Quick question on changing plug sockets.

[Bm101]

I've been convinced/told that all the trendy people have brushed steel sockets. Ok. The house is ongoing.
I seem to have 25mm backboxes. So far. It's one of those houses.... and I'm remarkably close to just snagging the first and top floor. So . Ok love. Seems like a plan.
I've been to screwfix and bought the required amount. Flush mounted brush steel.
Replaced the first one and even after cutting any excess wiring down to bare minimum I was struggling to get the unit flush mounted. The wall surface is fine. Before I go and buy bigger back boxes for the whole house...

:evil:

Am I better off chopping them in for metal raised rounded? My logic dictating there must surely be a good mm or 5 gained by using a raised mount which should be enough.
Tbh the flush look is not so important as my time and effort. They are sockets and the raised ones look fine.

Also. While I have your attention I bought on a whim two wireless boosting sockets. Idea behind it is we have moved my little lass down to the big bedroom from her new converted attic room earlier than planned so the Mrs can use the small attic room as an office now what with present circumstances. The wifi router is 2 floors underneath. So one socket in bedroom above router. One in attic soon to be office.
Any experience of these? 30 notes each not cheap but a solution. If I had the brains I was born with I would have run some ducting up the breast before the chimney stack was removed and have wired the internet everywhere like some Terminator futuristic horror movie.
But I didn't.

Do I swap the sockets?

Cheers guys as always.
Chris

 

[Jake]

What's the depth of the plastic stuff behind the plate, and does the wiring come straight out the back of it so you need extra clearance for wire? (Sometimes the terminals are on the top or angled for extra slimness.) 25mm is always going to be tight with flat plate stuff.

 

[Bm101]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-13a-2-ga ... pack/68831

Tell you what Jake. Just measured it and it's about 23ish! They are rated as 25mm fit so it's a bit close!
The terminals are all well aligned to not come out the back as you say but crikey it's a tight fit anyway.

 

[doctor Bob]

My old house I swapped to flat plates, nightmare made myself about a weeks work chopping in 37mm boxes. I think your idea of raised ones is good.

Brushed steel .................... not so sure, trend is shiney ................ but who knows what 2021 will bring :lol:

 

[Bm101]

Edit.

 

[Bm101]

Cheers Bob. Just to clarify ... you reckon the raised boxes are easier to fit space wise and we're talking 3-5 mm here. That's night and day at these tolerances.
I'm sat here thinking they must be. Surely!
There is an option of adding spacers between wall and socket but that the road to insanity. Also. Can't find a nice metal one. #Gap in the market.

 

[doctor Bob]

got to be, I could get the old ones on and off no problem, but the flatties were impossible.

 

[Bm101]

Ps.

I'd personally go for bakelite WW2 aircraft knobs btw Bob.
That way. At some point in the future I'll be bang on trend for 3 months.

 

[TFrench]

I've had no trouble with the raised ones. Figured the flat ones would look dated quickly. I've gotten to be a dab hand at sinking pattress boxes - every single one in my house was surface mounted. Treated myself to a wall chaser and it makes life so easy - plunge in to the outsides of your box, horizontal and vertical and there's just a brick waffle that knocks out with a chisel. Wish I'd worked that out at the beginning....

 

[owen]

No way I'd go to the effort of chasing in deeper boxes just to fit some swanky sockets! I have fitted some flush ones before though, they were bloody awkward and that was with 25mm boxes and then a tile on front so probably 31-33mm. What about just replacing for nice fresh white sockets? Quite often they look better than poorly fitted metal ones.

 

[DBT85]

White plastic for me every time.

Regarding the WiFi ones, I've never used anything like it but I wish you good luck. If you're lucky they'll actually act like a mesh system and solve your problems. Though I'm not sure how good their reception will be sitting in a sturdy steel cage bolted into the wall.

 

[Bm101]

The Mrs likes the metal ones so there you go. :wink: I've just bought the rounded version and will take the others back.
Will update about those wireless sockets.

 

[Doug71]

Just updated the kitchen in a rental property, put a backing board on the wall instead of tiling. Got some flush sockets to go on it, the electrician had a good moan about how awkward they are to fit. That was with the existing 25mm boxes and the backing board added about another 8mm.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Just looked at the Screwfix website.

For flat plate MK Edge range the explicitly note a 35mm box is required. For others 25mm appears ok but is no doubt a very tight fit.

You need to be very selective (obviously) about what range you have got.

 

[Jake]

I think the 25mm box is probably a bit nominal, don't know if it's internal or external either. I wouldn't myself ever contemplate swapping back boxes just to have flat plates, as I think Bob said that's more pain than it's worth. Putting in new backboxes as part of my endless slo-mo renovation I always use 35s, or 47s if it's busy with multiple cables or for 4mm+ cable, but if 25s are already there, roll with something that fits them.

If you are sold on them, the only other thing to check (which you probably have) is that there aren't screw heads protruding too much in the back of the box and that as you push the plate in, the wires are shaped up to fold and tuck in around the edges rather than trapped behind the back. With only a mm or two spare, there's no room for that obviously.

 

[BigMonka]

Flush ones are definitely a pain that I’d avoid if you don’t mind the look of the normal style.
Please also make sure that they’re all earthed properly or you can get a belt off just touching anywhere on the plate if there were to be a loose wire inside.

 

[Bm101]

I'm pretty careful generally. I think this is a case where the sockets have become bigger over time... But the likes of screwfix are wanting to sell them as 25mm compatible. The wifi ones came with a plastic spacer. But even the normal sizes are 'agitative'.
Replaced today so as soon as the mrs gives me the ok that her work is disconnected I'll get to at fitting. I'm up against it here trying to get the house done. *moaning noises.
Ed. Monks. I'm all about Safety first. My kids are here. Good point though.

 

[owen]

Flush ones are definitely a pain that I’d avoid if you don’t mind the look of the normal style.
Please also make sure that they’re all earthed properly or you can get a belt off just touching anywhere on the plate if there were to be a loose wire inside.

Only when the socket screws are undone otherwise they earth it