security light?

[t3zza36]

hi guyz im installing new security light,i know u will all say get an lecky 2 do it but im insistant on doing it myself so any tips or hints wud b gratefully recieved.
ddont know if its old type wiring from switch but theres a red ,yellow,blue & yellow/green.
i wired it as follows: blue-blue red-brown yellow/green-yellow/green the extra yellow i assume is secondary live so i blocked it off & taped it up.
now when i switch it on the sensor worked i could hear it but the light didnt come on,now when i looked at switch end the yellow & red were in together so my question is:should the red & yellow go in together into bron at the light end??
thanks

 

[securespark]

You what?

Are you trying to wire a 500W flood directly into the switch on a 5/6A lighting circuit? No chance.

Post some pictures, please.

 

[GrantF]

Im pretty sure from reading the info on here that the recommended method is to wire these types of lights into a FCU spur taken from the sockets ring main, not the lighting circuit as you have attempted....... <don's flameproof jacket>

 

[securespark]

Ahhh.....so it is you that pinched Don's flameproof jacket - he's been looking for it all week...

 

[t3zza36]

well the one i took down was wired into the light,it seems to me that 1 live is for sensor & 1 for light??

i might add that the switch is the switch for a security light that was up there,im just not sure if lives shud go together as they do in switch?
__________________________
Moderator
may i suggest you note 10a

 

[felix]

When you say "yellow & red were in together" do you mean in the same terminal? If this is the case it makes little difference at the other end. You can maybe get an extra volt for your light by putting them together at that end also.

Where is the blue wire at the switch end? Is it in another terminal on the switch and, if so, are there two more terminals with the red and black (or maybe brown and blue) wires from a twin core and earth cable in them? This is good because it means you have a double pole switch.

Last but not least, where does green/yellow go in the switch? Please tell me it goes to a terminal in the back box or on the switch body along with the earth wire from that cable.

If all of this is correct then you have wired it up right. Why doesn't it work? Well for a start these lights nearly always have a light sensor on them to stop them from coming on during the day. If you set this wrong it might not come on at night either. Actually, there are lots of reasons why a light might not work: no power, duff bulb, bad joint, broken wire, etc, etc. I suggest you start at the switch and work outwards.

 

[t3zza36]

first of all felix thank u for ur sensible reply i may be a noob but im not dumb.
ok the swith end is like this black/blue top left.red top right .red/yellow bottom right .nothing bottom left. yellow/green fixed to backplate.

 

[securespark]

What does the switch look like?

It has just come to me that maybe the switch is a switched spur?

Also, there are some installs where the red may be a live to the passive/ combi fitting, the blue a neutral, and the yellow a switched feed to manually switch the fitting on 24/7.

But without pictures it is tricky. Can you post images?

 

[t3zza36]

cant post images,the swith is a single switch with a red light on it ,which i may add doesnot come on.

 

[securespark]

Is there a fuse-holder adjacent to the rocker switch?

 

[t3zza36]

think bulb has gone

 

[securespark]

neons do fail, yes.

I'm keen to discover if the switch has a fuse incorporated or whether it is just a DP switch + neon.....

 

[t3zza36]

looks like a fuse holder but theres a small bulb in it which has never worked.

no fuse as old light worked when switched on

 

[securespark]

If it's a fuseholder, it will say "FUSE" on it, and there will be some means of opening it to extract the fuse.

 

[t3zza36]

no fuse just bulb