My Practice Board by Mrs Streetlighter

[steptoe]

ahh, too tight a bending radius methinks, or the cable not properly splayed and straightened first.

dressing cables , esp the larger ones, is something you will soon learn to do if you want a neat job.

 

[husky2013]

i think its the latter part steps i kept the cable coiled up as i lay it and clipped it down, lesson learnt for next time, lay my cable out 1st and straighten it all out before hand!

 

[steptoe]

looking at the board, and its hard to get a scale from a pic, but I deffo think your radius on the 10mm is nigh on impossible to obtain and keep the cable tidy,

not to mention within regs if you wanted to be pedantic,

open up your legs bends a bit more Mrs .

 

[Phoenix]

Its probably been said, that if the edge of your cable tries to 'bank up' (as in a banked track in cycling, etc) then you are trying to bend it too tightly, when it lies neatly against the surface its right. And as said above plenty of clips with the nail underneath the cable and evenly spaced. Roughly just a tiny bit further apart than hammer head size

 

[Manator]

hey its alright for you guys, youve had lots of years experience in setting bends in cable! the board is the 1st time iv actually set cables up and circuits etc!!! so any tips that im given i try them out and if i find them helpfull then i use them

Take any size T&E cable, lay it down on a board and then gently bend it keeping it flat to the board, let this happen naturally,without any forced bending. What you will be left with is a perfect bend, and the recommended bending radius of the said cable size.

Thank me and scoob accordingly!!

 

[husky2013]

had a bit more of a play with doing this today manator whilst we was on a job (relocating a switched fuse spur)and it worked very well and once again thankyou for the advice!

 

[kerching]

Laying cables flat is an art in itself, not summat you can learn from books. It is easier on a vertical surface than horizontal.

My prefered method is to fix one end of cable with a clip [say at the right hand end] running cable out to the left. Hold cable in left hand and pushing it against the wall with the groove in the lower half of your thumb whilst at the same time pushing the cable in a 'leftwards direction'. Fix a clip after about 1 metre and then go back and fill in the gaps between first and last clip with other clips. I have read that back about 10 times and it does not really seem to make sense really, but since I spent so long trying to put it into words I am NOT deleting it.

Another way to straighten the cable is to 'run it against the wall' using the 'poll' of your hammer. 'Poll' is the poncy word for the grooved bit between the striking face of the hammer and the bit where it attaches to the shaft......every day is a learning day!!!

Running out a good length of the cable before you clip it is also a good idea, so it does not end up like a giant slinky. If I try to explain that I will be here all night. I will have to try and work out a way of putting it into words,,,, :coat

 

[husky2013]

i think i get your jist kerching i will try this, it must be better then it ending up looking like a series of mini jumps on a moto x track pmsl! i think my problem ther elies with i was taking it straight of the drum instead of straightening it out!

 

[kerching]

Right, having had an Espresso, try this.

Put drum flat on floor

stand slightly over and behind the drum take loose end of wire in left hand

slightly ease cable off/over flange of drum and catch with right hand

flick cable up and catch with left hand whilst still holding the bit you started with

then repeat with right hand

keep doing this til you have a few metres off. In effect you have taken a lump of cable off the drum BUT it is still coiled up and in a coil slightly larger than the orignal drum size...with me so far??

Now 'walk out' the cable laying it out on the floor and it 'should' keep itself flat

then clip it

I am not reading that back to myself as my brain will explode........... :coat

 

[steptoe]

right, my prob bad explanation of dressing cable,

1 NEVER clip in front of yourself,

2 RH people on a LH draw take the cable in your left hand and pull it away from the wall, and then push it along with the OS edge of your right hand until you get past the next clipping point,

3 LH back to point and hold clip in place, RH, 2 bangs and its home,

4 step 2

am I the only person this is making sense to?

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 00:08 ---------- Previous post was made at 00:06 ----------

Right, having had an Espresso, try this.Put drum flat on floor

stand slightly over and behind the drum take loose end of wire in left hand

slightly ease cable off/over flange of drum and catch with right hand

flick cable up and catch with left hand whilst still holding the bit you started with

then repeat with right hand

keep doing this til you have a few metres off. In effect you have taken a lump of cable off the drum BUT it is still coiled up and in a coil slightly larger than the orignal drum size...with me so far??

Now 'walk out' the cable laying it out on the floor and it 'should' keep itself flat

then clip it

I am not reading that back to myself as my brain will explode........... :coat

that has got to be one off the most amateur bits of advice ever,

KERCHING, Im disappointed in you,!!!

SERIOUSLY

talk about DIY Drunken BOB and his Brother.!!!!

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 00:09 ---------- Previous post was made at 00:08 ----------

Mrs Streetwalker, are you R or L handed?

 

[husky2013]

im ambidextrous steps, lol badger, last time i checked T&E stood for Twin & Earth

Steps that what kerchin says i get what he is trying t say, and i also get how your trying to explain it.

 

[steptoe]

pulling cable off the side of a drum is really really IMHO a **** poor DIY way of doing things,

sorry Kerching.! or anyone else does that.

but thats my opinion.

 

[apprentice87]

Yes, but when you want to get the screw head slots all straight and level, what is best?? Just to get them parallel with the floor or parallel with the ceiling in case there is a difference??

What about if you are in a passage way that slopes?? I have an engineering spirit level here that is graduated to something like .001" or .002" in a foot, should i play safe and use that instead??

Does anyone know about Feng Shui?? Do you think that the new NVQ people have missed something in not including this in their syllabus?? Say an expensive new building ends up with "sick building syndrome" and all because of the orientation of the screw heads...

I think this is a very serious issue indeed, and i am very surprised that they have not mentioned this in the new amendment to BS7671

john...!!!

 

[kerching]

pulling cable off the side of a drum is really really IMHO a **** poor DIY way of doing things,sorry Kerching.! or anyone else does that.

but thats my opinion.

Mmmmmmm, not really explained that very well have I!!!

Sorry chaps!

You are not actually pulling it off the side of the drum , you are creating a 'new' spool of cable fractionally larger than the original , one turn at a time. Nope, that doesn't sound right either. I will abandon this explanation and let you all do your own thing, sorry. I got a 4 in my 'O level English descriptive section'....weird as the Grades were A, B, C, E, and F [Fail]... :coffee : headbang :coat

 

[IzzyS]

Looks like you've got some holes in the top of the CU and accessories. IP4X ?

 

[batty]

Thats the least of her worries.

 

[m4tty]

Now now play nicely lol