Strange lighting wiring question

[sonogenics]

I'm trying to replace the hanging light below and I've gotten a little confused. Shouldn't the brown wire on the left be connected to the live (red) wires rather than the neutral?

I understand that the black wires on the right are connected to the blue wire, both are neutral so that makes sense. The same goes for the earth wires. I just can't understand why it is wired in this way and how it even works?!?! Can someone clarify this for me?

 

[Adam_151]

Thats a standard arrangement. The black on its own is not a neutral, it is a switched live, and should have a bit of red sleeving on to show this, however theres a lot of installations where it was never fitted.

If you connected the brown from the drop in with the reds, you'd never be able to switch the light off.

Dont mix up the switched live with the other blacks, or you'll end up with a short circuit and blown fuse

 

[securespark]

The black wire connected to the brown IS a live wire, it comes back from the switch and is live when the switch is closed.

The black wire should have a red marker on it.

EDIT: Too slow AGAIN! Doh!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I'm trying to replace the hanging light below and I've gotten a little confused. Shouldn't the brown wire on the left be connected to the live (red) wires rather than the neutral?

sono - please read the info here - you've got some potentially dangerous misconceptions....



http://www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting

 

[sonogenics]

Thanks for the help guys. That has cleared things up. I'll put a bit of red sparky around the cables to help identify it in the future. I'll also read all that information to make I don't royally balls something up!