Any experience of dry wall socket fire proofing backboxes and / or fireproof inserts

[MikeSharp01]

I am getting very frustrated with the Scholmore  metal dry lining back boxes. They look great in the blurb but I have either got a bad batch or something is fundamentally wrong with the design.

 

 

They are difficult to fit as the spring mechanism that holds lugs is almost always dysfunctional, slides out of its guide at the bottom & tilts over so takes a lot of fiddling to get it to grip and fitting the face plate involves even more fiddling. Maybe I am missing something but I cannot see what.

 

So I am looking for alternative solutions to fire protection in drywall back boxes. I have found these inserts:

From Astroflame which look can work with both plastic and metal back boxes so I can use the standard plastic back boxes and fit these things although, to be honest, they also look a bit clunky - does anyone have an experience of these inserts or perhaps a better solution all round to the problem.

 

 

[Spinny]

I have used acoustic putty pads behind my sockets and you can certainly get intumescent putty pads for fire proofing. Most pictures tend to show these fitted to the inside of the electrical box, but I fitted my acoustic pads (which came on a cuttable roll) behind the electrical box (i.e. stuck to the back of it) because I wanted to maintain the full depth of the box.

 

There are some here...just from googling, I used a different supplier so can't vouch for this supplier, but shows what they are like.

 

https://www.intumescent.com/pfp-putty-pad-ceukca?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=8682518824&gbraid=0AAAAACpUb5PpD68Wx8-X1TucCMNFlnZV_&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIupKjuKjtlQMVf6JQBh1s1x8bEAAYASAAEgL9IvD_BwE

 

I generally had access to the studwork/wall structure before boarding and preferred to fit metal back boxes. My lighting ones are generally extra large and 47mm deep for smart modules. I only fitted acoustic putty pads where I felt the wall structure needed it like stud walls and had blockwork outer walls.

 

(PS It was speedline I used as shown here, stated as giving up to 2 hours fire resistance as well as acoustic, but from this random link seem to be discontinued. I found the roll easier as you could cut to any length ( https://www.insulationhub.co.uk/product/speedline-acoustic-putty-pads-3-6m-x-178mm/. It may be that the self adhesive version of Tecsound MLV would be similar and cuttable to size but check the fire rating vs what you need.)

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Spinny

[Nickfromwales]

Who’s asking for fire rated back boxes in a domestic home?

[ProDave]

I used the Scholmore ones as the client insisted on "metal back boxes" and I did not want the additional work to fit dwangs to screw conventional metal boxes to.  I agree the Scholmore ones have a habit of the springs jumping out and are fiddly to re assemble and I did not use them again.

 

As above though, why do you think you need fire rated back boxes?