Wiring for Thermostat Receiver

Ben1989

Hi all,

I’m wiring up a Hive thermostat and I bought the cable in the link below for it as it specifically says for permanent lives and neutrals such as central heating controllers.

https://www.toolstation.com/pitacs-3-core-earth-cable-6243y/p49294?utm_medium=feed

However, there are some slight issues
with it. Firstly, it’s very stiff. Make it difficult to manoeuvre and keep secure. Secondly, it barely fits in a cable hole in the boiler casing and I feel any tug the cable could dislodge.

Could I use standard flex for it? Is this acceptable? I need three wires and it doesn’t need earthing. Yes, it’ll be confusing for the next person playing around with it ha. Plus, it looks neater a white covering than a stiff grey one.

Many thanks

grumbler

Ben1989 said:

Hi all,

I’m wiring up a Hive thermostat and I bought the cable in the link below for it as it specifically says for permanent lives and neutrals such as central heating controllers.

https://www.toolstation.com/pitacs-3-core-earth-cable-6243y/p49294?utm_medium=feed

However, there are some slight issues
with it. Firstly, it’s very stiff. Make it difficult to manoeuvre and keep secure.

https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/cable/cat8960001?cableproducttype=3_core___earth#category=cat8960001&cableproducttype=3_core___earth&conductorarea=1_mm_

https://www.toolstation.com/pitacs-3-core-earth-cable-6243y/p77892

Not sure what wire is required, but I think 1mm2 is fine.

Secondly, it barely fits in a cable hole in the boiler casing

I don't remember any special holes, but IIRC, typically it's round flexible cable that goes into a boiler from a controller (ETA - and from an isolator switch).

Risteard

Ben1989 said:

Hi all,

I’m wiring up a Hive thermostat and I bought the cable in the link below for it as it specifically says for permanent lives and neutrals such as central heating controllers.

https://www.toolstation.com/pitacs-3-core-earth-cable-6243y/p49294?utm_medium=feed

However, there are some slight issues
with it. Firstly, it’s very stiff. Make it difficult to manoeuvre and keep secure. Secondly, it barely fits in a cable hole in the boiler casing and I feel any tug the cable could dislodge.

Could I use standard flex for it? Is this acceptable? I need three wires and it doesn’t need earthing. Yes, it’ll be confusing for the next person playing around with it ha. Plus, it looks neater a white covering than a stiff grey one.

Many thanks

You cannot use three core flex at the expense of running a cpc to the point in the wiring. Nor should a green/yellow conductor be repurposed for another use.

Ben1989

Thanks Risteard.

What would you recommend instead?

grumbler

How many cores do you need? In the internet I see 5-core cables (4-core and earth) used for this

Bendy_House

Ben1989 said:

Hi all,

I’m wiring up a Hive thermostat and I bought the cable in the link below for it as it specifically says for permanent lives and neutrals such as central heating controllers.

https://www.toolstation.com/pitacs-3-core-earth-cable-6243y/p49294?utm_medium=feed

However, there are some slight issues
with it. Firstly, it’s very stiff. Make it difficult to manoeuvre and keep secure. Secondly, it barely fits in a cable hole in the boiler casing and I feel any tug the cable could dislodge.

Could I use standard flex for it? Is this acceptable? I need three wires and it doesn’t need earthing. Yes, it’ll be confusing for the next person playing around with it ha. Plus, it looks neater a white covering than a stiff grey one.

Many thanks

Hi Ben.

Is this for a combi boiler?

What make and model of boiler? Some may insist on flexi heatproof cables, so it's worth having a read of the installation instructions - or we can try and look it up if you tell us which one it is. The fact that flat cable struggles to fit in the hole in the boiler casing might suggest that round flexi was expected.

The cable you have bought should have been ok, tho', assuming it's a combi. It's a touch thicker than needed - you could have used the 1mm cable version - but 1.5 isn't exactly hefty, so I don't understand why you are struggling with it; the terminals of the Hive receiver backplate AND the boiler should be happy to accept these, afaIk.

Ben1989

I need three cores (live, neutral, comms). No earthing required as it’s double insulated.

It’s a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 4000

FreeBear

How much do you need ?

grumbler

In this case your original cable is fine and so would be 1mm2 equivalent or 4-core round flex.

Bendy_House

grumbler said:

In this case your original cable is fine and so would be 1mm2 equivalent or 4-core round flex.

Certainly ok in terms of size and cores, but instructions should be consulted re 'type' of cable. It sounds as tho' round flexi is expected.

Ben1989

FreeBear said:

How much do you need ?

No more than 2metres maximum as the receiver just needs to be more than 30cm from boiler.

grumbler said:

In this case your original cable is fine and so would be 1mm2 equivalent or 4-core round flex.

So the normal earth, live, neutral cored flex?

Bendy_House said:

grumbler said:

In this case your original cable is fine and so would be 1mm2 equivalent or 4-core round flex.

Certainly ok in terms of size and cores, but instructions should be consulted re 'type' of cable. It sounds as tho' round flexi is expected.

Here are the instructions. Doesn't really say much unless somebody can correct me. (from page 8 onwards)

https://assets.ctfassets.net/mijf9lz5yt3u/3MpmtvfKbxe7KVcGltKbks/3adc34239e1d67f1046a474476ff36c1/Hive_Thermostat_SLT3c_-_Installation_Guide.pdf