Is this radial or loop in?

[Kiera]

Hi guys!

My husband and I are shielded. We really need to change a light in the house, so we thought we'd give it a go ourselves. However, on opening up the ceiling rose we are completely flummoxed about the type of circuit that we have.  The household supply is in 3 grey cables, two of which only seem to have one strand (no colour), the other has a live and an earth.  Here is a picture! Is it radial or loop in please?

https://ibb.co/mzn0d9B

Thanks!

 

[Evans Electric]

Link not working . 

Not sure about your cables to be honest   ...   when you say  two have one strand with no colour  .     You should have grey outer sheath  with  , in your case ,    perhaps  two black  /earth     and one  red/earth  .        ( Or new colours  ...two blue/earth   and  one brown/earth )   

We really need a photo that works . 

 

[Phoenix]

Copy the link into the address bar Deke.

OP, that lighting cirucit is wired in insulated and sheathed singles/single and earth. Neutrals are looped through the fittings (they are black, its just not much of the grey sheath has been removed) and lives (with the earth) are looped through the switches and then another single and earth is used as the switchwire to the fitting.

It doesn't really matter what you have or what you want to call it, although all will be radials generally as well (unless someone has done something really unconventional, but we will not worry about that) You jsut have to ensure that you keep what you have the same as when you connect the new fitting, so you've got one red to the live of the fitting, well ensure thats the same on the new fitting, two blacks that you cant see the colour of becuase they are fully in the grey sheath, well keep them the same in the new fitting, you have no group of unswitched lives, so you don't have that to concern yourself with, if you new fitting has an earth terminal, then you must connect the earth to it, if not then it should be left in a connector block (have you got a picture of the connections on your new fitting?)

 

[ProDave]

You have a right royal bodge there.

I think it's just cable in connecting to light. but I don't understand the two grey sleeved wires and why the earth goes into the loop terminal (other than they have lost the screw from the proper earth terminal)

Can you try (without disconnecting anything) to unravel the wires a bit and take another photo so you can trace what goes where a bit better?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

As Phoenix said, looks like traditional, (old), singles wiring...

Where they have looped the lives at the switches..

and looped the neutrals at the light fittings..

So excluding the last switch & light in the circuit....

Every switch will have:

2x permanent lives on one connection... {from supply & to next switch} 

1x switched live out in the other connection... {to light fitting}

Every light fitting will have:

1x switched live... {from the light switch}

2x neutrals... {from supply and to next light fitting}

Earths should be connected at each switch.. {assuming it is not pre mid sixties wiring}

  :coffee

 

[kerching]

As said before....singles and earth system dating from about mid 70s

take pictures

make drawings

mark cables with a sharpie

take more pics

otherwise it can end in