Junction boxes: to use or not to use?

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headey
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Junction boxes: to use or not to use?

Post by headey »

Is it a RULE that junction boxes should not be used?

The other day I replaced a ceiling light. As (I assume) is current practice, all 3 cables came through the hole in the ceiling, resulting in a horrible mangle of wires and chocolate-blocks. I had to get 3 neutral wires into the neutral connector of the light fitting, which was not that easy. Sometimes, I've been faced with a chocolate-block which had connectors so narrow only one 1mm wire was able to be inserted. I couldn't have got 3 to go in if I'd tried from now until Doomsday.

Now, I understand the theory that little can go wrong with a length of cable and the place that a fault is most likely to occur is at the connector. So, far better to have that connector accessible rather than having to go scrabbling around under floor boards or above ceilings. That said, in the situation I described above, the loft was readily accessible and had a good height. I think it would have actually been quicker if the 3 cables had been joined in a junction box in the loft with only a single cable or flex coming down into the light fitting. Would I have been breaking any of the Regs had I modified it in that way?
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Someone-Else
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Junction boxes: to use or not to use?

Post by Someone-Else »

A junction box has to be accessible so you would have been ok, however you would be better off using wago connectors and a wago box as these do NOT have to be accessible click here
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headey
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Junction boxes: to use or not to use?

Post by headey »

A junction box has to be accessible
That's mildly concerning, though nothing I've done in the past has yet come back to haunt me.

Thanks for the tip about Wago connectors. I shall investigate.
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