Joining alarm wires

seosamh

Just a quick question. when wiring alarm and contact and sensor and branching off wiring which require 'sticking' wire together. What is the best or most used way of doing this? Is it twisting the unsheathed wire ends together and using electrical tape or is there some little joiner that is more secure. Do some installers solder?
Thanks

John Kelly of

I'd say twisting together is fine, you could put in insulating tape or spare terminal inside sensor.

KoolKid

Use a junction box. If they are not going to be accessible I would solder & then tape up.

fred funk }{

Taping isn't recommended. If it's in a dry enclosed area then a junction box is fine. Anywhere where moister is an issue then soldering is a must. There are also the little jelly crimps that crimp join the cables and encase it in silicon at the same time, very handy.

seosamh

thanks for the info. The jelly crimps seem like what I need. What I am trying to do is run wire along a kitchen/dining area of about 20 ft long but branch off for the three windows which are all on the same wall. I am trying to do it without being too conspicuous, using 'one wire' trunking. There are also 3 velux there but one installer I spoke to said it would be unlikely that an intruder would come in that way. So I am ignoring them.
I know I could go wireless but that would be more expensive and there is the hassle of batteries. Does this make sense?
Thanks.

KoolKid

fred funk }{ wrote: »

There are also the little jelly crimps that crimp join the cables and encase it in silicon at the same time, very handy.

They are very effective. I would have to be able to access them in the future though.

fred funk }{

If its inside id advise junction boxes, will look better. The crimps will need to enclosed in something anyway otherwise the joins would look terrible.

KoolKid

Obviousally. I ment if they are hidden but accessible.:D

fred funk }{

KoolKid wrote: »

Obviousally. I ment if they are hidden but accessible.:D

We got mixed up there My post was in response to the one above yours.

Get your act together

seosamh

Grand. So the trunking is a good idea as well? Could the wire just be buried in the plasterboard by running an angle grinder along and then spackling it in or is this just crazy?:)
Thanks.

John Kelly of

no not crazy
if you have time and you want your home to look perfect then why not bury it?
if its only plaster board then get a stanley and cut a slit with a straight edge and then use a screwdriver of the same thickness head as you want and run it along until you have made a channel.
as for insulating tape inside sensor I think its ok. I must have joined a million wires together with insulating tape over the years and never had a problem. if there is that much damp inside the sensor then it will ruin it anyway in the end.
I suppose someone will come along now and tell me its against the standards or something:)

altor

seosamh wrote: »

Just a quick question. when wiring alarm and contact and sensor and branching off wiring which require 'sticking' wire together. What is the best or most used way of doing this? Is it twisting the unsheathed wire ends together and using electrical tape or is there some little joiner that is more secure. Do some installers solder?
Thanks

A tampered junction box. If the cable is being joined inside the sensor then the crimps or terminal blocks should be used. Using insulating tape to join cables together is not a option I would consider.

John Kelly of

why not?

altor

They can be easily pulled apart. There is less change of a bad connection if crimped or put into a terminal connection. Do you not agree

John Kelly of

fair enough but I have honestly never come across an instance where the wires were actually ripped out of a sensor up on a window by accident

altor

Kids playing in a window will pull at anything

seosamh

Thanks for the advice. Just on the velux windows, contacts but not sensors because of the rain? Could leave them alone but how likely are they to be the point of entry for an intruder, assuming they are closed.:)

fred funk }{

seosamh wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. Just on the velux windows, contacts but not sensors because of the rain? Could leave them alone but how likely are they to be the point of entry for an intruder, assuming they are closed.:)

Velux are generally quite secure but I would recommend alarming all accessible entry points.

Jnealon

You could use a JB contact for the velux.
With regard to twist and tape, it's not recommended