Sorry, newbie with yet another mains downlighter question

T

themaddog

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Hello everyone, Yep, im new and im probably going to ask a really stupid question. if i do feel free to chuck abuse at me

I am doing my small 1 bed house up and have brought a load of mains downlighters. I want to put them in the ground floor ceiling in the living room and kitchen. In each of the rooms now is a standard single hanging light.

After i drill the holes for the new lights can i just remove the old light, connect the wires to a junction box then run a wire from that to the first downlight, then from that downlight to the next etc etc?

or do i need to wire all of the downlights to the junction box like a spider?

Any help would be apreciated

Thanks, TMD
 
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Depends on how many downlighters, how many watts, cable size, current drawn by the rest of the lighting ccts. you need to post more detail.
 
Hi mate, I will have 6 downlights in the front room. And 4 in the kitchen.The lights are 240v 50 watts. The rest of the questions i dont know the answers to :oops:

The only way i can explane it is, downstairs there is only 2 lights currently on the circuit (1 front room and 1 kitchen ) Upstairs there are 3 lights ( bedroom,bathroom and hallway )

The fuse box i have is the type with the big pull out fuse that looks like a domino and you can change the wire if that helps??

Thanks, TMD
 
Junction boxes under floorboards are not really desirable these days. They need to be accessible for inspection which is impossible if laminated flooring or bathroom tiles get fitted.
 
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Sounds like it would be better to get a qualified electrician as with respect it doesnt appear that you know enough about what you are doing to tackle the job. All domestic electrical work (however minor) now needs to comply with Part P of the Building Regulations it sounds as though it would be better leaving it to an expert, who is unlikely to require more than a day to install, test and certify the work, assuming your main bonding and earthing arrangements are adequate and there are no other unsafe aspects apparent.

On the subject of Junction Boxes I tend to position these near to the aperture the downlighter(s) if they are required, as the 20A variety fit through the usual 70-80mm hole. They can then be withdrawn through the hole in the future for maintenance/inspection if required without disturbing the flooring above....though I'll probably be scolded now for not fixing them to to a joist....
 
I have managed to fit them in the front room now.

Cheers for the advice

TMD
 
if you are going to pull them in and out of the ceiling they must have cord grips ie ashley j501 , but you mentioned a domino fuse , this is a 3036 semi enclosed rewirable fuse , in my eye's you should look at getting a spark in ,quite often these boards have a wooden frame at the back , if this is the case your CU (fuse box) needs replacing ,the reason for this is if you get a fault within the board the wood on the frame could catch fire ,sorry to divert from your downlighters
 
opps forgot to mention ,kitchen is notifiable work so it has to be notified ,and if your going to put junction boxes under the floors use maintainance free
 
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