Wiring Colours On A Bathroom Light Pull?

[kartman24]

Hi all, I am wiring up a light pull in my bathroom, there was one there before but the old one was removed 4 months ago when the bathroom was gutted. There are two sets of wires coming in, one set which are red, black and the exposed earth, no problem there. The second set has the red, blue, exposed earth PLUS a yellow? Any idea where that yellow should be wired to?

Many thanks..........Martin

 

[Andy™]

you will have to look at the other end of the cable and see how its connected. do you have a fan?

 

[ProDave]

As above.

But quite possibly blue is neutral. Red is permanent live out to a ceiling fan, and yellow is switched live out to the fan and the light.

But you really need to check first.

Note once again to anyone reading this thread. BEFORE you disconnect anything, take a picture or draw a diagram of what you have.

 

[kartman24]

The wiring goes to a light in the room which has no yellows and also to an extractor fan (no yellows either), everything else is above the ceiling.............Martin

 

[ProDave]

So what colours are at the light and the fan?  Red and black?  Red and blue?  Just one of each at the light and fan or does one have two wires in each terminal?

 

[Andy™]

looks like a trip into the loft / under the floor to find the junction box and see how its wired

 

[steptoe]

Possibly a timer Tx in loft. 

 

[kartman24]

The light fitting has 4 sets of wiring going in all are red, black and bare earth, one of the reds is a permanently live feed. the light switch has two sets in as described at the beginning of the thread and the fan has a red and a black in. Neither of the reds in the pull is permanently live, one of them can be fed from the light fitting live as I have tried this. There was another light fitting close to the fan, the reds and blacks for this and the feed from it to the fan were put in a junction as pairs. At the other end of the bathroom was another light pull which was treated similarly, I am pretty certain this was standard coloured wiring. When wiring the light up it would be ideal to not reconnect the redundant wires to the old light pull at the far end if possible............Martin

 

[poni]

2 Way switching ? how big is this bathroom?

 

[kartman24]

Only about 12ft long but it has 2 doorways in, one door used to be a bedroom but is now just a hobby room so the light pull was not needed as it is only used in the day time...........Martin

 

[ProDave]

If none of the wires at the switch are permanent live you have a problem somewhere else.

Sadly I think it's time for you to call an electrician. He will methodically work out the wiring by testing for continuity from one cable to another and then work out how to re connect it all.

It does sound like it might have been 2 way switching at one time, Was the light switch at the bedroom end removed? or is it still there?

Again for anyone reading all this could have been avoided if only you take notes before disconnecting anything.

 

[kartman24]

The switch at the other end had been disconnected for some time and everything else was still working before the ceiling was replaced..........Martin

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

To Kartman24 and anyone else that reads this, the electricians that reply are NOT being awkward with their responses, allow me to explain.

Dear forum I have this switch with a red blue and yellow wire and a cable with a blue and brown wire, which wire goes where?

Sounds reasonable, electricians should know what goes where, its only a switch and some wires.

Here in lies the problem.

There is no 100% colour code that must be used, its up to each electrician what colours he uses for what, then you have the possibility it was not wired by an electrician, That is why you need to check what is at the other end of the cables in question, and how it is configured.

A similar question is about electrical appliances, They use electricity so an electrician must know about it? WRONG

An electric appliance has come a long way since its invention and yes it uses electricity but you need a dedicated person who works on the brand of appliance to help. Even a person who works on brand A of a washing machine can not tell you about brand B of washing machine as the parts are not the same, they can tell you the principles, but not how to exactly fix it.

 

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Hi all, I am wiring up a light pull in my bathroom, there was one there before but the old one was removed 4 months ago when the bathroom was gutted. There are two sets of wires coming in, one set which are red, black and the exposed earth, no problem there. The second set has the red, blue, exposed earth PLUS a yellow? Any idea where that yellow should be wired to?

Many thanks..........Martin

The wiring goes to a light in the room which has no yellows and also to an extractor fan (no yellows either), everything else is above the ceiling.............Martin

The light fitting has 4 sets of wiring going in all are red, black and bare earth, one of the reds is a permanently live feed. the light switch has two sets in as described at the beginning of the thread and the fan has a red and a black in. Neither of the reds in the pull is permanently live, one of them can be fed from the light fitting live as I have tried this. There was another light fitting close to the fan, the reds and blacks for this and the feed from it to the fan were put in a junction as pairs. At the other end of the bathroom was another light pull which was treated similarly, I am pretty certain this was standard coloured wiring. When wiring the light up it would be ideal to not reconnect the redundant wires to the old light pull at the far end if possible............Martin

Only about 12ft long but it has 2 doorways in, one door used to be a bedroom but is now just a hobby room so the light pull was not needed as it is only used in the day time...........Martin

The switch at the other end had been disconnected for some time and everything else was still working before the ceiling was replaced..........Martin

Right......

Step back a few paces a minute and lets just establish a bit of basic principals...

and how much you know or dont...

First off from reading your posts..

I get the impression that there used to be more lights AND more switches in the bathroom..

e.g. 2way switches working 2x lights + a fan.

But you are intending to remove some bits out off the wiring and just keep..

1x switch, 1x light 1x fan...?

My initial questions would be:-

(FORGET COLOURS FOR THE MOMENT AND THINK....)

1/  Do you understand the basics of connecting 1x light 1x switch & 1x supply ?

2/ Do you understand the concept that fans with a run-on timer need a permanent live AND a switched live ?

3/ Do you understand that some fans may be 12v fans with a standalone transformer mounted somewhere else ?

4/ Do you understand how two-way light switches are wired to a single light ?

5/ Could you draw out a sketch of how each of the above could be connected to work correctly ?

6/ Do you have access to a simple continuity and voltage tester ?

7/ Do you understand that the supply from one room to another may loop at a light fitting or a light switch or a junction box or mixture of all three on a circuit ?

If you can answer YES to all of the above then...

With the power OFF do a continuity test to work out what wires are going where..

Sketch out exactly what you have got...

With the power on do a voltage test on each pair of wires to establish where supply feeds are entering and/or exiting a room..

Post you findings back on here....

Or....

If you don't grasp ALL of the points 1..7 then...

IT WILL BE QUICKER AND CHEAPER to get an electrician in to sort it out .....

I would guess 1 hour or hour & half investigations / testing / & fixing...

max cost  £50 - £60..

including any extra junction boxes / terminals / connectors that may be needed.

Guinness

 

[ProDave]

Given the mish mash of old abandoned wiring from 2 way switching etc I would abandon what is there. rip it out and start again.

As long as you can identify the loop in (and loop out) at the light fitting then fit new cables for the switch drop and to connect to the fan as you want it.

Then you will understand it all and know it's correct with no possibility of any old abandoned wiring being left live.