light work

[ladyspark]

hi

my flush fit light fixture came away from the ceiling while changing a bulb ,i have a globe type cover which screws off ,and the ceiling plaster needs fixing or i need to put some sort of angor to hold the screws secure,anyway thats not what this is about, the fixture came away and brought everything with it exept three red wires twisted together ,and thee black wires i think there are one live and two neutral black wires ,there is also a brown wire and a blue wire housed in a single block type conecter there are two one for the brown and another for the blue ,i believe the brown goes with the live black wire and the blue with the neutral ones, there is also a block connecter with nothing connected to it .hope you understand ,i can`t afford a electrican can you hel me with this please

 

[Badger]

himy flush fit light fixture came away from the ceiling while changing a bulb ,i have a globe type cover which screws off ,and the ceiling plaster needs fixing or i need to put some sort of angor to hold the screws secure,anyway thats not what this is about, the fixture came away and brought everything with it exept three red wires twisted together ,and thee black wires i think there are one live and two neutral black wires ,there is also a brown wire and a blue wire housed in a single block type conecter there are two one for the brown and another for the blue ,i believe the brown goes with the live black wire and the blue with the neutral ones, there is also a block connecter with nothing connected to it .hope you understand ,i can`t afford a electrican can you hel me with this please

you will need to continuity test the switch wire by putting the meter probe on the reds and then touching each black until you find the correct wire, the meter should bleep when the switch is closed, so get someone to switch the swtich while you find which red and black wire/cable it is. hope that helps.

badger

PS MAKE SURE THE ELECTRICITY IS SWITCHED OFF BEFORE MESSING WITH ALL THE CONNECTIONS THOUGH !! 230V CAN KILL!!

 

[Apache]

Hello and welcome

 

[green-hornet]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

You will need to follow the instructions as Badger lays out. The main problem will be to identify all cables, not all are permanant live, and not all are nuetrals. you need to pick up the switch wire, both these cables carry a live current to operate the light, via the switch.

With care it can be done without an electrician, but you will need a continuity tester and some basic knowledge on how to use it.

Remember to turn all power off before doing anything.

 

[sellers]

you sound like you've got it already. Heres a little diagram i drew up to help.

edit * didnt realise it would be so small.

at the top youve got your 3 twin and earth cables. the 2 on the left are the loop ( perm lives with neutals) the one on the right is the switch feed (red) and switch wire (black). Hopefully you can see how they connect into the connector block.

 

[ladyspark]

picture this 3 red wires twisted together.3 loose black wires ,1 brown wire connected to a little plastic connector, 1 blue wire connected to a little plastic connecter the little connecters are not conected to anyrhing they are not part of anything ,they must have broken off the other wires i think the black wires are suppose to go on the little plastic connectors with the blue and brown wires ,did i mention a spare little connecter i don`t know what this is for , 1 black wire should go with the brown wire and 1 should go with the blue wire ok where does the 3rd one go?(there is no earth wire ).thanks but i did not understand your drawing ,but thank you anyway, i hope i have made myself clear

 

[Apache]

Can I suggest you take and post a picture?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

picture this 3 red wires twisted together.3 loose black wires ,1 brown wire connected to a little plastic connector, 1 blue wire connected to a little plastic connecter the little connecters are not conected to anyrhing they are not part of anything ,they must have broken off the other wires i think the black wires are suppose to go on the little plastic connectors with the blue and brown wires ,did i mention a spare little connecter i don`t know what this is for , 1 black wire should go with the brown wire and 1 should go with the blue wire ok where does the 3rd one go?(there is no earth wire ).thanks but i did not understand your drawing ,but thank you anyway, i hope i have made myself clear

Light circuits are usually wired in a "daisy - chain" type arrangement..

You will have three physical cables

[A] 1 cable with supply from fuse box.. Live/Neutral/Earth.

1 cable to continue supply to next light ffiting... Live/Neutral/Earth.

[C] 1 cable going to the light switch... Live from supply/Switched Live from switch/Earth.

[A] and will just be a Red/Black/Green+Yellow all joined colour for colour.

[C] may be a cable with two reds or a red & black...

I assume its a red & black...

All of the three reds from 'A' 'B' & 'C' all join together & to nothing else.

The two blacks from 'A' & 'B' join onto each other and the blue from the light.

The red from 'C' (the switch) joins onto the brown from the light.

All of the earths join to each other.

 

[sellers]

your 3 reds twisted will be your loop and switch feed. These all want to go in their own connecter all together. Your 3 blacks, 2 will be neutrals, one will be a switch wire (live). idealy you need to work out which one out of the 3 is the switch wire.

This may be obvious, have a look, see if 2 of the blacks have the copper twisted as if they had been twisted together at some point. (these would be the neutrals) or look to see if one of the blacks has its copper bent back on itself ie, doubled over (this would usually be the switch wire.) This isnt always 100% obvious. And if not you'd need a multimeter that bleeps for continuity (like when you touch both probes together it beeps.)

If it wasnt obvious and you need a meter, switch the light switch down for on, and test between the bunch of 3 reds, and each black on its own. The one that makes the bleep is your switch wire.

As for the connector with your brown and blue cable, ignore this as it will come complete with your new light fitting.

NOTE : SWITCH OFF YOU LIGHTING CIRCUIT BREAKER/PULL FUSE BEFORE DOING ANYTHING

 

[ladyspark]

i have a new fitting ,but it does not have the blue and brown wires with it,surely i need these to attached the bulb holder

 

[sellers]

does your new light have a connector block floating around? with connections marked up L N E?

 

[ladyspark]

no its a globe flush light ,one part screws to the ceiling and all thats on it is a bulb holder, and the globe part just screws to to the part on the ceiling,thats why i need to fix the blue and brown wires to black ones

 

[sellers]

your blue and brown wires should then go into your lamp holder. and with the other ends, connect the blue into the connector with the neutrals, and the brown in with the switch wire