broken wire

[mickey123]

been at this for over 6 hours and im stumped looking for some help.
pushed the switch in kitchen something banged,did all the usual checks and found nothing.i thought it must be a broken wire.went upstairs to find itand found it after 3 hours ripping up the floorboards and tiled bathroom floor.yes i was right the wire was broken(red one neutral).heres the problem.light switch has 1 black wire and 2 red.the ceiling light has 1 red and 1 black.off course you have the power supply going into the junction box.thats 3black wires and 4 red wires the problem is no matter which way i connect this up either the light stays on permanent or does not come on at all.by the way the broken was not connected and it was from the light switch.and 1 black wire was loose not attatched to anything that was from the ceiling light.all in a junction box been at it all day and sick fed up.i would appreciate any help or ideas as i have tried numerous combinatios of rewiring it with the above results either its on and i cant put it off or its off
thanks

 

[ban-all-sheds]

pushed the switch in kitchen something banged,

What?

And then in what way did what not work properly?

did all the usual checks

Which are?

i thought it must be a broken wire.

Why?

went upstairs to find itand found it after 3 hours ripping up the floorboards and tiled bathroom floor.yes i was right the wire was broken

OK.

Any ideas how it could have just broken?

(red one neutral).

What does that mean?

heres the problem.light switch has 1 black wire and 2 red.the ceiling light has 1 red and 1 black.off course you have the power supply going into the junction box.thats 3black wires and 4 red wires the problem is no matter which way i connect this up either the light stays on permanent or does not come on at all.by the way the broken was not connected and it was from the light switch.and 1 black wire was loose not attatched to anything that was from the ceiling light.all in a junction box been at it all day and sick fed up.

Why did you start fiddling with all that instead of just repairing the break?

i would appreciate any help or ideas as i have tried numerous combinatios of rewiring it with the above results either its on and i cant put it off or its off
thanks

All the info you need is here: http://www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting. Understanding what you're fiddling with is jolly useful.

A multimeter will also probably be needed by now, if you've been changing things around.

 

[mickey123]

i have put everything back the way it was and is the same as your diagrams but i dont know where to put the extra red wire that was outside the junction box when i lifted the floorboards.as i said there are 2 red wires and 1 black in the light switch.dont know where the red 1 goes
any offers

 

[xr4x4]

any offers

I'll give you a bag of sand...

 

[Rip44]

I've got 6 downlights left from my extension...........

 

[SimonH2]

... but i dont know where to put the extra red wire that was outside the junction box when i lifted the floorboards.as i said there are 2 red wires and 1 black in the light switch.dont know where the red 1 goes

It is of course possible that it doesn't actually go anywhere - for several reasons. Although I find it hard to see how you'd get 2 red and one black wire unless it's been wired in singles.

Thoughts that come to mind ...
1) It used to be a two-way circuit, but is now one-way.
2) There used to be two circuits (two switches, two lights) and now it's one.
3) When it was wired, the sparky happened to have some oddball three core cable and used that instead of 2 core.
4) Someone knew you were going to do that and left something to confuse you - only joking on that one.

 

[sparkwright]

Two reds and one black in a switch does sound like '2 way switching without 3 core'.

Is there another switch also controlling the light? Or was there once, which may explain disconnected wires?

Pictures of the switch(es) and junction box will certainly help, as well as answering the above questions.

 

[sparkwright]

Out of interest, were you able to restore the power as soon as it originally 'went bang'?

What type of light is it? Has it got a transformer?

Are you certain what you found at the junction box caused the problem?
Can't help thinking something more simple caused the problem, probably because I don't like ripping up floors if I can help it.