wiring a kitchen light but too many wires!

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Hi everyone,

Hope you can help. I bought a new light fitting to go in the kitchen:

http://www.johnlewis.com/150230/Product.aspx

It should be fairly easy to fit but when we took the other one off we found lots of extra wires. We have three green+yellow, three red, three black and one extra black with red sheath.

When we wire one of each into the right places the light turns on when we turn the electric back on but the switch doesn't work.

Any ideas??
 
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It should be fairly easy to fit
It will be.


but when we took the other one off we found lots of extra wires.
No you didn't - you found the number of wires almost certain to be expected at a light fitting.

Maybe one black more:
We have three green+yellow, three red, three black and one extra black with red sheath.
The classic system would be 3 blacks in total, not 4. Do you mean a red sheathed cable, or a single-core black with a bit of red sleeving?


When we wire one of each into the right places the light turns on when we turn the electric back on but the switch doesn't work.
I'm guessing that you were fortunate to not connect the extra black with red sheath to the other blacks?


Any ideas??
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Are you sure there are three blacks?
What would be considered normal, would be having three red cores at a loop terminal, this is not the live terminal of the fitting, just a connection bringing these conductors together. If at a ceiling rose they would all go in the central loop terminals, if no loop terminal at ceiling then a connector block is used.
These reds are permanently live, one is a supply, one goes to the next light in circuit and the third goes to the switch.
At the switch this red then goes to the common of the switch, using standard twin and earth the conductor at L1 is black but sleeved red to indicate it is a live conductor when switched, this conductor then goes back up to the light, to the live side of the fitting, again sleeved black to ID it.
There should then be two blacks left, again one from previous light and one to next light in circuit.
The yellow and greens are CPC/earths and terminated at the earth terminals at both switch and light.
The fact you have a fourth black/third neutral, would suggest it is being borrowed for another circuit, this is not recommended.

 
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Thank you. I've had another look by daylight rather than torch! It looks like I have three red, three green+yellow and three black (one with red sheath). I've tried puttingall the red in live, the g+y earth and black in neutral. When I don't put the black/ red sheath in the light won't turn off. When I add that to the neutral bunch, the switch works but the fuse blows!
 
When I add that to the neutral bunch, the switch works but the fuse blows!
That's because it's not a neutral.

Which you would know by now if you'd bothered to read the material I pointed you at yesterday or bothered to read the words and look at the diagram which PBoD posted.

Why should people try to help you when you've clearly got no interest in putting any effort in yourself?
 
It's all in the links provided.
Connect the 3 red cores into a 5A connector, the 2 blacks into the neutral terminal, the black with the red sleaving into the line/live terminal and the g/y into the earth terminal. Simples
 

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