Ours are in the middle not the front and you can't see them. I am not quite understanding what you mean on the cord - Ours goes into the wall several places (near the ends of the cabinets) and the lights all plug into each other as you can see in one pic).

{{!gwi}}
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mysterymachine--Thanks so much for your pictures, which definitely help me understand a bit more of this type of installation. My light strips will be fluorescent, and because of the way my perimeter wall cabinets are broken up with a hutch, the kitchen sink, and a range hood, the light strips will be physically separate from each other, not connected beneath the cabinets the way yours are. So, each of my fluorescent strips will need to be connected to the electrical power line in the wall.

I'm guessing each will have to have one of those little connector cords that go straight into the wall. My question was about whether, with frameless cabinets, "going straight into the wall" means drilling a tiny hole in the backsplash at the back of the cabinet (I hope not) OR drilling a tiny hole in the cabinet bottom so that the cord can enter the wall through the cabinet?

This sounds unclear even to me--I apologize.

You can do it either way and the light rail should hide it. I have a direct wire box that I didn't want to show so I had the cable brought into the back of the cabinet, installed the box inside the cabinet and drilled through the bottom of the cabinet to the fixture. Mistake. The direct wire box would not have shown screwed to the bottom of the outside of the cabinet and I would not have lost space inside the cabinet.

Unless you have low seating facing the cabinets and you can see the bottoms I would bring the wire through the wall just clearing the bottom of the cabinet; just make sure they don't use the bright yellow cable.

But you can bring the cable into the back of the cabinet and through the bottom to the fixture if that is what you want.

maydl,

I took a picture of my lights. They're not fluorescent, but I think the principle is the same. Hubby had prewired before we put in the cabinets and left the wires where we figured cabinets would end. He had to cut the drywall a little here as he'd had them a wee bit too high.

We have them in three different places, so three different transformers (that are in the attic), they are all joined in one circuit in the attic.

Hope this helps,

{{!gwi}}

DH is planning on building a 'box' to hide all the wires, ie a sort of 'false ceiling', and pucks will shine through a cut out hole.

I see MANY Code violations here.

First, cords may NOT go into the wall (with some obscure exceptions).

Second, cords may NOT be used as a substitute for permanent wiring. You need permanent wiring to hook these up, not cords.

Third, cords may NOT be attached to the building (including cabinets that are part of the building), as shown in MysteryMachine's second photo.

In most jurisdictions, an appropriate way to wire U/C fixtures is to bring Romex out of the wall and into the fixtures.

A better approach is to bring armored cable (type AC or MC) out of the wall and into the fixture. This approach is also pretty much the default way to do the installation in jurisdictions that object to Romex for this purpose.

Now I see what you are asking about the cord. For power there is an armored cable that is run into the wall just beyond the end of the plugmold (see pic below of one of the ends)

Solarpowered I am sorry I upset you so by having the wire connecting 2 undercab tacked to the the underside of the cab so that it does not obstruct the low voltage connections for a TV. Hardly dangerous even if it doesn't pass code in your area. The connector wires between the lights (which came with the lights) say on them 5AMP max and never get warm if that is your concern.

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I'm not so much "upset" as simply concerned. :)

It's not a matter of code "in my area"--It's a National Electric Code issue. Which doesn't actually apply everywhere in the country, and where it is used, it is subject to however your local building officials want to interpret and modify things.

This is one of the main sections of the code that applies here:

400.8 Uses Not Permitted. Unless specifically permitted
in 400.7, flexible cords and cables shall not be used for the
following:
(1) As a substitute for the fixed wiring of a structure
(2) Where run through holes in walls, structural ceilings,
suspended ceilings, dropped ceilings, or floors
(3) Where run through doorways, windows, or similar
openings
(4) Where attached to building surfaces
(5) Where concealed by walls, floors, or ceilings or located
above suspended or dropped ceilings
(6) Where installed in raceways, except as otherwise permitted
in this Code
(7) Where subject to physical damage

I note that section 400.7 does allow using flexible cords in the wiring of luminaires, so some use of cords may be allowable for U/C lights, depending on the UL listing of the luminaire, and the accompanying installation instructions from the manufacturer.

Using caps always comes off as being upset or angry (or in a positive posting comes off as really excited or yelling) so I apologize if I misinterpreted your post.

I wonder if in my case it doesn't matter becuase you could say that it is actually part of the lights (or lighting system) and not "normal wiring". We did not have permits as the project was small enough it wasn't a necessity (and around here you have to wait forever for permits) but the electricians insisted they did everything "by the book". Sounds like the armored cable in my pic is code but there are some questions about the connectors between lights.

Mystery, I suspect the cords between the lights are OK, because I expect that the lights are designed and listed to be used that way. I think the installation is probably just fine. (With the possible exception of the attachment of the cord to the cabinet, which may be more of a "letter of the law" kind of thing.)

The AC or MC cable coming out of the wall is nicely done.

My concerns are more for some of the other posts, that talk about running cords through the walls. That's a serious no-no. (Again, with an exception--there are some low-voltage cords that are specifically listed for this purpose.)

MysteryMachine,

I like your armored cable pic so much that I linked to it in another thread (the Pegasus T4 thread that's currently running). I hope that's OK?

MysteryMachine,

Just wondering if you could let me know what type of flooring you have. You can send a private email through the "My Page" link next to my name. Thanks!

No problem solar! Feel free to use my any of my photos that end in IMG_#### (well at least when you are using it as a good example LOL). The ones ending in "kitchen1" etc are technically property of the contractor so shhhhh don't tell him I put all over the internet :)

Joan, its cork. You should be able to find a ton of information on gardenweb (and many of those I have commented on) by searching here. Also you can see my finished kitchen thread. If all your questions and more are not answered via either of those methods let me know and I will happily answer any questions I can on email (you can private email me via my page link as well).

Sorry... I mean Joann not Joan... my mistake! :)