Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

Currently, Lidl stores are doing another of their heatshrink tubing packs in a multi-compartment poly box- this time, it's sizes between 1.0 and 13mm in black, plus various colours (red, blue, yellow, green) in several in-between diameters. 450 45mm lengths in total, equating to just over 20m total for £3.

Also in similar packs for a similar price were the modern equivalent of the traditional twist-on ceramic "Screwit" joint, this time in various colours of plastic and several sizes. TBH, I would have thought that these would be frowned upon nowadays, but there's probably a sub-50V get-out or something like that.

Colin

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

Wire nuts!

In June last year Lidl were doing Scotch Lock style IDC connectors rated at "Max. 250V"
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0z5Uzl7VaFD3g
I surmised those who knew no better would think they were safe for mains.

When I went in a few days later they were nowhere to be seen although the other kits in the series were still in stock. I hope they were withdrawn on safety grounds.

<Edit>
They were indeed recalled
https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.or...ck-wiring-kit/

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

The "Screwit" type connectors are still on sale.
Attached is the instructions that come with them.
They note:
Only for rigid stranded.
Risk of electrical shock. Only for internal wiring.
Max rated voltage - 250V

Peter

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

What does 'rigid stranded' mean? Dead body on the beach of a remote island?

Alan

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

Ha ha!

I think it means wires for fixed installation made up of a handful of thick strands, as opposed to flex which has many thinner strands. Seems to have been popular over here for domestic wiring until the 1970s from what I've seen. Nicer to deal with than the current T+E stuff IMHO.

e.g. https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/hooku...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

Popped in today, didn't see any heat shrink in our store, but did get a block of nice cheese and a bottle of red wine.

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

Yes, the 'standard' used to be 3/029 (equivalent to modern 1.5mm - for lighting circuits) and 7/029 (modern equivalent 2.5mm, for power circuits), the 029 bit meaning .029 inch.

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

You don't see it very often these days, in a domestic environment at least, so it's a bit odd to offer the clips to a Lidl audience.

Alan

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

Lol, I have that problem when shopping, too- at least it keeps the economy afloat....

Lidl are a funny outfit in terms of what can appear from time to time(and Aldi stores frequently offer "off the wall" stuff as well). My local store was piled high with heatshrink packs, then a couple of days later all was gone, just the "screwits" and a few other associated things. I was puzzled at seeing them too, I recall seeing the original ceramic cone type as a kid when our house was being re-wired back in the '70s but never expected to see them again. I suppose if an interest group gets wind of a particular unusual product, then social media spreads the word and folk pounce. I don't like the "Scotchlok" style connectors, but I can see that they'd be popular with groups ranging from ICE fans to model railway enthusiasts who aren't necessarily skilled at wiring.

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

The "wire nuts" - are they actually acceptable under current wiring-regulations in the UK? I wonder if they may be regulatorly-acceptable in some of the other countries Lidl operate, and they kinda assume the same applies here?

Aldi/Lidl do sometimes have perplexing things: a while back my local one had Wetsuits Caravan-movers and Chainsaws on special offer. I had to think hard to imagine the sort of party that could result in.

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

Just before our Aldi closed for a few days for a refurb they had a stack of portable generators almost up to the roof.
They were all gone when they opened again.
When they had drill presses in I bought one.

Re: Another Lidl heatshrink pack.
 

I bought a pack of "wire nuts" from Lidl (hence how I was able to post the instruction leaflet) purely out of curiosity.

Following the discussions I did some googling.
This has been discussed on other forums:

https://diy.stackexchange.com/questi...used-in-the-uk
https://www2.theiet.org/forums/forum...hreadid=107895

RS sell wire nuts made by Ideal Industries that look identical to the Lidl ones
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/crimp...ctors/7643382/

Ideal claim in their calalogue “BS 7671:2008 (17th Edition) Compliant”

Peter