Ceiling Light

[Legacey]

Good afternoon all, I wonder if you can help me. I've taken down a light in my Dad's bedroom which was to be replaced with another. The issue we've had is that the wires coming through the ceiling are 2x red, 2x brown and 2x black. Does anyone know which ones are live, neutral and earth?

Many thanks

 

[AndyPRK]

Loosen the switch and see if your lucky enough to have only 2 brown wires to the switch

See the wiki link at the top of forum on how light circuits work

 

[Legacey]

Thanks for the reply Andy. wired to the switch is one red and one black. There's a green wire that runs behind the wall

 

[AndyPRK]

So there's no red tape or sleeve on any black wire Then?

You need a multimeter to sort this!

And post a pic of the wires if you can

 

[AndyPRK]

Not sure how this is going to be resolved!

How was it wired before?

 

[Legacey]

The two black wires are quite thick and so are the red ones. The brown wires are relatively thin in comparison. Not sure if you can see the picture very well, but this is how they were put in to the block to see if that worked, obviously not! That's the fatal mistake, not taking note of the wiring before disconnecting the original light. The original was like the long kitchen lights with the single fluorescent tube in if that makes any difference? An ordinary ceiling light is replacing this

Untitled

• Legacey
• 11 Apr 2014
• 1

 

[AndyPRK]

So when you saw brown wires you mean bare copper?

You could try connecting the reds together

And then each black to the new light fitting L and N terminals

 

[Legacey]

The 2 brown wires have a sleeve on them. They are just thinner than the black and red

 

[sparkwright]

Is the sleeve green or green and yellow?

 

[Legacey]

There's no green or green and yellow wires or sleeves

 

[sparkwright]

The 2 brown wires have a sleeve on them. They are just thinner than the black and red

You said there are sleeves on the 'brown' wires.

What colour are the sleeves on the 'brown' wires?

 

[Legacey]

Brown

 

[sparkwright]

I think I see what you mean. It was suggested the 'brown' wires were bare copper earth wires.

You mean they are simply thinner wires with brown INSULATION on them?

 

[sparkwright]

Send more pictures. That picture you sent doesn't seem to show wires with brown insulation.

Send more pictures as I think we are going round in circles.

 

[Legacey]

They are just thinner wires with a brown sleeve. The 2 red and 2 black sleeves are a lot thicker. I don't have any more pictures as the light is at my Dads house and I'm back home now. It's basically 6 wires, 2 black, 2 red and 2 brown