Help Please, With Ceiling Light...

[mrdetox]

Hi im trying to connect a new ceiling light which has is controlled by a dimmer switch on the wall. The dimmer switch has 2 knobs on it as it also controls wall lights. The wires coming from the ceiling are an earth yellow and green wire, a blue wire, a yellow wire, a black wire, a red wire. The wires on the new light are a blue wire, a brown wire and a earth yellow and green wire. Can anyone please tell me which wire need to be connected where. Many thanks Andy

 

[Steve3948]

Regarding the wires, which cable has what in it, for instance one cable Red-Yellow-Blue + Earth..

 

[mrdetox]

im sorry i dont understand what you mean

 

[Steve3948]

Well unless its wired singles in conduit it will be Twin&Earth Cable  or 3 Core and Earth cable, so the cores will be part of a cable.

Red-Black + Earth = Cable (Twin&Earth), Red-Yellow-Blue + Earth = Cable (3 Core&Earth). 

 

[mrdetox]

im sorry if i sound thick but im no electrician, each wire is a single wire, apart from the earth yellow and green as it has two wire together. hope this makes sense

 

[NozSpark]

Just wire it exactly the same way as the old one was... make a drawing or take a photo of it before you dismantle it and then it'll be a simple job

 

[mrdetox]

i cant the i took the old one down without taking note like a plonker

 

[ProDave]

i cant the i took the old one down without taking note like a plonker

How many times have people come on here before and said that?

Rule No 1. BEFORE disconnecting ANY wires, make a note on a piece of paper which wire goes where.

And in the case or more than one wire of the same colour, mark them in some way so you know which is which.

Best now call an electrician who can trace out how it's wired and which cable goes where and work out how to re connect the switch.  any of us here would just be taking an educated guess at how it might be connected and might get it wrong.

 

[Sidewinder]

i cant the i took the old one down without taking note like a plonker

mrdetox,

Welcome to the forum, the post by ProDave above, whilst a little blunt and to the point, does sum up the crux of your matter.

It is difficult if not impossible to explain how to identify the wiring to your light safely on an internet forum, if you get it wrong you could end up killing yourself!

That may sound harsh, and I'm sorry if it does, but, electricity can kill.

Now to try to be as helpful as we can.

You are saying that there are 4 wires, a red, a yellow, a blue, a black, and a green/yellow, and none are contained in the same sheath (outer covering) to give a single cable.

Can you see any cable outers at all, say grey or white surrounding the wiring you have described?

Is this a house, a flat, is the light fitted directly to the ceiling, or is there a box or something else the old light is fitted to on the ceiling?

Please don't touch the wires unless the electricity is isolated.

 

[Blue Duck]

Am I going mad? No one has mentioned any wires in the ceiling where the old light existed surely there must be some kind of ceiling rose or some connectors wrapped in tape stuffed into the void?

When I put up fittings I rarely bother to look inside the switch is that bad?

 

[ProDave]

Yes there is obviously a hidden junction somewhere as the brown and blue at the light fitting don't directly connect to the light switch.

It could be a choc block connection stuffed up into a ceiling void, or the whole lighting system might be wired spider fashion to a big junction box.

The only way to find out what is what is to do some testing, which I strongly suspect the OP does not have the equipment or understanding to do, so I repeat my advice, chalk it up to experience, and call an electrician.

And please anybody reading this thread, don't make the same mistake, and make a note of how things are wired before disconnecting anything, because certainly with lighting, there are many many different ways it could be wired.So there is no single "this colour goes to that" solution for putting it back together.

 

[Steve3948]

Am I going mad? No one has mentioned any wires in the ceiling where the old light existed surely there must be some kind of ceiling rose or some connectors wrapped in tape stuffed into the void?

When I put up fittings I rarely bother to look inside the switch is that bad?

I think he is referring to the light.

Dave- If they are reading this thread they have already most likely mad that mistake  :innocent

 

[Blue Duck]

SERIOUSLY I'm going mad ? Been doing telephone extensions all day (blue 2 white and blue 5 - repeat endlessly) But from whence the old fitting came there are no wires to connect the new one too? and indeed if they are red yellow n blue at the location of the original fitting???

As for spiders I rarely see them but when I find the odd one I want to kill the person who did it and never bothered with the earth!

 

[NozSpark]

I was thinking that maybe its looped at t the switch with the two switched lives and a neutral in the 3c&e and then the wall light supplied via the TWE...? Dunno though :|