Ceiling light 2xBlack and 1xblack cables / blown fuse

[sva1914]

I'm putting up a new ceiling chandlier light I have done the below:-

On chandlier cable it has 3 wire all silver going to a block with one the middle also having a green/yell earth.

1) I took out all these wire in order to shorten the cable and when put back into the block I could not remember which was whic so just put them back randomly, but with the earth in the correct middle part. Have I done something wrong here?

2) Afterwards taking old light down, it unveil the following cables in a block 2xblack together, 1 black and 1 earth. Then in a separate block 2 red but this block not connected to anything.

3) I connected my canndlier as follows, I put the 2x Black to Live on the chandlier block, 1 black as neutral and the 1 earth to the Earth on the chand block.

On switching on the fuse blown, and also has stopped 2 other lights hall and front security lantern from working.

I have now remove the wiring, taped it up, replace the fuse and asked the question here whats gone wrong.

I am thinking the mistakes could be in 1) above I got the wires mixed? or in 3), where the 2x wires are netural and 1 x black is live ?

Your help is appreciated.
thanks

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I have now remove the wiring, taped it up, replace the fuse and asked the question here whats gone wrong.

What went wrong was the plan of working on a lighting circuit without first learning how they work.

Read this: http://www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting

You may now find a multimeter useful to identify which conductor is which.

You may also have done something wrong when you rewired the light fitting itself - what type of bulbs does it take?

 

[sva1914]

It takes normal 40w x 5 candle bulbs

 

[ban-all-sheds]

What type and size of base?

 

[sparkyspike]

It seems you have made two main errors: Firstly, you have possibly misidentified live and neutral. This is because the wiring connections you have mentioned usually result in there being two neutrals together and one live cable (the single black) on its own. This is probably not the cause of the fuse blowing, but the polarity is crucial if you are using screw in bulbs (hence BAS's question).

Secondly, the cause of the fault is probably because you've got the wiring in the chandelier mixed up. Each cable should have a live and neutral in it, if I understand correctly what you have described. If you can't work out how to pair these up correctly, then you're probably out of your depth!

 

[sva1914]

Thanks for comments.

Yes they are 5 x edison screw bulbs.

I now know that I got the wiring mixed up, with double black been neutral and single black been live.

Hovever in the Chand wiring to the block, given they all silver , thats 3 wire Neu, Earth, Live and one green/yellow earth Also in the Earth. another posting has sated that given they all same silver colour, it is possible then it makes NO difference where they are in the Block.

Is this correct?

I will also check wiring in the block for stray wires.

also i have anothe rone of these chandliers not opened yet, I could without adjusting the original block wiring, wire this up to the ceiling wiring correctly, which would then tell me if the wiring in the other chand was a mix up or not?

 

[sparkyspike]

Hovever in the Chand wiring to the block, given they all silver , thats 3 wire Neu, Earth, Live and one green/yellow earth Also in the Earth. another posting has sated that given they all same silver colour, it is possible then it makes NO difference where they are in the Block.

Could you rephrase this? It's hard to determine what the problem is when it is not described clearly. Perhaps a picture would help?

Also, mixing live and neutral in the fitting itself shouldn't be causing the blowing fuse. (Although for safety you do need to know which is which).

Perhaps you have mixed up the wires in the ceiling rose?

 

[sva1914]

The Chand Block has 3 silver wires in Live , Neutral and Earth. Also One Earth wire in Earth. So Eath has 2 wire one sliver and one green/yell earth.

As the chand cable was too long, I remove all the wires, cut the cable and then put the wires back in the block. But i did not make note of the 3 silverwires where they were and where to put back.

So Now it seems I have no idea which to put back, (Have no idea why they did not colour code them).

So what is the best way to find out which wire goes where?

 

[ColJack]

are the lamps screw in types?

if so then the center of the lampholder is supposed to be live, the outer neutral, and the exposed metalwork of the chand is connected to the earth wire..

use a multimeter and bell it out..

 

[sva1914]

LAMPS EDISON SCREW TYPE YES.

But the 3 silver cables are all siler how can tell difference. The block is Left is Neutral, Middle Earth, Right is Live.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Why do you need to tell the difference?

1) I took out all these wire in order to shorten the cable and when put back into the block I could not remember which was whic so just put them back randomly,

Oh - that's why.

Have I done something wrong here?

I guess that depends on whether you think behaving like an idiot is wrong.