How to install and connect the outlet correctly

Electrical outlets

Electrical outlets refer to a special type of wiring products that are used to connect various electrical appliances( both industrial and household) to the electrical network.

Currently, Russia uses a single European standard for the implementation of power supply systems. In accordance with this standard, all household electrical installation equipment used in the EU zone can be used in Russian power networks. Household electrical plugs, for example, must conform to the standard installed in the network sockets.

In real life, everything happens, of course, is not so smooth, and old-fashioned sockets in some places are still used. These products( calculated, as a rule, for currents of not more than 8 amperes) have inlet holes slightly smaller than the size of the Euro-outlets. Therefore, the plug of the European model in them, simply, is not included.

At the same time, the old-style plug can sometimes not be connected to a modern European socket, which is equipped with a special grounding contact and has guides preventing the plugs from being inserted into the socket.

Therefore, the only true solution in this case will be the replacement of obsolete wiring accessories with new ones, especially if you are doing a major apartment repair yourself.

Current types of outlets can be produced in different designs, differing in the degree of dust and moisture resistance of these products. To indicate the degree of protection of wiring products use, as a rule, the Latin letters IP and two digits. For indoor placement, for example, products with a degree of protection IP20, for the toilet and bathroom - IP44, and for outdoor( outdoor) - IP65 and above.

Like any working technique, sockets can sometimes fail. This happens usually due to the occurrence of overloads in the network, which are caused by the prolonged use of any high-power devices( usually heating).Input contacts in case of overload begin to heat up strongly and can completely fail due to overheating. Such a malfunction of the sockets is easy to detect visually, which is usually done during a preventive inspection of the insides of the electrical product. In this case, it is most reasonable to immediately replace the old( faulty) with a new one. In some situations, the loss of voltage in the outlet is associated with the firing of a suitable conductor to it - in this case, it is not necessary to replace the socket, but it is only necessary to restore the burnt out contact.( Below we will consider how to choose the outlet correctly, what firm to buy and at what price - to choose a reliable and safe version of )

By the installation method, all known outlets can be divided into two types:

- installed in the lines of open wiring;

- working in concealed wiring.

How to install the outlet in an open circuit

Electrical structures of this type are structurally designed as a working unit equipped with an insulating cover, and these products are fixed to the wall surface either using a special flat pad( dashboard) or dowels fastened directly to the wall.

Installation of these types usually begins with fixing on the wall of the juniper, which, depending on the material of the wall, can be mounted stiffly with dowels( in concrete or brick), or using screws( when fastened to plastic and wood), as well as screwsor screws( when fastened to a metal base).Holes in the base are prepared in advance - they are drilled with a perforator or a drill. Directly to the sprocket, the socket assembly itself is fixed, for which special holes are used on the base. Then, pre-prepared ends of the supply wiring are also connected to the sockets of the sockets.

The insulating( decorative) cover at the point of entry of the wiring is carefully trimmed within the perforated section of the manufacturer and then installed in place with a fixation by means of a central screw. We should especially note that all these operations must be carried out with the voltage removed.

Installation of hidden outlets

Installation of sockets for concealed wiring is made, as a rule, using special podrozetnikov, made in the form of a shallow plastic cup.

Before installing such a "glass" in the wall, first select the groove with the help of special nozzles for the drill( crowns).You can find out how to do this in the section "Installing concealed wiring under plaster ."

In order to place the subgrid in the wall with a plasterboard coating - you must first drill a round hole with the size under the glass, after which you can insert this nodein the niche obtained in this way and fix it there. Fixation of the glass of the podrozetnik in the plasterboard wall is made with the help of special claws. In the walls of brick, concrete or plaster, the podzoetniki are fixed with the help of building mixtures prepared on the basis of gypsum - gypsum plaster for walls. In this case, all the glasses in the wall should be installed fairly evenly and preferably flush with the plane of the wall.

For the connection to the wiring harness, a small groove must be made in the wall( patched), the depth of which must be sufficient to completely hide the wires. In the received shtrobu the conductors should be laid in such a way that the stock of the conductors, which were put into the sub-carton, along the length was about 10 cm. After that, the socket assembly is attached to it, the wires connected to it are joined to the terminals.

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Fastening of the socket case to the socket is made either with the help of special screws, or with the use of special metal struts that make up the unit.

Installation option in the socket outlet of the old type.

