Replacing a light fitting - old wiring help!

[tinstar]

Hello, I'm trying to replace an indoor wall light with a brand new fitting. The problem is I'm not sure which configuration the connections should be to get it working!

Thre are two wires protruding from the wall;
1 red (presumably live)
1 black (neutral or earth?).

The new fitting has a connector block with standard 3 wires;
1 red (live)
1 blue (neutral)
1 green/yellow (earth).

Could you be so kind as to help which wires go where?

Thanks!

 

[ricicle]

If your wiring does not include an earth then you must not fit this light as it requires one for safety reasons.

 

[tinstar]

Thanks for the assistance. It spurred me on to establish, after some extensive googling, whether there was an Earth present entombed in the wall, and it turns out there are another 2 wires making 4 in all from which I can attach the new fitting.

They are enclosed within 2 grey cables; one containing a single red wire, and then a triplet of red, black and an unsheathed copper wire in the second.

Does this sound more achievable to you guys in attaching the new fitting?

How do I proceed?

Ta...

 

[Taylortwocities]

Do not undo any of the existing "entombed" connections!

Put Red to red
Blue to black

and you'll need a short length of earth sleeved wire to connect the earth to the entombed earths. That should do it./

 

[tinstar]

Thanks, but still confused.

1 - The two reds from the wall go into the same terminal in the connection block?

2 - I get that the black from the wall goes into the corresponding blue terminal from the light fitting.

3 - Not sure what you mean about the extra length for the Earth. The only remaining wire from the wall at this point would be the unsheathed one. Is that Earth? Can't it just go into the junction block directly (the new light fitting has the regular Earthed connection (yellow/green wire))?

Many thanks to anyone that can reply!

 

[wingcoax]

ALL cpc(earth wires) should be sheathed with green/yellow sleeve.( if not already). Your bare copper wires are earths.

 

[Taylortwocities]

You said

Thre are two wires protruding from the wall;
1 red (presumably live)
1 black (neutral or earth?).
!

Then you said

The two reds from the wall
!

Can you clarify and/or post a photo. I don't know what you are saying..

I don't suppose you noted where the wires went on the old light fitting?

 

[tinstar]

As I said earlier, there were initially 2 wires (red and black) until I investigated further and uncovered the additional entombed red and unsheathed wires.

There are four wires including 2 red, 1 black and 1 unsheathed:

Untitled

• tinstar
• 4 Jan 2012
• 1

The yellow tape covers the exposed copper. I hope this makes things clearer.

Thanks.

 

[OwainDIYer]

If the earth wire has been cut short at this fitting it may have been cut short elsewhere and not actually be connected to earth.

Until you have done a resistance test on this cable you should not assume it us usable as an earth, and should not fit a light fitting requiring an earth.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I wouldn't assume anything of an installation which has been ******ed about with by the sort of person who would do that with cables.


Apart from "everything is dodgy until proven otherwise".

 

[tinstar]

Fair comment, although my belief is that it is still earthed from the previous operation of the fitting some years ago, I would be happy to follow your advice to be safe. Could I "test the resistance" myself? Which testing tool would I need if so?

Also, assuming it is earthed - could someone please advise as to the configuration of wires? So far, I got:
Black into blue
Unsheathed into Earth
But, do both reds from the wall insert into the same live terminal at the new light fitting? That is what I'm most unclear about...

Cheers all.

 

[Taylortwocities]

I will ask again

I don't suppose you noted where the wires went on the old light fitting?