Electrical question

Any electrician have an answer.



Ok its getting close to Christmas…here is my query. Ive two lots of LED outdoor lights that Im hoping to use on the garden fence at xmas..now they are standard enough B&Q ones..the plug says for indoor use. Now I do have an outdoor socket fitted to the wall (its got a cover so the plug wouldn’t get wet), which basically enclosing the plug and makes it weatherproof..however the LED Christmas lights have a control panel attached to the plug so therefore the plug is too large to allow the outdoor plug cover to close and protect the plug.

So of course I could plug it into the house and run it out a window and close the window on it, but Id prefer to avoid that if I can. So the other option I was thinking of was the following. The drybox weatherproof boxes that can be bought easily enough for around €20 would allow me to put an extension lead into it, and plug the LEDs in there, ultimately leaving the box weatherproof. The question however is that these boxes are merely for holding plugs in, they do not provide a source to the actual mains…so therefore I would require some type of extension lead. Now ideally Id like to plug an extension lead into my outdoor wall fitted socket, and run the extension lead then into the weatherproof box (the box would essentially be right next to the wall socket anyhow so I don’t need much length at all). Question is however that I cant find any standard outdoor lead to use. I mean the plug would be covered by the wall mounted fitted socket (its got a cover) and the actual extension lead sockets would then be housed in the weatherbox, so technically only a part of the lead would be open to the elements of rain etc…can someone advise me where I can get a standard extension lead, does it need to be specifically for outdoor..any advise welcome here, Im hopeless when it comes to electrics and don’t fancy shocking myself silly !

Apolgies if this is posted in the wrong category.

Gland the weatherproof box with a PG11 gland...(You may have to drill an appropriately sized hole for the gland)
Cut a short length of standard 3 core 1.5mm squared flex (most flexes are weatherproof)
Put a plugtop on the end that is to be plugged into the outdoor wall socket...
Feed the other end through the gland on the weatherproof box....
Connect a double socket onto the end that has been fed through the gland (i.e. inside the weatherproof box)
Plug your lights into the double socket inside the weatherproof box and coil up any excess flex and the controller units inside the weatherproof box...

Electrical connections are as follows...
Brown wire - L
Blue wire - N
Green & Yellow - earth

That goes for both plugtop and socket....

DONT PLUG THE PLUGTOP INTO THE OUTSIDE SOCKET UNTIL EVERYTHING IS FINISHED (CONNECTIONS MADE AND BOX CLOSED UP)

Hope this helps!

If ya want me to Fishowner I will come out and do it for you (depending on where you are)...thats if your not confident enough to do it yourself...
And Yes i am an electrician!
Eddy

Stick, black bag, tape??????

All my outdoor pond electric use armoured cable from a separate rcb in the main fuse box to a waterproof switchbox beside the pond .separate switches for filter, uv ,fountain .and lights . Can't be too careful , electricity and water don't mix