Running cables through boxes

I admit I did this once in a domestic situation. In a kitchen for a row of 13 A sockets I ran the "other side of the ring" through some boxes. The job looked neat when I finished but I had afterthoughts about whether I was leaving a difficult situation for anyone subsequently wishing to remove the box for any reason.


Several years later I did a similar job in another kitchen. This time, with a little extra chipping and chasing, I ran the non-terminated cable behind the boxes. This also looked neat when I finished.


I can think of some rare occasions when I have needed to remove a box. In one case involving a very old box, a screw had rusted in and sheared when I tried to remove it, leaving a stub on the screw hole. Other cases have been upgrading from a single to a twin. Modern galvanised boxes should not have rust problems and it is usual to instal twin accessories from the outset for multiple 13 A sockets. For large adaptable boxes it is extremely unlikely that these would be removed and with conduit installations it is not difficult to add new jointing terminals anyway. I would not like to try to rejoin a flat-twin-and-earth cable with no spare length.


The reason why luminaires have cable entry at each end is surely to facilitate parallel wiring where these are installed in rows, e.g. along a corridor? 


On balance, I would not run non-connected cable through a box or fitting nowadays. However we are considering a rare scenario. It is not worth a heated argument with rude words.

I admit I did this once in a domestic situation. In a kitchen for a row of 13 A sockets I ran the "other side of the ring" through some boxes. The job looked neat when I finished but I had afterthoughts about whether I was leaving a difficult situation for anyone subsequently wishing to remove the box for any reason.


Several years later I did a similar job in another kitchen. This time, with a little extra chipping and chasing, I ran the non-terminated cable behind the boxes. This also looked neat when I finished.


I can think of some rare occasions when I have needed to remove a box. In one case involving a very old box, a screw had rusted in and sheared when I tried to remove it, leaving a stub on the screw hole. Other cases have been upgrading from a single to a twin. Modern galvanised boxes should not have rust problems and it is usual to instal twin accessories from the outset for multiple 13 A sockets. For large adaptable boxes it is extremely unlikely that these would be removed and with conduit installations it is not difficult to add new jointing terminals anyway. I would not like to try to rejoin a flat-twin-and-earth cable with no spare length.


The reason why luminaires have cable entry at each end is surely to facilitate parallel wiring where these are installed in rows, e.g. along a corridor? 


On balance, I would not run non-connected cable through a box or fitting nowadays. However we are considering a rare scenario. It is not worth a heated argument with rude words.