How To Install And Connect The Socket Of Hidden - Open Wiring Correctly

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

• Installing electrical outlets
• How to install a socket in a chain of exposed wiring
• Installation of hidden sockets
• Option for installing old-style sockets into a socket
• Helpful tips on how to install and connect
• How to choose the right one
• Useful information on installing and connecting outlets

Electrical outlets are a special type of wiring products that are used to connect various electrical devices (both industrial and domestic) to the electrical network. Let's consider how to choose the right one and in which socket to install.

Installing electrical outlets

Currently, Russia uses a single European standard for the performance of power supply systems. In accordance with this standard, all household wiring equipment used in the EU zone can also be used in Russian power grids. Household electrical plugs, for example, must match the standard of the outlet on the mains.

Of course, in real life, everything is not so smooth, and old-style sockets are still used in some places. These products, usually rated for currents of no more than 8 Amperes, have slightly smaller inlet openings than Euro sockets. Therefore, the European plug is simply not included in them.

At the same time, the old-style plug sometimes cannot be connected to a modern European socket, which is equipped with a special grounding contact and has guides that prevent fixing the plug inserted into the socket.

Therefore, the only correct solution in this case will be to replace outdated wiring accessories with new ones, especially if you are doing a major overhaul of an apartment with your own hands.

The currently used types of sockets can be produced in various designs, differing in the degree of dust and moisture resistance of these products. To indicate the degree of protection of wiring products, as a rule, the Latin letters IP and two numbers are used. For example, for indoor placement, products with a degree of protection IP20 are used, for a toilet and a bathroom - IP44, and for outdoor (outdoor) placement - IP65 and higher.

Like any working technique, sockets can sometimes fail. This usually happens due to the occurrence of overloads in the network, which are caused by long-term operation of any devices of increased power, as a rule, heating ones. When overloaded, the input contacts begin to heat up strongly and can permanently fail from overheating. Such a malfunction of the sockets is easy to identify visually, which is usually done during a routine inspection of the insides of an electrical product. In this case, it is most reasonable to immediately replace the old (faulty) one with a new one.

In some situations, the loss of voltage in the outlet is associated with the burnout of the conductor suitable to it - in this case, the outlet does not need to be replaced, but it is enough to restore the burnt-out contact. (Below we will look at how to choose the right outlet, which company to buy and at what price, in order to choose a reliable and safe option.)

According to the method of installation, all known sockets can be conditionally divided into two types:

1. Installed in open wiring lines.
2. Working in hidden wiring circuits.

How to install a socket in a chain of exposed wiring

Electrical structures of this type are structurally designed in the form of a working unit equipped with an insulating cover, and these products are attached to the wall surface either using a special flat platform (socket box), or on dowels fixed directly in the wall.

Installation of such types begins, as a rule, with fixing a socket box on the wall, which, depending on the wall material, can be rigidly mounted using dowels (in concrete or brick) or using screws (when fastened to plastic and wood), as well as self-tapping screws or screws (when attached to a metal base). The holes in the base are prepared in advance - they are drilled with a hammer drill or drill. The socket unit itself is attached directly to the socket, for which special holes are used on the base. Then the pre-prepared ends of the supply wiring are also connected to the socket terminals.

An insulating (decorative) cover at the wiring entry point is carefully cut within the area perforated by the manufacturer and then installed in place with fixation using a central screw. It should be especially noted that all these operations must be carried out with the voltage removed.

Installation of hidden sockets

Installation of sockets for hidden wiring is carried out, as a rule, using special socket boxes, made in the form of a shallow plastic cup.

Before installing such a "glass" in the wall, first select a recess according to the size of the socket using special attachments on the drill (crowns). You can find out how this is done in the section on installation of hidden wiring under plaster.

In order to place a socket in a wall with a plasterboard coating, you must first drill a round hole with a size for a glass, after which you can insert this unit into the niche thus obtained and fix it there. The fixation of the socket box in the plasterboard wall is carried out using special clamps. In walls made of bricks, concrete or plaster, the socket boxes are fixed using building mixtures prepared on the basis of gypsum - gypsum plaster for the walls. In this case, all glasses in the wall should be installed fairly evenly and preferably at the same level with the plane of the wall.

To supply the electrical wiring to the socket, it is necessary to make a small groove in the wall, the depth of which should be sufficient to completely hide the wires. In the resulting strobe, the wiring should be laid in such a way that the supply of conductors inserted into the socket box is about 10 cm in length. After that, the socket unit itself is fixed on it, to the terminals of which the previously connected wires are connected.

Fastening the body of the socket to the socket is carried out either with the help of special screws, or with the use of special metal spacers that are part of the assembly. Details about the installation height of the sockets.

