light fitting problems

[marsdenc]

Hi, im no spark so please help, i have already been electricuted twice today!

i have 4 red wires and 2 black wires trying to get them the right way round to fit in to a light fitting with an earth (which i have sorted) a live and a neutral...

i managed to get the light on but the light switch would not turn the light off...

what i did is get one of those screw drivers which light up when you find the live wire (3 wires didnt light up 1 did) so i attached the live wire.

i put the 2 neutral wires together and attached them

obviously i attached the earch wire as well.

what did i do wrong?

 

[EdwardCurrent]

Hello,

Apart from working on a 'live' circuit, your biggest mistake was buying a 'neon' tester. Take it back and get a refund, or bin it.

Have a look through the wikki, you should find a wiring diagram that will help you. If not , come back here for further advice.
//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting:lighting_circuit_layouts


And please, no more 'working live'.

All the Best


Ed

 

[Taylortwocities]

There's at least one. every weekend...

But we will try and help.

Eddie is right. NEVER work on a circuit with the power turned on. It is 230volts and it can kill you.

How many cables are coming out of the ceiling, what colour are the wires from each and what are the connections on the light fitting?

Also, with the power off, have a look at the connections on the light switch and tell us what colour they are and what terminals they are connected to.

 

[dingbat]

...i have already been electricuted twice today!

How many fatal electric shocks do you think it takes to kill you?
And how do you know if the next shock you're going to get is one of those?

Please do not work on anything that is live!

i have 4 red wires and 2 black wires trying to get them the right way round to fit in to a light fitting with an earth (which i have sorted) a live and a neutral...

Are two of those reds contained in the same cable?
If so, that is almost certainly the switch cable and if so, one of those reds goes with the other reds and the other, is the 'switched live', which connects to the lamp. (It doesn't matter which of the reds from the twin red cable goes in which position)

So, provided the answer to the first question was 'yes', you should have:

Three reds together and not connected to anything else.
Two blacks together, connected to the neutral of the light, and...
That remaining red, connected to the 'live' of the light.

If you don't have a twin red cable, you have a more difficult problem to solve and you should post back with more details, preferably with a picture.

 

[dingbat]

Bummer... shouldn't take so long editing my posts... and still leaving a spelling error!

 

[Taylortwocities]

Nobody's prefect, Ding

 

[marsdenc]

there are 4 grey cables and 1 red each and 2 black coming from them so no there isnt 2 reds from one cable...

"Also, with the power off, have a look at the connections on the light switch and tell us what colour they are and what terminals they are connected to."

there is a green one and a red one going to L1 and L2 i think.... its dark now so cant posta picture but i will tommorow...

well i have been electricuted many a times... i must be a human spark lol...

i will remember to turn it off ever time from now on...

 

[resq]

there are 4 grey cables and 1 red each and 2 black coming from them so no there isnt 2 reds from one cable...

"Also, with the power off, have a look at the connections on the light switch and tell us what colour they are and what terminals they are connected to."

there is a green one and a red one going to L1 and L2 i think.... its dark now so cant posta picture but i will tommorow...

well i have been electricuted many a times... i must be a human spark lol...

i will remember to turn it off ever time from now on...

It will kill you, you have just been lucky so far. If you have been electrocuted a couple of times you should get checked out You may have caused an abnormal heart rhythm [/b]

 

[Lectrician]

Being eletrocuted twice is good. Electrocution (death), should only usually occur once!

After recieving two SHOCKS, I do hope you began to realise that maybe you should isolate power?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Being eletrocuted twice is good. Electrocution (death), should only usually occur once!

It's a miracle.