light fitting with loads of wires

chrisdontknow2 · 27 May 2008

i just bought a new light fitting for my bathroom, its my first house and i have managed to change the fittings and lightswitches pretty well as i never did it before, anyway.

when i took it of the ceiling, it had three sets of cable going into it, inside the light it was connected to a long plastic thing that has 6 holes in, its says on them in this order from left to right Flex, (N) ,loop, Live, FLex

the two flex ones are connected to the light fitting, there is one wire in the live terminal (black with a red bit on it) 3 red wires in the loop terminal, and two black in the N terminal. the earth from each cable were bound together an was just poked up in the loft not connected to anything.

what is all this for? can i do anyting to make it fit the new light which only has 3 terminals?

hope that makes sense, would be great if someone could help me

thanks

electronicsuk · 27 May 2008

chrisdontknow2 said:
what is all this for? can i do anyting to make it fit the new light which only has 3 terminals?

Yes, but you will need to get yourself a strip of terminal blocks and cut one off to use inside your new light fitting, as four terminals are still required.

chrisdontknow2 said:
when i took it of the ceiling, it had three sets of cable going into it, inside the light it was connected to a long plastic thing that has 6 holes in, its says on them in this order from left to right Flex, (N) ,loop, Live, FLex

the two flex ones are connected to the light fitting, there is one wire in the live terminal (black with a red bit on it) 3 red wires in the loop terminal, and two black in the N terminal. the earth from each cable were bound together an was just poked up in the loft not connected to anything.

The black wire with red sleeving currently in the Live terminal is your switched live and should go to the live terminal in your new light fitting. This should be labelled L or Live and will likely have a red or brown wire on the fitting itself.

The three wires in the loop terminal will need to go into the aforementioned extra terminal block, one of these wires is the live supply, another will go onto the next light fitting in the circuit, and the final one will go to the wall switch.

The black wires in the N terminal are of course neutral, these should go into the N/Neutral terminal in your new light fitting. Said terminal should be labelled as Neutral but can also be identified by the blue or black wire going to the fitting itself.

There should also be three unsheathed copper wires, these are the earth conductors and should be insulated with green/yellow sleeving and wired to the earth terminal in the new fitting.

bongos · 27 May 2008

You will require a choc block with four terminals.

Black with the red sleeving goes into 'L' (it is switched live)
Two black go into 'N'
Green and yellow go into 'Earth'
These should then be connected to your light fitting.

The reason you need a fourth terminal is for the red cores which go together and are not connected to anything else. These are the live 'loop' for the light in the next room.

chrisdontknow2 · 27 May 2008

ok cool i think i get it:

so the black N ones i can put in the same hole?

and if i get one of the block things then, i put the three red ones in there, but not connect it to anything.

earth the yellolw ones to the fitting . and the live goes in the live?

sorry if i have just repeated what you said, just want ot get it right in my head??

electronicsuk · 27 May 2008

Yes, that sounds right, as long as by live you mean the switch live wire which is black with a red band of sleeving.

chrisdontknow2 · 27 May 2008

yes the live with the red thing on it!

thanks guys will try it tonight!

ban-all-sheds · 27 May 2008

chrisdontknow2 said:
so the black N ones i can put in the same hole?

Not only can you, you must.

and if i get one of the block things then, i put the three red ones in there, but not connect it to anything.

Yup - but you really only need a single "way" of choc (in a choc-box), for those permanent lives, all the others (neutrals, switched live, cpcs) just go into the terminals on the fitting.

If you want to replace the rose with something separate from the new light fitting then use a 4-terminal junction box, not a strip of choc.

earth the yellolw ones to the fitting

Green & Yellow, yup.

. and the live goes in the live?

The switched live - i.e. the black with the red sleeving.

davelx · 27 May 2008

This should help:

//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting:rose

chrisdontknow2 · 27 May 2008

davelx said:
This should help:

//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting:rose[/QUOTE]

cheers just one question on that box from the diagram......sorry
i do have one of the things but without the box round it, it has about 4 holes on each side,
do i put all the loop wires in the same hole, or do i put them in seperate holes.

ban-all-sheds · 27 May 2008

1) When they are in the terminals of a ceiling rose, are they:

a) connected together?
b) not connected together?

2) If you put them in different terminals in a choc-block will they be:

a) connected together?
b) not connected together?

chrisdontknow2 · 27 May 2008

they are not connected together now, they are in three separate holes.

does that mean i have to keep them like that?

i can but just wondered if it made a difference or not?

Spark123 · 27 May 2008

If you look at the old fitting, the 3 loop holes are joined together i.e. it is the same metal block which spans all 3 holes

.
This means that 3 red wires which were in those holes need to remain connected together, i.e. in the same block.

chrisdontknow2 · 27 May 2008

Spark123 said:
If you look at the old fitting, the 3 loop holes are joined together i.e. it is the same metal block which spans all 3 holes .
This means that 3 red wires which were in those holes need to remain connected together, i.e. in the same block.

cool thanks dude

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light fitting with loads of wires

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