For the final fixing of the socket, it is necessary to tighten the screw stoppers with the help of a screwdriver, the metallic "antennae", which make a rigid fixation of the socket in the junction box.

For a secure anchoring, you should prepare a place for it so that its front limiters are slightly wider than the edges of the sub-tacker. After installation on the outlet of the decorative cover, you can assume that the installation work is finished.

Helpful hints how to install and connect different types( designs) of sockets correctly.

To ensure that the electrical outlet has served you for a long time and trouble-free during its operation, a number of conditions must be fulfilled, determined by the characteristics enclosed in the product. The main operational requirement for products of this class is the need to reduce the transient resistance in the circuit between the contacts of the electrical plug and the contact terminals of the outlet itself. To achieve this, it is possible in case of giving the terminals a rosette of a special shape, which allows increasing the contact area and the force of their compression.

In old type sockets, spring-loaded terminals were used to fulfill these conditions, providing very reliable contact. The springs used in them created the necessary force to compress the contacts during the entire service life provided by the GOST.

Today for these purposes, special terminals for connecting wires are used, which are made of high-tech alloys, the springing properties of which exclude the need for an additional spring. A small heating of the socket assembly with similar terminals does not significantly impair the quality of the contact, while the previously used steel springs often lose their springing properties when the temperature is too high.

The socket body itself is made, as a rule, from 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 with a rather low cost price have replaced ceramics.

Electro-adjusting products of firm "Легранд", for example, are made on such technology and for a long time use the well-deserved demand from the Russian consumer. But, nevertheless, ceramics are also used today in individual samples of the sockets of Chinese manufacturers supplying electrical products to Europe( and to Russia, including).To not long to look for how to connect the socket legrand correctly, use our universal installation instructions.

For the convenience of operation, individual samples of products of the highest price group are equipped with forcing the plug , which allows you to automatically remove the plug from the outlet by pressing a special button.

The special curtains , used to cover their working holes and designed to protect against children's curiosity, are another element of the improvement of the sockets. Such outlets are usually installed in the "children's" room, but sometimes they are not completely reliable, resulting in "seizing" the mechanism of the curtains and the need for a complete replacement of the product.

How to choose an outlet, which firm, at what price.

Electro-adjusting products are conditionally classified into three price categories.

1. Very inexpensive products of economy class;are made, as a rule, for the mass consumer. When manufacturing similar products by domestic manufacturers, the cheapest and inferior materials are usually used. Products from China are made from materials of good quality and look outwardly pretty well, but they are, as a rule, a copy of high-quality European designs. The low quality of all these products determines the indicator of the duration of their trouble-free operation, which leaves much to be desired.

2. Sockets and electric switches of an average price category;they can be attributed to the category of fairly high-quality and reliable products, the manufacture of which uses the latest technology. They attract the "average" buyer a good design, but the prices of these products can scare him off. Examples include the electrical products of Siemens and Legrand, as well as some Chinese products( from Lezard, for example).Now it will be clear which firm is better to take, and from which it is better to refuse if possible - security is above all.

3. Electrotechnical products of high price category;these products have every reason to claim "elitism", although they differ from the products of the second group only in appearance. When they are produced, they usually use natural materials that have become fashionable today, such as wood or leather, for example. How and what outlets to choose and at what price - now it will be more clear.

Useful information for installing and connecting outlets.

Connection of separate groups of sockets to apartment wiring can be performed either by using the cable, or by using of separate lines laid to each outlet separately. In the second case, the supply cable is laid either directly from the distribution panel, or from the junction box located in each room( in the section of the room).

The use of junction boxes , generally speaking, allows you to save a little on installation, namely - by economically distributing the supply cable to the facility and reducing the number of operations spent on its installation.

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

At the same time, the copper conductors of this consumer wire should have a section of of at least 2.5 square meters.mm. and have some current margin. The stock is necessary in order to compensate for the actual deviation of the diameter of the current wires being sold from their nominal value, as well as taking into account the possibility of operating in an overload mode. Note that for connecting the electric cooker , it is necessary to use a copper 3-core cable with a cross-section of at least 4 square meters.

In the screw terminal connector of the sockets, the wires are fixed to the conventional methods - by forming an annular contact from the core. If the sockets are equipped with spring self-clamping contacts( like the 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 instruction to connect the outlet and install it correctly is not difficult. Stay with us and see below related articles on the topic.