Any comments on Designa

[gordy71]

Got a quote on bits for a rewire im doing and asked them to quote for crabtree for the accessories. Lady suggested the new Designa range, with sloped faces similar looking to MK. Has anybody fitted any of these, and got a an opinion on them?

Personally i am going off MK as i find, the terminal screws tend to cross thread easily, and i fitted all MK in my house and the socket holes are so tight that after a while the plugs begin to fall apart with all the plugin and unplugin! Almost overengineered? Any other suggestions would be great as i would like to find a new brand to know and trust. Cheers

 

[Cirrus]

Designa is fine. It's Denman's own IIRC. Same as Basic, but a little nicer with a curved edge. The new range looks fine and I am using it on a rewire next week.

 

[Theorysparky]

we had them on offer this week

sent them back

they looked like and felt like garbage !!!!!!!!

i like their basics sockets,,,,colour coded

 

[Evans Electric]

Designa is OK , has a nice finish to the plates, in my opinion Basics looks what it is , cheap. Not sure but I think Designa is the same as GET .

 

[davetheglitz]

I've always liked Designa - and it looks and feels more expensive than it is - so bonus! I use it as a default range. MK is vastly over-rated in my opinion.

Minus points - if your back box protrudes slightly there is no overlap to allow the accessory to go flush.

 

[Theorysparky]

I've always liked Designa - and it looks and feels more expensive than it is - so bonus! I use it as a default range. MK is vastly over-rated in my opinion. Minus points - if your back box protrudes slightly there is no overlap to allow the accessory to go flush.

thats why i didnt like it

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

We ALL need a bit of overlap when trying to get in flush....

or was that something Mrs SL said ?????????????????????

O) :Blushing

I dunno?

:coat

 

[cadspark]

I've just started using Hager Sollysta range. Good quality and looks and price is reasonable.

 

[gordy71]

Designa is OK , has a nice finish to the plates, in my opinion Basics looks what it is , cheap. Not sure but I think Designa is the same as GET .

Yes thats right, crabtree, get and designa all made in same factory. Not sure if this would make quality similar?

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Ok cheers lads, will give them a go and see how i get on. My only concern is what dave said about the depth of them cos i will be reusing some of the existing boxes to not disturb decor too much.

 

[gordy71]

Well all the Designa curve range has been installed so thought i would do a short review.

The quality is not bad for the price, everything is nicely finished and switches and sockets feel pretty solid. The fact that they are 4mm thick face plates makes them look quite discreet but you pay for this as they are deeper in the backbox. This along with the positioning of the terminals makes them quite difficult to fit as i was struggling all day to form the wires so that they fitted nicely! I also found the terminal holes on the sockets too small. Normally i like to put the insulation slightly in the hole so no copper is showing ,but hard to do with these, no chance when spurring.

Light switches were my favorite, nicely angled terminals for ease of wiring. On the other hand switched fused spurs are horrendously designed. The terminals are all different depths so you have to terminate each one separately. I would probably not use them again due to the time wasted struggling to get stuff to fit which is a shame because the price and quality are good.

 

[batty]

On the new houses I just finished I used Contactum Aspire range. I do like Contactum stuff as I rarely get problems with it and the Aspire range looks quite modern. I always find Contactum stuff easy to fit as the sockets have large terminals and most stuff is available in the range. Only thing they did not do was triplex TV point with a BT outlet on it but as The BG Nexus range is similar I used this.

 

[gordy71]

On the new houses I just finished I used Contactum Aspire range. I do like Contactum stuff as I rarely get problems with it and the Aspire range looks quite modern. I always find Contactum stuff easy to fit as the sockets have large terminals and most stuff is available in the range. Only thing they did not do was triplex TV point with a BT outlet on it but as The BG Nexus range is similar I used this.

Thanks batty i might try them next.

 

[batty]

Thanks batty i might try them next.

No problem.