Changing light fixture from fluorescent to incandescent

[Janaka7]

I am trying to replace a kitchen fluorescent light with a 4x40 Watt incandescent strip from B&Q. I assumed I could just disconnect the existing fixture wires and substitute my new fixture wires in an identical way. I was careful to note how the existing wires were connected and I have switched off at the main fuse box.. Problem is the wiring looks more complex than others I have changed and I am not sure how to proceed.

There are 3 main cables feeding in at the ceiling. All 3 red wires are isolated together in a separate connection block. 2 black wires feed into the neutral; 1 black wire (with a small red sleeve – presumably for the switch) feeds into the live; 3 earth wires are joined and were earthed.

On the fixture side, the live and neutral terminals of the connection block also had a separate little loop of insulated wire (obviously a ready-made device with a yellow plastic square cover on it) bridging the live and neutral.

Is this something only used for fluorescents or can I just go ahead and re-wire the new incandescent fixture exactly the same as the old one was? The house is only 15 years old and the wiring is all in apparently good order.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[breezer]

see the for refernce section that is why it is there.

ignore the capacitor you have (yellow thing)

 

[Janaka7]

I did make quite a long search of the reference section before I posted my question and while there is a lot of information I did not find my specific question anywhere. Can someone help please?
Thanks.

 

[breezer]

i hate to say this but if you can not find it it the for refernce section, (what you want is there) i doubt your ability to do the job

 

[Janaka7]

Thank you for your completely unhelpful response. Please do not make another. You could have offered a pointer of where to find the answer if you know. I doubt if you "hated" saying what you said. It appears clear to me you like to make such smart-arse comments.
By the way, the word is spelled reference NOT 'refernce'.

 

[spence_spark]

on your new fixture you'll probably have a plastic tag block marked l(live)
n(neutral and e(earth) leave all the red lives joined together,connect the red sleeved black cable to l(live) connect both black cable's to neutral and the earths to earth

and...bingo!

have fun+enjoy the new light

 

[plugwash]

Thank you for your completely unhelpful response. Please do not make another. You could have offered a pointer of where to find the answer if you know. I doubt if you "hated" saying what you said. It appears clear to me you like to make such smart-**** comments.
By the way, the word is spelled reference NOT 'refernce'.

what breezer says is to a large extent true though

the understanding to generalise from the supplied information and to recognise when things are electircally the same even when they look different is a vital skill if you are doing electrical work. It is impossible to show in detail every single possible combination

a basic understanding of electrics should be enough to tell you that joining the 3 reds in the loop block of a ceiling rose is no different from joing them in an extra terminal block in your fitting.

 

[breezer]

Thank you for your completely unhelpful response. Please do not make another. You could have offered a pointer of where to find the answer if you know. I doubt if you "hated" saying what you said. It appears clear to me you like to make such smart-**** comments.
By the way, the word is spelled reference NOT 'refernce'.

I do not take your comments personally, as i do not know you, like wise you do not know me, so how do you come to the conclusion that as you said

It appears clear to me you like to make such smart-**** comments

No SIR, not I, I merely used your ignorance against you, (i had little choice) if you are not able to give all the required information then how can we help?

You neglected to point out in the first place that you had looked in the for refernce section (most do not even bother)

by the fact that you had looked and still can not find the required drawing does show how ignorant you are, it is not just a case of "shove this wire here and that that wire there" there is also the understanding as to how it works, to say the least.

Now that some kind sole has pointed out the correct drawing that you could not find i have doubts as to if you can understand it, but it is of use and i do wish you luck

 

[Janaka7]

My thanks to spence_spark. Your kind response was sufficient to help me complete the job immediately. I have light!

The missing piece of information - which your diagram does NOT show but which I was able to infer from spence_spark's being kind enough to actually reply - was whether it was necessary to retain the additional loop-wire device which was bridging the live and neutral connections on the fluorescent.

No-one addressed that and it was quite clearly the core of my original question if you care to re-read it. (My concern was this might short things out if it was not needed). How could anyone “generalise from the supplied information” to determine the answer to that?

I am without doubt ignorant of many things but it begs the question, what is your website forum for (and why do you good people bother coming to it) if not to assist (rather than mock) people in such situations as mine?

Skill in electrics and skill in communication do not necessarily go together.

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. ~ William Shakespeare, ‘As You Like It’.

 

[plugwash]

note that the yellow thing was on the fitting side and was not shown in any of the diagrams

that should imply that its part of the fitting not part of the wiring installtion

sorry that this wasn't pointed out earlier but your post didn't really make it clear that this was the main part of your question

in all honesty it probablly wouldn't make much difference if you left it in the new setup anyway it's almost certainly a filter capacitor to reduce the electrical noise leaving the fitting

 

[Janaka7]

Well, my last response...

I just re-read my original post and I only asked one quite clear question at the end. Much was evidently ASSUMED about what I wnated to know or needed to know but it was a clear question.

Perhaps the blind, leading the blind?

Well at least now we have light!

Good wishes to you.

 

[Damocles]

You deid say 'any advice would be gratefully appreciated. presumably including useless advice?

 

[securespark]

The loop-wire device, or capacitor, as breezer correctly i.d'd it as, is connected to the FITTING SIDE of the fluorescent's terminal block, not the side where the mains wiring is connected. If you assume that the capacitor is to be retained for use in the new fitting, why not all the other components that are connected to the FITTING SIDE of the fluorescent?

Now, that would be plainly ridiculous, wouldn't it?

This, I fear, is a case of not knowing enough information to tackle the job, but going ahead anyway.

What could possibly go wrong?