anyone an electrician?

[Pete]

need to ask a question if anyone is?

[dc1984]

not a spark, but work with a few.
whats the problem bud?

[SR-Rally]

not a sparky either but a few friend i can get in touch with

[MattBrown]

Im an apprentice electrical engineer?

If thats any use lol

[Pete]

basicaly went to go fit a new light fitting in my bedroom,
took the old casing off etc and have came across a problem.

i have
4 Red Wires
2 Black
1 Earth

but none of the wires are taped to show which is my live, and also my light fitting only has 3 terminals.

how do i find out which is my live?
and how do i fit the bloody thing with that many wires?

ps i dont have the light fitting instructions as its an old light i got a while ago and took it out of box and lost everything bar the light.

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z389/PetePNG/DSC00007.jpg
http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z389/PetePNG/DSC00008.jpg

[MattBrown]

Looks like its been abit of a home brew that wiring.

Best thing to do, is get a tester, and disconnet the wires at the switch.

Depending on the wiring, it looks like its a double set of switches?

Ie one switch at one end of room, one at other?

[Pete]

nope, its one switch, one light, lived here since i was born so almost 18 years and its never been touched before

[General Baxter]

check around the house to see if any of the lights have stopped working, lol

[Pete]

ive turned off my light switch at the main board thing, so not turning that back on until i can fit the light.

[General Baxter]

i like fire boom, turn them back on lol

best get it done goes dark at 7pm now lol

[MattBrown]

Ok, it must be on a lighting ring main then.

I'm not gonna say anything, as its electricity, and I dont want to be responsible if something goes wrong.

[General Baxter]

Ok, it must be on a lighting ring main then.

I'm not gonna say anything, as its electricity, and I dont want to be responsible if something goes wrong.

i will, lick it lol

[draper]

thats simple loop-in loop-out

there should be red tape on one of the blacks as that will be a switch live

what style was the old fitting ? a normal ceiling rose ?

[Pete]

thats simple loop-in loop-out

there should be red tape on one of the blacks as that will be a switch live

what style was the old fitting ? a normal ceiling rose ?

yeah was a normal ceiling rose, there was no thing to mark a switch live, anyway i took a un-educated guess and got it right, new light fitting is up and working :) other 3 red wires i just taped up lol

[General Baxter]

yeah was a normal ceiling rose, there was no thing to mark a switch live, anyway i took a un-educated guess and got it right, new light fitting is up and working :) other 3 red wires i just taped up lol

does everything else work around the house lol

[draper]

please say you used a connector tho or you might get flickering lights elsewhere (and a fire hazard lol)

[Pete]

for the red wires i just put them all together and taped them, shall i go and use a connector then tape them?

+ so far baxter everything seems to be working lol we'll see how long for tho

[draper]

yes use a connecter !! loose connections generate heat, a loose connection there could cause failure elsewhere as all the upstairs lights are 'daisy-chained'

[Pete]

but surely it being in a connector makes no diffrence? 3 wires going into one side and the other side open as its got nothing to connect to?

[phazer]

lol the three reds are for the loop for the rest of the lighting circuit. You must put them in a choc block (connected together!) and to be strictly compliant they should be enclosed in a chocbox (about a quid from screwfix).

If you leave it as the tape loosens off the wires will start to lose contact with each other which will cause you flickery lights at best, melted wiring possibly and at worst a fire. Do it right please :thumb:

[joff-turbo-nova]

This may help ....

http://sparky.uku.co.uk/installations/images/basicltg-wiringdiag.bmp

Full page like here :-

http://sparky.uku.co.uk/installations/lighting_circuit.htm#Basic%20Lighting%20Circuit%20 Diagram

You will need to find which of the wires come from your light switch - you will also need the connector block from the old lighting rose as just the 3 connections on your new light aren't sufficient.

Cheers

Joff

[General Baxter]

lmao

our fuse board is right next to the front door, every time you shut the door the lights flicked, the fuse wire in the fuse was ****ed

bolt sorted that out, i should really change that after 3 years lol

[Pete]

ive just gone up and corrected it, just got all 3 of them and put them in a connector and closed the other side, then wrapped them in electrical tape.
and its now working :) was before but better to be safe than sorry :)

[brainsnova]

lmao

our fuse board is right next to the front door, every time you shut the door the lights flicked, the fuse wire in the fuse was ****ed

bolt sorted that out, i should really change that after 3 years lol

lol time for switch breakers lol no more fuse wire

[w88rdy]

Yes update required to 17th edition fusebox with rcd protection and will probably need earth bonding upgrade to 10mm as well