German wiring

[Squiddley57]

My Mrs recently bought a modern chandelier from Amazon. It turns out to be
German (I think). The problem is that when I shortened the supply lead all three wires are encased in a clear plastic. The original terminated in properly identified blocks but it's impossible to tell which was which now the wire us shortened. I might be imagining it but I think one of the wires has a greenish hue. Is there any safe way to tell if I'm connecting earth to earth? My existing ceiling rose is part if a standard ring, i.e has a loop through etc. What's the worse thing that can happen?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

They often have a slight colour tint to them, that may help ID them, but if not possible, you need a test meter that can measure continuity, a multimeter can do this, then test end to end resistance for a closed circuit to match them up.

 

[securespark]

What's the worse thing that can happen?

You're kidding, right?

 

[Robin0577]

What's the worse thing that can happen?

The worst thing that can happen is you end up connecting the live supply to the outer casing of the light, someone touches it and receives a possibly fatal shock!

The wiring MUST be correctly identified using a continuity tester or a multimeter set to a low ohms range

 

[pjcomp]

Not the worst that can happen but very annoying - I had one of these a couple of years ago and managed to mistake the earth and live (a hint of yellow and a hint of light brown ...). Every time I switched on the lights the RCD went. Took a while before I discovered what I'd done wrong but took it as a lesson for the future.

pj

 

[Squiddley57]

SuperSparks I am well aware of the worst that can happen - but would it not be obvious when I turned the power on and the the light didn't "work". Obviously I wouldn't touch the thing before cutting the power again.

What I meant was what would happen if I attached the supply neutral to the earth and vice versa. Presumably the rcd would trip?

I've got a multimeter but no wander lead. Is there any way that I can check with this?

 

[wingcoax]

Presumably the lamps are screw fitting? if so use your meter and check between the centre contact and the wires, the one that shows a circuit is the live. The one that works from the side contact is the neutral and the one from the casing is the earth. Seemples

 

[ekmdgrf]

What's the worse thing that can happen?

The worst thing that can happen is you end up connecting the live supply to the outer casing of the light, someone touches it and receives a possibly fatal shock!

That was my first thought too. However, I also considered the OP being unable to let go of the now live chassis and his XYL pulling him a away, also receiving a fatal shock in the process. I'd envisaged her having enough momentum to also pull the OP off the ladder and the light fitting being pulled down too, resulting in two of the conductors shorting and a shower of sparks setting the house on fire. I'd then considered the fire service sending a BA crew to rescue them and being killed by the roof falling in. It might also be possible that the OP lives in a semi or terrace and the fire spreading to other properties, resulting in further loss of life. It's also possible that one or more of the appliances is involved in a fatal road traffic collision on the way to the shout.

It's worth noting, where I used to work, they stopped asking me to provide "worst case scenarios"

 

[Robin0577]

Wow! Now that's taking things to a whole new level of detail.