ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Use Of Strip Connectors in Ceilings

I have found an increasing number of
strip connectors used for joins in cables in
roof voids, this is quite worrying, considering
that they almost always involve the live
conductor, of a two-way lighting circuit.
Normally these wires have to be joined in a
fitting, under AS/NZ 3000,
Anybody feel different?.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 09-04-2002).]

I see this all the time as well. I have no idea about AS/NZ 3000, but certainly our IEE Wiring Regs. here require that the connections be made inside a proper enclosure.

Such as a proper junction box, right?

It's a bit dangerous leaving a choco-block in mid-air (yes we're familiar with them in the States, and I used a 3-terminal block instead of the normal American marrettes when wiring up my fume hood - looks much neater and it is enclosed in the wiring panel of the hood).

There's always a danger of something falling into the recessed screw terminals or the entire thing snagging and pulling apart....same thing with Marrettes also I guess.

Hi Sven,

Like this attempt by somebody to wire two dimmers into some living room lights:


This junction just had a couple of turns of PVC tape around it and was loose under the floorboards. I suppose I should have been grateful for the tape -- Others don't have anything around them.....


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 08-20-2002).]

Sven,
What is a Marette, that you speak of?
Is this a type of J-Box?.

Good question. Is it a brand of wirenut?

Hi Guys,

Sorry.

Yes, Marrettes is another name for wire nuts. Don't know if it was a brand at one point (sort of like Kleenex for tissues).

Saw someone use that term in some other message board and its been bandied about in some websites...I usually call them 'splice caps' though. :-)

Do a www.google.com search on marrettes and you'll see.

--
sven

I've seen strip connectors buried in plaster. It's nice to scrape the rock hard gypsum out of the terminal screws to open them! Also I don't want to imagine the wall to get moist.

[This message has been edited by Texas_Ranger (edited 08-22-2002).]

Didn't anybody hear of Wago. Nobody uses choco blocks or marrettes here anymore.


[This message has been edited by Belgian (edited 10-13-2002).]

>Didn't anybody hear of Wago.
>Nobody uses choco blocks or marrettes
>here anymore.

You mean those "push-in" connectors where the wires jump out after some time? Yes, they are used here in Sweden, too. Some people even seem to like them. IMHO, wire nuts are better.