Help Wiring A Light Fitting Needed

[Gray]

I'm wiring a new light in a bedroom. I've used a fout block connector and put all the red wires together, two black wires are together and the what I think is the swtched live (alos black) and the earth both have a block of their own. I've connected the light's live wire to the switched live and the lights neutral wire to the to neutral wires block. THe light doesnt work. However if I change the black wires around in case i've got the swtched live wrong the rest of the lights on the upstairs floor dont work but the one i'm fitting does. Any ideas anyone?

 

[il78]

Sounds like your almost there.......you have broke the neutral continuity, and thats why the upstairs lights dont work... you could do with really identifying your switch wire with a tester...then you aint getting mixed up with the neutrals.....

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Am I imagining it, or are there more questions about lighting circuits here than anything else?

Should there be a prominent FAQ on //www.diynot.com/forums/ entitled "IF YOU'VE COME HERE TO ASK A QUESTION ABOUT WIRING UP A LIGHT FITTING READ THIS FIRST" ?

 

[il78]

I think what it is, is that people buy the light fitting and expect to connect 3 wires and presto.....and when they see 9 the hand starts rubbing the chin...

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Every day, it seems.

The cheapskate manufacturers of thse things should be made to provide the equivalent connectivity of a ceiling rose.

Does anybody know how other countries wire up their lights? Are we out on a limb with our system?

 

[Juno 60]

The cheapskate manufacturers of thse things should be made to provide the equivalent connectivity of a ceiling rose.

Absolutely. In my limited experience of fitting lights, I have yet to encounter lights having connections suitable for loop-in switch systems. With the 2 lights I have fitted so far, I have had to resort to putting a junction box in the roof void in order to have the required single cable supplying the light. A pain in the posterior (and in the head, having knocked my head on roof joists several times while farting about in the loft). The instructions provided with new lights are crap and don't give the necessary info to deal with a situation where 3 or 4 light cables protrude through the ceiling hole where the old rose once lived.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The instructions provided with new lights are crap and don't give the necessary info to deal with a situation where 3 or 4 light cables protrude through the ceiling hole where the old rose once lived.

Yes they do - they say "if in doubt consult a qualified electrician"

It's a real pain that the fittings don't have enough built in connections to replace a rose directly, but that's easily fixed with a bit of choc-block.

The real problem comes when someone who doesn't understand how lighting circuits are wired, doesn't bother to find out or "consult a qualified electrician" and makes his/her own decision on which wires to attach where (usually all the reds together, all the blacks etc) and then wonders why the lights wont turn on. Or off. Or why none of the downstream ones will come on unless the new one is on, etc.

I firmly believe that lights which are not capable, out of the box, of replacing a ceiling rose, are "not of merchantable quality", and should be banned from sale in the UK.