correct wiring for lighting

[cyg]

Hi there , I have just bought two new lights one for the kitchen and one for the dining room .
The kitchen light was easy to fit , just looked odd seeing two red wires isolated , not connected to the actual light connector inside the rose .

I have tried to put the new light up in the dining room , but the wiring is different , instead of three wires , there is

1. A Brown wire
2. Three red
3. three earth
4. two neutral.

Now the rose plate had all these wired in , but I have no room for that old plate so have removed it and hoped to use the new connector but it has only THREE holes to connect into.
So I connected the three red wires in the live connecter , three earths in the earth and two neutrals in neutral , and the light is now on , only the light will not switch off , it is permanantly on.

Can someone please advise me , that one brown wire I left unhooked , presumably it is the swith wire (live) where should I place it ?

should i place it with the other three red wires , there is hardly enough room .

Thankyou for your help.
Cyg

 

[Spark123]

You need the fourth piece of block to make it work I am affraid. Are you sure it is brown, I would have expected black (sleeved red) or red as the switched live?
//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:tblightnonharm

 

[cyg]

You need the fourth piece of block to make it work I am affraid. Are you sure it is brown, I would have expected black (sleeved red) as the switched live?
//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:tblightnonharm[/QUOTE]

Hi there Spark , thanks for the quick reply , it may be a black wire , it is isolated with tape at the moment , I just don't know what to do with it , I still have the old connector , but it is in the way of the new fitting , and the new fitting has just three holes for the wires ???

the isolated wire was in a connector called "flex" , the three red wires were in a group called "loop in" and two blues in "neutral" , why are there no fittings with these new lights ?


thanks

 

[Spark123]

At the moment you have the 3 reds in the block marked L? These need to connect together in a spare piece of block and to nothing else. The black which you speak of needs to be sleeved red and is the only wire which connects into the L terminal.
Please don't use tape for isolating wires too, use a piece of block and terminate it safely.

 

[cyg]

At the moment you have the 3 reds in the block marked L? These need to connect together in a spare piece of block and to nothing else. The black which you speak of needs to be sleeved red and is the only wire which connects into the L terminal.

yes , I thought because they are live (red) that they would need to be in the block marked "L" , obviously not , so when it gets light and I can se what I am doing I will put these in a seperate spare block , and place the odd wire in the L terminal , thanks very much .

I think I am safe using the light as it is at the moment , if I am not please tell me

thanks !

 

[bernardgreen]

Can someone please advise me , that one brown wire I left unhooked , presumably it is the swith wire (live) where should I place it ?

should i place it with the other three red wires , there is hardly enough room

NO If you do and then turn the switch ON you will short out the live and neutral in the switch.

 

[Spark123]

I can't see much of a problem bar what I said about using insulation tape and the fact you can't turn it off. Is the area where the terminals are likely to get warm?

 

[Spark123]

Can someone please advise me , that one brown wire I left unhooked , presumably it is the swith wire (live) where should I place it ?

should i place it with the other three red wires , there is hardly enough room

NO If you do and then turn the switch ON you will short out the live and neutral in the switch.

I doubt it will be that spectacular, the spare wire appears to be sw live. If connected with permanent lives it shouldn't take any hurt.
The fatal mistake is to connect it in with the blacks (neutrals), that usually shorts it out.

 

[cyg]

I can't see much of a problem bar what I said about using insulation tape and the fact you can't turn it off. Is the area where the terminals are likely to get warm?

The area where the terminals are is fine , it isn't too warm.

I will just pop the fuse switch before going to bed , can't afford to waiste electricity these days with UK fuel bills


Thanks for your help , much appreciated.!

cyg

 

[bernardgreen]

I doubt it will be that spectacular, the spare wire appears to be sw live. If connected with permanent lives it shouldn't take any hurt.
The fatal mistake is to connect it in with the blacks (neutrals), that usually shorts it out.

But if all the blacks are joined together and all the reds are joined together at the rose then the cable to switch has neutral on it's black and live on it's red.

 

[equitum]

My father electrocuted himself (not fatally) but it came as a shock....and at 67 was not a good idea, because he was changing a light fitting and assumed that as he had turned off the light at the switch he was OK. As any spark would tell you 4 plate lighting wiring uses one terminal to loop the "live" (phase) between the lighting points on the circuit and another to loop the neutrals together, and the switch goes from the live loop to a switched live terminal.

BE CAREFUL !!!