bhow do i reconnect this loop

[Evilgenius]

Recently Ive had to take a strip light down from the extended kitchen which used to be a garage as i have to insulate the roof.

Anyways i now have a jumble of wires hanging down, red, black and green striped and cos ive put insuating tape on each of the bare wires i guess ive broken the loop cos the lights at the other end of the kitchen arent working.

So is it a case of connect all the reds, all the blacks and all teh green striped together. ( not all togehter but red > red / black > black etc )

 

[Steve]

NO!!!! you need to find the switch wire and isolate this until you have the new light up. then connect the others together.

 

[Evilgenius]

lol..okay. How do i find the light switch one? Theres 12 wires in total hanging down. All are red,blackgreen. One bunch has 2 red tho and one green.

 

[JohnD]

No

Most likely you have 2 T&E (twin and earth) cables coming through the ceiling.

One will be the live supply from the previous lamp on the circuit.

One will be the outward feed to the next lamp.
One will go to the light switch, the red one takes the live to the switch, and the other (which might be red as well, or black with some red tape or sleeving on it, or black) is the switched live that you connect to the lamp fitting. If you connect this one to all the other blacks you will blow your fuse/trip your MCB instantly you turn the light on.

Have a look at the FAQ/For reference section in Electrics UK for the pictures.

 

[JohnD]

..One bunch has 2 red tho and one green.

That ought to be the Switch cable then. When the switch is "ON" those 2 reds are connected together.

How do you? With your meter, i suppose.

 

[Steve]

How do you? With your meter, i suppose.

the meter in the white cabinet outside? yeah, it spins really fast when i connect the switch wrong - thats how i know

(this is a joke by the way. DIYERS note JohnD is referring to a multimeter which is able to test continuity, and by connecting to a switch drop wire, you can see the continuity varies when the switch is pressed)