Loop-in, junction box, or .....?

bytor · 11 May 2006

The lighting circuit in my house consists of one main junction box from which each light is fed. All articles I find on lighting circuits refer to either loop-in or junction box circuits, neither of which seem to bare any relation to what's in my loft

Any suggestions as to how my lights have been wired?

RF Lighting · 11 May 2006

It sounds like you just have one central joint box, rather than a joint box for every light. This is a perfectly fine way of wiring a lighting circuit, although there will be a lot of wires in the JB and it may be quite daunting if you do not fully understand how lighting circuits work.

Steve · 11 May 2006

bytor, have you looked in the switches or in the light fittings? you may find the loop in at the switches, or at the light.

Just remember the two basic rules on lighting circuits

1. BLACK/BLUE IS NOT ALWAYS NEUTRAL
2. NEVER CONNECT TRUE NEUTRALS TO SWITCHES.

bytor · 12 May 2006

No loops anywhere. So I guess I've got a junction-box type circuit. If this is the case, would I be right to assume that basically I've got the 'complete' lighting circuit in one box? I'm finding this out as one of my lights has completely failed (yes I've changed the bulb

) and I'd rather know what I've got before I go racking about.

Steve · 12 May 2006

how many light fittings are there? how many cables go to this box? can you see where the cables go?

Adam_151 · 12 May 2006

crafty1289 said:
how many light fittings are there? how many cables go to this box? can you see where the cables go?

Heh, you haven't seen the lighting juntion box in one of my mates houses, bloody octopus, one of those ashley 701 (?) about 15 cables at least, granted they don't always have to be a mess (secure the terminal strip properly along the middle, take care and you can get it neat in the same was as you can a CU) but this one, its a mess, just heaps of small bits of choc box and wires, oh and all the earths are terminated outside the box in a bolt with a hole drilled through it

We have a couple of them in our loft as well in similar messy fashion, luckily there arn't anywhere as near as many cables terminated in them, so the fact that its a floating mess of choc blocks inside is more bearable...

bytor · 14 May 2006

crafty1289 said:
how many light fittings are there? how many cables go to this box? can you see where the cables go?

5 light fittings, 11 cables (including the supply) and all the cables go where expected.

All except one that is

. It appears that the previous owners had wired an extraction fan into the circuit, and this was the cause of my light failing. So rewired and bright light all round

.

flashbanger13 · 14 May 2006

How many terminals are there in that JB?!

RF Lighting · 14 May 2006

You could do it with eight terminals, but it is probably a twelve way joint box like this

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Loop-in, junction box, or .....?

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