help no lights

[markvirgo]

i am preparing my 1920's house ready for the builders starting in march.
i have stripped out upstairs all the plaster from the walls and the ceilings have been removed.
i still have to live there so i have moved downairs(sleeping on the floor)

i removed the fuse for the lights and then disconnected all the lighting wires upstairs. there is only 2x 3 core running downstairs (1 may be the 2 way switch wire for the stairs)

when i got cleaned up and went to disconect the wiring from the fusebox for the upstairs i found that there was only 1 live for the lighting circuit.
so now i have left out the fuse and have no lights at all.

how can i get the downstairs lights working?.

 

[JohnD]

Have you got any sockets working? Do you know how to add a Fused Connection Unit? (not being rude).

If you do, and you have a 5a cartridge fuse to put in it, you can connect your downstairs lights as a fused spur.

If you have hacked about all the upstairs wiring you need to trace where the supply comes from that goes upstairs and disconnect it. You might have to lose the hall/landing light to do it. When you are sure you have safely isolated all the upstairs wiring you can reconnect the lighting circuit (if I understand you, you mean there was only one fuse that supplied both upstairs and downstairs lights).

If you have downstairs sockets I suppose you could have a wanderlead or table/floor lamp.

If you do not have sockets on a good supply, and are going to rewire the house later, see if you can get an electrican to put in a consumer unit with an RCD and a 20A radial with a couple of surface-wired sockets on it (I went through a similar lifestyle as a young man, and this was a lifesaver for living and working before rewiring was complete). It is a relatively easy and inexpensive job. You can get a little unit designed for garages to do this, though personally I would get a full-sized unit and have most of it blanked off until the rewire is done. Once you have this, you are allowed to add extra sockets and spurs yourself without certification, except of course in bathroom or kitchen. Surface wiring (neatly clipped) will be easy to see and remove when no longer required.

 

[markvirgo]

Have you got any sockets working? Do you know how to add a Fused Connection Unit? (not being rude).

yes i have all sockets working

If you have hacked about all the upstairs wiring you need to trace where the supply comes from that goes upstairs and disconnect it. You might have to lose the hall/landing light to do it. When you are sure you have safely isolated all the upstairs wiring you can reconnect the lighting circuit (if I understand you, you mean there was only one fuse that supplied both upstairs and downstairs lights).

the only wires for the lighting comes from the fusebox thru the wall under the stairs and up thru the wall at the top of the stairs. there is only one fuse and only one live going to it. i suspect that there is a juntion box buried somewhere but i do not want to start removing plaster etc from downstairs yet.

If you have downstairs sockets I suppose you could have a wanderlead or table/floor lamp.

i am using a lamp at present the wife is complaining though.

 

[JohnD]

It is quite likely that the lighting circuit loops into one of the ground-floor lamps and then goes upstairs (there is not likely to be a junction box buried in the wall, for a lighting circuit the connections are usually made at a ceiling fitting). The route into the first-floor floor to supply the ground-floor lights is likely to travel with the cables for the first floor sockets. If you take up a floorboard in the landing you may see it at the very top of the stairs. If you have the first-floor plaster off you should be able to see it somewhere going up a wall into the loft. You may also find a clue in the loft where the route of the lighting cables will be easier to see. If it is a 1920s house the electricity may have been added after the house was built so is likely to go upstairs in the stairwell and may be partly concealed in the joinery of the staircase. You may also see where the plaster has been chased and repaired when you rip the wallpaper off. Is it in steel conduit?

 

[markvirgo]

the two 3 core wires going upstairs. 1 to the loft and 1 to the upstairs switch become live when i turn on the power. i have put these in seperate junction boxes for now so i can use the lights downstairs. so i have light downstairs now. (misses is happy again).

i have changed the lights downstairs before and the have only got 1x3 core to each one?.

the electrics have been updated since 1920's but was a few years ago as it has fuse type fusebox with only 4 circuits excluding the cooker. 1 socket downstairs, 1 socket upstairs, 1 extension circuit, 1 lighting circuit.

there is no conduit used at all.