Option for installing old-style sockets into a socket

For the final fixing of the socket, it is necessary to tighten the screw stops using a screwdriver, spreading the metal "antennae", which rigidly fix the socket assembly in the socket.

For reliable fastening, you should prepare a place for it so that its front stops are slightly wider than the edges of the socket. After installing the decorative cover on the socket, it can be considered that the installation work is completed.

Helpful tips on how to install and connect

In order for the electrical outlet to serve you for a long time and without failure, a number of conditions must be met during its operation, which are determined by the characteristics of the product. The main operational requirement for products of this class is the need to reduce the contact resistance in the circuit between the contacts of the electrical plug and the contact terminals of the outlet itself. This can be achieved in the case of giving the outlet terminals a special shape, which allows to increase the area of contacts and the force of their compression.

The old style outlets used spring-loaded terminals to meet these conditions, providing very reliable contact. The springs used in them created the necessary force to compress the contacts during the entire service life stipulated by GOST.

Today, for these purposes, special terminals are used for connecting wires, made of high-tech alloys, the spring-loaded properties of which eliminate the need for an additional spring. A slight heating of the socket assembly with such terminals does not noticeably impair the quality of the contact, while the previously used steel springs often lost their spring-loading properties when overheated.

The socket housing itself is made, as a rule, of a mechanically strong and heat-resistant dielectric material. In the past, these requirements were most satisfied by special technical ceramics, but in our time (after the appearance of new types of heat-resistant and durable polymers), modern materials have come to replace ceramics, which have a rather low cost price.

Wiring products from Legrand, for example, are manufactured using this technology and have long been in deserved demand among Russian consumers. But nevertheless, ceramics are still used today in individual samples of outlets from Chinese manufacturers supplying electrical products to Europe (and to Russia, as well). So as not to look for a long time how to connect the legrand outlet correctly - use our universal installation instructions.

For ease of use, individual samples of products of the highest price group are equipped with a plug ejection mechanism, which allows you to automatically remove the plug from the socket by pressing a special button.

Another element of the improvement of the sockets was special curtains, which serve to cover their working openings and are intended to protect against children's curiosity. Such sockets are usually installed in a children's room, but sometimes they have an unreliable design, leading to jamming of the shutter mechanism and the need to completely replace the product.

How to choose the right one

Wiring accessories are conventionally classified into three price categories.

1. Very inexpensive economy class products. They are made, as a rule, for the mass consumer. In the manufacture of such products, domestic manufacturers usually use the cheapest and insufficient quality materials. Products from China are made from materials of good quality and look quite decent outwardly, but they are also copies of high-quality European samples. The low quality of all these products determines the indicator of their uptime, which leaves much to be desired.

2. 

   Sockets and electrical switches in the middle price category. They can be classified as fairly high-quality and reliable products, in the manufacture of which the latest technologies are used. They attract the "average" buyer with a good design, but the prices of these products can scare him away. As an example, we can cite electrical products from Siemens and Legrand, as well as individual Chinese-made products (from Lezard, for example). Now it will be clear which company is better to take, and which one is better to refuse if possible, since safety is above all.

3. High-price electrical products. These products have every reason to claim "elitism", although they differ from the products of the second group only in appearance. Natural materials that have become fashionable today, such as wood or leather, are usually used in their production.

Useful information on installing and connecting outlets

The connection of individual groups of outlets to the apartment wiring can be done either by a loop or using separate lines laid to each outlet separately. In the second case, the power cable is laid either directly from the distribution board, or from the distribution box located in each room (in the area of the room).

The use of junction boxes allows you to save some money on installation, namely, due to the economical distribution of the supply cable throughout the facility and a decrease in the number of operations spent on its laying.

When laying the wiring directly from the switchboard (from a separate machine), it is recommended to immediately organize separate lines of outlets operating with particularly high loads. These loads usually include heaters and air conditioners, dishwashers and washing machines, electric stoves and boilers. The socket for connecting each such consumer must withstand a rated current of at least 16 Amperes (the circuit breaker must also be designed for the same current).

In this case, the copper conductors of the wires supplying this consumer must have a cross section of at least 2.5 mm ² and have a certain current reserve. The margin is necessary in order to compensate for the actual deviation of the diameter of the wires sold today from their nominal value, as well as taking into account the possibility of working in overload mode. Note that to connect a kitchen electric stove, you must use a three-core copper cable with a cross section of at least 4 mm ².

In the screw terminal connector of the sockets, the wires are fastened in the conventional way - by forming a ring contact from the core. If the sockets are equipped with spring self-clamping contacts (like Wago terminal blocks), this will only facilitate the process of securing the ends of the wiring. In this case, it is only necessary to remove the insulation from the ends of the wires and insert them into the terminals.

Using our universal instructions, plugging in the outlet and installing it correctly is not difficult.