Help with ceiling wiring after plaster moulding fell down.

[blawes1]

Hi, I wonder if any one can help me please.

I was trying to carefully remove the ugly plaster ceiling moulding so i could take off the old light and replace with a new one, but after 2 hits with the bolster and hammer the whole thing came down.....with the light.

The wires I have are shown on the photo. I am confused with the single loose red wire as I havent found a connector block for it anywhere.

The new light I am fitting just needs live, neutral and earth and its only switched on at one light switch.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

Bernard

 

[mdbalson]

The single black will be the switched live, which the live of the light will connect to, this needs to have a piece of red tape or red sleeving put onto it.

The block with the bare copper wires in is the earth block, where the earth from the light will go, the bare copper wires will need to be sleeved with green/yellow sleeving.

The block with the 3 netural wires in it is the netural block, where the netural from the light will go into.

The block with the 2 reds in it is the perment live block, no wires from the light will connect to this.

 

[blawes1]

Hi,

Many thanks for the fast reply mdbalsan. The only part that confuses me still is that single red wire. When I was taking the moulding down Im not even sure if it was connected anywhere. What should I do with it?....put a connecting block onto it?

many thanks

Bernard

 

[daytona]

that spare red is probably a permanent live.do any lights not work on the rest of the circuit?

you will need to test it to be sure.

have a look inside the connector block with the two reds and you may well find a broken piece of copper wire sitting in there,that should give you a clue.if they are twisted,take the connector block off.the broken core may still be twisted inside it.

do none of the above without switching power of at board first.

 

[RF Lighting]

There appear to be FOUR t&e cables in the picture.

Is there another light in the same room whitch switches on and off with the light you have pictured?

 

[blawes1]

Hi Daytona,

All other lights downstairs are working. The block with the 2 reds is actually 3 reds already in it. I think its not so clear from my photo.

So what I have is

3 live reds into 1 block
3 earths into 1 block
3 neutrals into 1 block
1 switched live
1 loose red

Im thinking to connect as suggested and see if all works without that spare red. If it does all work, to cap off that spare red with a block and tape it up. Is this a sensible thing to do?

Many thanks

Bernard

 

[blawes1]

Hi RF,

No, this light is on its own. It switches on from a 3 gang switch. This switch controls this light, kitchen light, and under cupboard lights. The kitchen light and under cupboard lights are still working fine. There are no other switches for any of these lights.

Many thanks

Bernard

 

[daytona]

is everything else working as it should?

pir outside or something?

if you have four cables you should have four earths btw

 

[blawes1]

Hi all,

This is what I have done. I have connected my brown cable of the light to the black switched live, connected the earths, and also connected the blue to the 3 neutrals and it works fine. I have found the 4th earth which was broken off next to the spare red. I have voltage tested the spare red with the switch on and off and there is no voltage at all.

All other lights downstairs and upstairs are working fine. The PIR in the garden is working fine so I have no ideas what that red cable could be for.

Is it safe to put a connector block on the end and wrap it in tape and leave it?

Many thanks for all yopur suggestions

Bernard

 

[daytona]

disconnect the black that goes with the red ,connector block it and restore power.if everything works on the circuit then chances are it could have been a loop switchline and neutral at one time or another.the other end of that wire may well just be taped up in the ceiling and you will be doing yourself a favour by disconnecting it.

it will become apparent over time if they just nicked a neutral for something which would indicate a bigger problem so if you disconnect te black and something stops working then by all means re post.

de energising something is ok(if a little inconvenient if something stops working)re energising something when you dont know where it goes or what it does,is extremely unsafe

 

[blawes1]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your help. It turns out that the spare red, neutral and earth did in fact at some time go somewhere else but are now not in use. I have isolated them and everything still works.

Many thanks for the fast replies, especially on a sunday

Bernard

 

[dannyboi2003]

The mystery cable could have gone to an old wall light thats since been removed and its cable plastered over. Someone disconnected the live feed but didn't bother with the neutral.

Just a thought i wanted to share

All the best
Dan

 

[Welshy]

The mystery cable could have gone to an old wall light thats since been removed and its cable plastered over. Someone disconnected the live feed but didn't bother with the neutral.

Just a thought i wanted to share

All the best
Dan

I would have siad that too Danniboi, where abouts in W Glam are you mate?

 

[dannyboi2003]

Hi Welshy,

I'm in Neath mate, don't want to be any more specific on the public forum, whereabouts are you from?

My email addy is in my profile if you want to drop me a message.

All the best
Dan