ) is the sum of all the possible currents through the WAGOBOX® in normal use. This limit must not be exceeded. Usually the max Iag equals the number of phase connectors in the WAGOBOX® multiplied by the rating of the OPD* for the circuit."

If each box contains only one circuit / leg of the ring then you have 1 phase conductor so 1 x 32A so Iag is 32A which is within the total rating of the box. I view it as similar to the grouping factor for circuits run together which affects heat dissipation from cables.

The assumption in cable sizing at 2.5mm is that each leg of the ring will carry 20A max but in some circumstances (a very unbalanced ring, or a fault) each leg may be carrying up to the 32A, so you might want to consider using a 30A rated connector rather than a 20A, especially if it's inacessible.

Owain

[Andrew]

You could leave the hidden socket where it is and have a 2.5mm spur to a new double socket, which I believe is allowed.

The awkward bit is routing three 2.5mm T&E cables into the existing socket which is fiddly, especially if the back box is only 16mm

[Owain Lastname]

Less awkward is removing the existing socket and using 3 x 3-way Wagos and a blanking plate.

Owain

[Tricky Dicky]

The problem is that the existing socket is no longer accessible but the two junction boxes are. Looks like I will have to invest in some 773-173 Wagos for the 2.5mm2 L & N cores of the T&E, but will not be able to use them for the CPCs which at 1.5mm2 are outside the parameters of the 773-173 Wagos. The problem then is that I do not think there is enough room in the Wagobox to connect the CPCs with my 222 series Wagos so looks like I will need the 773-104 for the CPCs. Ohh well!

Richard

[John Rumm]

You could forgo wago, and crimp instead - that takes up less space generally.

[Tricky Dicky]

Only problem is that by bypassing the hidden socket another socket on the ring will become a spur so I need to make 3-way connections in a Wago box.

Richard

[Robin]

I wondered about an Ashley J803. More expensive if you start off with some or all of the Wagos but AFAIK/CS is rated at 32A with no limitations.

[Robin]

sorry about spurious "-", the proper link is

[Andy Burns]

No the hyphen isn't spurious, it's required, the problem being that some email clients remove trailing punctuation unless you surround the URL in angle brackets

[John Rumm]

You can make a three way connection with crimps (in a box or just in heatshrink)