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Joined: Aug 2001
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Thanks to Alan Belson for the following: Here are some pics of Legrand's 'Mosaic' receptacles being fitted, [to first fix] in our remodel. These are an interesting departure from the traditional 'pull it all out of the wall by the guts' design, and while a bit complicated they work very well indeed, being firm and solid with lots of themed options. The design is modular, with a choice of gangs and module outlets. Still made of thermoplastic and not bakelite, but a great improvement. There are other options in the catalog- too many to post here. Description below each photo. <hr> Pic 1. Drill 65mm holes for plastic drywall box with holesaw. The boxes have 'pilot holes' for accurate marking of drill positions. <hr> Pic 2. Fit box. The duplex and triplex ports need slight trimming with a Kraft knife to link the diameters. Fix is by 'tongues' screwed up behind the drywall, which in this case is 13mm/1/2" thick. Tongues 'auto-locate' with a clever cam mechanism, which works fine. <hr> Pic 3. Fit Plate. Duplex shown, this is heavy-gage galvanised and passivated steel. The screws are already in the boxes and fit into keyhole-slots for easy assembly and levelling / squaring up. <hr> Pic 4. Fish cable through box. It's necessary to break out tabs in the box rear to suit cable or 16mm plastic sheathing [ gaine ]. Here, the other side has not been plasterboarded yet, making wiring easier. <hr> Pic 5. Showing modules snap-fitted after wiring live/hot neutral and earth/ground. No polarity is shown in the module, but I always wire up with live on the left, earth at top for consistency, see later pics. The module snap-fit is strong and impossible to remove without tools. Note my mistake- drilled too near a stud, but easy to plaster a saw-waste disc back in with some spackle! <hr>
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Pic 6. Snap-fit outer cover plate. This lies nice and flush to the drywall with no screws visible, and again must be removed with a tool [screwdriver and hammer!] <hr> Pic 7. Plastic drywall boxes. Single, double or treble gang. Complete with all fix screws and cam plates. <hr> Pic 8. Steel Plates, in single, double or treble gang sizes. <hr> Pic 9. Snap-on covers in 3 horizontal sizes. A 'vertical' type plate is also available in the double-gang size, requiring a special Steel Plate to match. <hr> Pic 10. Module receptacles. Only one module type is required- it's 230vac 16A, and these snap into the Steel Plates in the number required for the gang. Note the other modules available; a tv ariel coax-socket and a France Telecom standard phone outlet. A satelite tv screw-in type coax is also available. <hr> Pic 11. Module opens for the wiring access. 3 screws operate 'jaw mechanisms' to grip wire. The white plastic shell snaps-on to cover the wiring. <hr> Pic 12. Close-up of the wire entry ports. 2 x 2.5mm2 wires can be fitted into each port in tandem. Erth/ground is center. <hr> Note that all the above units [beyond 1st fix] were fitted for the photo shoot, and will be removed for taping up and board finishing. Unlike most drywall finishing, we will be putting complete coats of finish plaster over the whole wall and ceiling surfaces about 1/8" thick rather than sanding, followed by acrylic paint coats. Just happens I have a Brit plasterer living in my commune. Thanks Alan!
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Thanks, Alan! I have tried many times, without success, to describe these things to folks in the USA.
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Cool! The magic of the Internet allows us to actually see how it is done in other places. Thanks
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Joined: Dec 2005
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They look similar as the ones we used in the Netherlands ( 1980's ) which were grey, with red knock out parts and could be clipped together to form a 2 or 3 outletbox bank.
If these were fitted in a cement or brick wall with the ducting before wiring was drawn in, a clear cover protected the j.box from cement entering the wiring chamber which was held by 2 screws.
The product of rotation, excitation and flux produces electricty.
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 288
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Wow, that's cool!
I use a hole saw to start my box cuts, but always have to finish them with a keyhole saw if in drywall, or sawzall if in plywood. Someone's using their head.
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Joined: Dec 2001
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Here rough-in in masonry walls means stuffing paper into the boxes... to keep the plasterers from solidly filling them with plaster. Doesn't keep the tile guys from tiling them over though Just had to whack out a junction box that had been tiled over last week.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,691
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Nice job! Looks much tidier than the stuff I have to deal with in the USA.
Did you save any of the old sockets? What did those look like?
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Joined: Aug 2001
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From Alan: Sven, that part of the house had only percheron horses and a few chickens since about 1830, when it was abandoned as a dwelling and used as a grange or barn. Built in 1669, so only tallow candles or oil lamps I'm afraid. However in my den in the "newer" part there is this old French ceramic 2 way tumbler-switch, still working. Notice someone has wired it into a two pin shuko receptacle at some time! Switch turns on and off with a lovely satisfying solid clunk! It's two-way to the second pic, a plasti-crap switch of unknown parentage. The house is coming on now! Denise has tunneled through a 2 ft thick granite wall to link the two houses, and we have humped over two tons of rock outside, where it is helping to stop the crazy postman from crashing into the aircon unit. We now find the floor levels don't quite match - by over 3 feet! So now 'we' need a set of stairs!
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Thanks Alan.
Hope you're able to keep those relics.
I especially love the look of those round surface-mount switches with the toggles. Better than the square ones that are sold now.
I remember when the round ones sold here used to have ceramic bases. Now they're all thermoset plastic (at least it's not polystyrene yet.)
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Joined: October 2004
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