Number of household appliances, digitalgadgets and other electricity consumers are growing steadily year by year. However, the number of sockets for their connection in our homes is relatively small. The use of tees and extension cords does not meet the requirements of electrical and fire safety. The most inexpensive and safe way out of this situation is to install an external outlet. Also, these sockets are needed in homes with external wiring or, if necessary, their transfer to another location.
Unlike the outlet for indoor installation,fastened in a podrozetnik, immured in a wall or partition, the external socket is installed on the wall plane. Its design consists of a group of contacts, installed directly on the wall, and a plastic case that covers the mechanism of electrical contacts. In individual products under the contact mechanism, a plastic plug is provided, closing the shell of the case.
The contact group of the outlet performs its mainfunction - the transmission of electric current from a stationary wiring to the plug of the electric device. It consists of a base that holds the contacts themselves, and terminals for connecting electrical wiring.
The base is made of plastic eitherceramics. The ceramic module has a high temperature resistance, is non-combustible, but is rather expensive and fragile, and is rarely used today. Plastic products are durable, high electrical insulating properties, resistant to high temperatures and currently the most common. Installation of the external outlet is performed by fixing the base to the wall; for this purpose, special holes for screws are provided in the module.
Contacts are made of brass sheet ornickel based brass. Nickel-plated contacts are less susceptible to oxidation and provide better electrical contact, which reduces their heating at high currents. In some products, contacts are tightened by an additional spring, which also improves the quality of the connection.
Terminals for fixed wiringwiring can be screw or quick-clamp. As a rule, they are designed to connect wires with a cross section of up to 2.5 mm square. Typically, socket terminals allow you to connect two wires per pole, which allows you to use sockets as a walk-through. In some products it is allowed to connect only one wire per pole, such products cannot be used as a loop-through. To connect a cable to each such outlet, you must make a separate branch.
Before many wiring buyersproducts there is a choice: what kind of outlet to buy - with or without a grounding contact? Protective grounding is intended to disconnect the appliance when its insulation fails, for example, when any wire inside the washing machine is shorted to its metal housing. The body of the machine in this case may be under dangerous voltage. All new electrical wiring runs on a three-wire circuit, and many old networks, too. The external socket with grounding is not much more expensive, and the level of protection is significantly higher. Moreover, its mechanism has greater depth and reliably holds the plug.
The case protects from touchingto live parts in the event of fire limits the spread of fire. Therefore, the highest demands are placed on the material for its manufacture, it must be heat-resistant, impact-resistant, not emit toxic substances during combustion, be a good insulator. As a rule, PVC or ABS plastic satisfies these requirements. If the outdoor outlet is used with open wiring, the input of the power cable is performed through the side wall of the housing. To accurately and accurately cut a hole of the required size, special markings are cast on the inside of the case.
Often outdoor outlets are mounted inwet dusty rooms or even outside. The hulls of such products have special requirements for moisture and dust protection. The ability to protect the mechanism from the external environment is indicated by two Latin letters IP and two numbers, the first of which characterizes the degree of protection from solid particles, the second - from water. For example, IP21 is a product with protection against particles of 12, 5 mm in size and water droplets falling vertically (room socket). For rooms with wet processes, the degree of IP44 is protection against particles of at least 1 mm and water splashes, the contacts are protected by a cover. The outdoor outlet is dust-proof and grounded, the degree of IP54 is protection against dust and splash water. When using such products it is important to ensure the tightness of the cable entry. To do this, waterproof housing supplied with glands that prevent the ingress of moisture inside.
Despite the high demands on the finishpremises, open wiring maintains its position. It is especially relevant in office buildings where it is necessary to dynamically change the configuration of workplaces. Also often open laying of cable lines is used in low-rise buildings, cottage construction and, of course, in the repair of existing electrical wiring. The most effective and aesthetically attractive way of open wiring is laying in plastic cable ducts. Manufacturers of electrical products produce a line of wiring products that are compatible with cable channels. Products such as Legrand sockets easily fit to cable channels without a visible connection.
Installing internal outlets requires a devicesockets for podrozetnikov, which is associated with the need to use a punch, noise and dust. In addition, punching multiple sockets in one area of the wall can weaken the supporting structure. None of this is required and the installation of electrical installation products. Therefore, outdoor sockets can be mounted in blocks. The external socket block consists of several modules with contacts installed in one housing. Sockets in one case are mounted in a single row (up to four pieces) or a matrix. For example, the Legrand sockets can be installed in a 2x3 unit, with some of the places in the case being occupied by switches. The advantage of this design lies in the ease of installation and aesthetic completeness of the block.
Installing an outdoor outlet is not particularly difficult and is available to anyone who has the minimum skills to work with hand tools and electrical safety.
Installation of the outdoor outlet is complete, it remains only to check its performance.
Separately, mention should be made of modular sockets.Their filling consists of inserts of one size. At the same time, their functional purpose may be different: a switch, a 250V socket, an outdoor television or computer socket. Some modules are made half-size and are installed two pieces in one outlet, for example, telephone and computer ports. Modules are installed in the enclosure horizontally or vertically, up to 6 pieces, or an array of 2x2, 2x3, 2x4 pcs. Most often, these products are used in the device office wiring.
