How to get live wire to fan with only access through small downlight holes!?

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Hi, I have 3 downlight in my bathroom with the pull switch on the ceiling by the door, and then above the window on the opposite side of the room I have my extractor fan. Because I have also installed a dimmer switch outside the bathroom the fan has not worked because there is no permanent live to it. Its been fine as its been summer and the window has been open wide all the time. But now its winter I need to get the fan in action

How can I feed a cable from the switch to the opposite end (about 3m) with only these 3 downlight holes, which are about 60cm apart, and too small to get your hand in. Is there a special tool for this? There must be!

Any tips appreciated
Thanks
 
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buy a hamster and train it to pull string.....

do you have/can you borrow some 4/6mm single core cable as that is usually stiff enough to poke along a ceiling then fix the required cable and pull it in. i would even try with your required cable alone if it is sliding along a flat palsterboard ceiling you might get lucky unless there are joist in the way
 
Do you know which way the joist run

Not a recommendation - just to give an idea

I'm sure pro may give a much better idea of quality products

i have some plastic for dragging cables around - Probably not stiff enough for

I have seen these sort of things used to pull a few drop lights across a dining room - The joists run in the right direction

BUT , as mentioned, not a recommendation - just to give you an idea
 
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Cheaper version than proper cable rods is the lid from some plastic cable trunking. Something like this.

 
Doesn’t the bathroom not have a loft above?
Maybe not, but most do
It depends if there is a clear run without noggins etc but I have used a steel tape measure as a means of connecting two points.
I also have some Lidl/Aldi fibreglass rods that screw together. They bend.
presumably some Amazon budget ones would do.
like others, I have bought small cable trunking and used only the lid as a flexible “route finder”
 
Thanks guys, yeah these are exactly the ideas I'm looking for. I'll have to find out about the joists by poking around or maybe getting. little carer up there
The loft is above, but its been converted, is carpet and has built in storage, so no way to get down there without ripping it all apart!
 
Thanks guys, yeah these are exactly the ideas I'm looking for. I'll have to find out about the joists by poking around or maybe getting. little carer up there
The loft is above, but its been converted, is carpet and has built in storage, so no way to get down there without ripping it all apart!

If you find the joists do go across your intended cable route, the only solution is to knock holes in the ceiling to pass the cable under each joist, then patch the holes later.
 
If you find the joists do go across your intended cable route, the only solution is to knock holes in the ceiling to pass the cable under each joist, then patch the holes later.
OK so there is not clever way to thread the cable over or under joists without making holes close to them?
 
Can you put some coving (...or similar) up, to hide a new cable?
I do have coving along one wall, but it would mean putting it on the end walls too and could look a bit odd, and be a hassle as I stuck whats up there already very well! I think trying to get it in the ceiling space will be preferable, fingers crossed
 
OK so there is not clever way to thread the cable over or under joists without making holes close to them?
No.
If the joists run across your run. You gave to drill the joists to run the cables. Choices are:
1. Chop large holes in ceiling so you can drill through the joists. There will be a joist every 40 or 60cm, so a lot of patching.
2. Take the ceiling down
3. Lift the carpet and floor above. There are devices so you cut a series of large holes and cover plates.

That’s for the cable being concealed in the ceiling. Other ugly solutions are available.
 
Back to the beginning:

Hi, I have 3 downlight in my bathroom with the pull switch on the ceiling by the door, and then above the window on the opposite side of the room I have my extractor fan.
Ok.

Because I have also installed a dimmer switch outside the bathroom the fan has not worked because there is no permanent live to it.
When you say "also installed a dimmer switch"; do you mean as well as your pull switch?
Are you saying the fan worked before the dimmer? If so, how?

Assuming it is a timer fan - if there is no permanent live you could just put a link wire from the Switched Live Timer terminal to the Permanent Live terminal. The timer will not work but the fan will.

That is depending on what effect the dimmer has on the fan.
 
Back to the beginning:


Ok.


When you say "also installed a dimmer switch"; do you mean as well as your pull switch?
Are you saying the fan worked before the dimmer? If so, how?

Assuming it is a timer fan - if there is no permanent live you could just put a link wire from the Switched Live Timer terminal to the Permanent Live terminal. The timer will not work but the fan will.

That is depending on what effect the dimmer has on the fan.
I ASSUMED it was a manual fan that came on and off with the lights only, and the dimmer messed it up.

Why he needs a dimmer in the bathroom I do not know, unless he is some kind of romantic swine.

Maybe if the bulbs are removable perhaps lower wattage bulbs could be used without the dimmer.

Or maybe even smart bulbs could be used, again without the dimmer.
 

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