Bathroom light wiring problem

[maddarlo]

Hello,

Yesterday, I tried to wire up a new bathroom light.

There were two cables coming from the ceiling, each containing live, neutral and earth wires.

On the light unit, there were only three connections - so I put both live wires into the live one, both neutral into the neutral one and both earth into the earth connection.

However, earth was not properly connected to the unit when I tried to test the light. It came on straight away (although the power from the pull switch had been off when I began work) when i turned the electricity back on at the mains.

I pulled the pull switch and it went off. It then would not come back on again and the fuse in the fusebox had blown for the upstairs lighting circuit.

So, does anyone have any idea what I did wrong? Was it putting two of each wire into the connections on the fitting, not having the earth properly connected - or could it be that I had only one bulb in at the time and it took three? (halogen 50w).

Thanks your for reading this and I hope someone can help!

Andy

 

[the_jinj]

When you flicked the switch you made a short with the neutral - one pair is a feed and switch wire

Here's what you have:

As soon as you flick the switch an instant short circuit

Here's what you want:

You need to identify which is the incoming neutral - NEVER SWITCH A NEUTRAL! Sleeve or mark the switch wire red at both ends.

Sorry for the poor diagrams - have a look at the FAQ for better ones

Oh and was there not a loud band from the switch area? If this is what you've done then you'll need to replace the switch as it will probably be welded shut....

 

[maddarlo]

Hi, many thanks for the answer. V helpful.

One thing though - in the second diagram, you have the brown wire of the lamp connected to the centre section of the connection block. On my light fitting, this is marked for earth. Soooo, I presume I don't connect live to earth?!

PS No loud bang!

 

[Adam_151]

NEVER SWITCH A NEUTRAL!

... unless its a double pole switch/isolator of course

 

[maddarlo]

Erm, not sure if it is or not! It's just a bog standard pull switch! So am I right in thinking that the two reds go to the live connector and the incoming neutral goes to the neutral connector?

This then leaves the black cable to the switch... Where does that go?! It can't (presumably) go in the middle as that's got the earths in. Does it go in with the two reds?

 

[Adam_151]

Sorry, I was just being purposely arkward towards the other poster

 

[maddarlo]

Sorry, I was just being purposely arkward towards the other poster

No worries!

 

[the_jinj]

Sorry, I was just being purposely arkward towards the other poster

hehehe knew straight after I posted that I'd be picked up on it

I missed out the earths for clarity - the connectors aren't in any particular order and more reflect my Paint skills(or lack of) than anything else

Basically -

Incoming cable:
Live to one connector
Neutral to another

Cable to switch:
Red to Live (same as incoming cable)
Black to connector with lamp live connector

Hope that makes sense

 

[maddarlo]

Sorted. Thanks v much Jinj!