Ceiling lighting

[potatojunkie23]

I moved into my new house on Friday only to discover that the previous owner had taken all of the upstairs lighting fittings and left bare wires hanging. There are 3 cables that ran to each fitting, each with a red, black and bare copper wire. Someone told me how to connect these up so that I could wire in a temporary fitting (3 lives into a choc block, 3 earths into a chock block) and that i needed to work out which of the neutrals was the switched live. He told be that when i ran a multimeter between the earths and that 2 wires would give small mV readings and one would give a 240V ac. When i did this though the 3 wires give readings of 2, 3 and 5 V. Can anyone offer any suggestions of what the problem might be?

Thanks,

Steve.

 

[securespark]

This does not help your lighting problem, but you should get in touch with your solicitor to let them know what the vendors have done. They are not allowed to do this.

To ID the switch cable, you need to put a multimeter set to continuity across one of the red/black pairs. It will show continuity when the switch is closed & not when open.

 

[ColJack]

URGENT!!!!!!

SWITCH OFF THE POWER FIRST!!!!...

you must treat these people like they are idiots just in case they are.. ..

no offence is meant by this post but we have no idea if you or any poster for that matter has any common sense..

 

[Spark123]

I'm thinking you may be better getting an electrician in to sort this, do not energize an incomplete circuit.
Like securespark says, they should not have removed the light fittings and left the wires hanging. Is it in the estate agents literature, things like lighting points in rooms etc?

 

[ColJack]

you can sue for the cost of putting it right..
any lighting fixture removed must be replaced with a suitable light fitting eg. a pendant and bare bulb..
any power fixture removed must also be made good ( ie removing stainless flat plate sockets in the kitchen.. replace with basic plastic.. )