Fitting a new light - quick question with fun diagrams!

[katie279]

Hi Folks,

Am fitting a new kitchen light, but am a bit confused by the wires that have come out of the old fluorescent tube style light (am replacing with a nice pendant one)

Can anyone look at these two photos and join the dots? I've labelled them both, so would appreciate a quick 'A goes to 2' style answers!

I think previously it was 3 and 4 that were attached to the light, but I can't figure out how I'm meant to know which is which as they're both black!

1 and 2 have a label attached that says something like 'alternative switching wire' if that makes any sense or is any help!?

Untitled

• katie279
• 26 Sep 2010
• 1

Untitled

• katie279
• 26 Sep 2010
• 1

Many thanks!

 

[sparkwright]

The problem we have here is not knowing what the cable containing 1 and 2 is for.

One concern is that it doesn't seem to have an earth wire.
Has it been cut off?

The important question is 'Was it connected before?'.

You said something like 'alternative switching' was written on it.
So;
Have you had a light switch somewhere else that this could belong to?

Is there more than one light in the room?
Did another light come on with this one?

Can you trace the cable to where it goes?

Any abandoned cables coiled up behind light switches?

The rest of the wiring looks simple;
3 A
4 C
5 B

If you decide to connect up the light without the knowledge of what 1 and 2 do you MUST connect the ends of 1 and 2 in two separate 5 amp connector blocks for safety.

Try and investigate the missing earth wire.

I see the ends of 1 and 2 are not stripped back, which does suggest they weren't connected.

 

[katie279]

Hi sparkwright, thanks for your reply - yes 1 and 2 just came out as it is, wasn't connected before, will need to ensure it's covered - there was no other light (though guess there may have been at some point with previous owners).

I will wire up the remainders as you describe and see what happens! Out of interest, how can you tell which of the black wires is which?

 

[sparkwright]

The bunch of blacks in the connector block are the neutrals.

The separate black on it's own is the (switched) live. By rights you should really put a red pvc sleeve over the black insulation to identify it is live.
Red tape would do.