Electrics Help?

Question

My dad is fitting a light in my bathroom and we are confused....there are 4 red, 2 black & 2 green cables......can we twist together the red cables?

i know that getting an electrician is best but I am having a party tonight and have no light in my bathroom......probably won't get an electrician that won't cost an arm and a leg before then!!!!

I have taken one light down and installing a new one in the same place.....no changes to main electrics

the fitting has 4 spaces - neutral, earth, live and a spare.....can we blank off 3 of the red wires and fit one to the light?

in reply to budde ugly's ...... because it is a completely differenty type of light that is being fitted!

Answer 1

Right then where do we start... 2 Black cables, these are (or should be) the neutrals, and should be kept together to continue the circuit (one is in -one is out) The Greens are the Earths & should also be kept together for the same reason,
Also note that if your new fitting is metalic it must have what we call a flying lead which should also be joined to the earthing point.
As for those four reds?
You really require a test pen or similar!
You need to establish the PERMANENT live (this remains live even if you turn the light switch off ok!)
You then need to establish the SWITCH live!
This only becomes live when you turn on the switch!
The other TWO reds are most likely continuations onto other areas of the house and should be kept together with the permanent live ok (They should NOT be live when disconnected from the other reds!
Right then lets connect!
Normaly in a light fitting rose there are 3 seperate sections ok!
one section is for the PERMANENT LIVES!
one is for the NEUTRALS!
one is for the SWITCHED LIVE!
You should also have a brass connector for the Earths!
Lets go!
Keep all wires safely apart....insert the earths....insert the black neutrals.....Now comes the tricky part the REDS!..
First turn OFF the light switch....if you have no test equipment then you have no alternative but to lick your finger tip and quickly touch each of the reds in turn..
The one that makes you jump is the PERMANENT LIVE!
carefully insert this cable into the ceiling rose (Normaly the center series of holes ) all the other three reds should still be dead ok........TURN ON THE LIGHT SWITCH...
one of the remaining three reds should now be live ( sorry you need to do the do the finger test again)
This is now the SWITCH LIVE and should be placed in a seperate block on its own in the ceiling rose.
all that remains is to put the remaining two reds into the middle section with the PERMANENT LIVE WIRE (Be carefull! )
Now the light fitting....
it probably has a BROWN.BLUE.GREEN/YELLOW..cable
insert the Blue into the section with the blacks
insert the Green/Yellow into the Earth Block
insert the Brown into the SWITCH LIVE section (this ensures the light only comes on when switched ok!
I know it is dangerous to tell someone to test electricicity with their finger but it works for me!
as long as you do not GRIP a wire then you should only feel a tingle as you quickly touch the wire ok!
Hope everything turns out fine and have a great night....Smiffy

Answer 2

Won't help this time, but you should always take a photo of the setup before you undo it. that way you can put it back the same way. I use colour coding tape [sold at big box stores] to let me know which wires were tied together.

May be best now to have an expert have a look. If you must try yourself the best thing you could do is draw a diagram of the setup and then figure out how the wires you see fit into that setup. Maybe your dad could use a wire tester to find the live wire and then a continuity tester [two wires connected to battery and a light] to locate the switch loop wires. Sounds like you might have a 3-way [two switches] setup.

Do you have other light[s] on the same setup? If so, you could use a continuity tester to locate these wires.

Answer 3

Hook the new light to the same two spots that the old one was. I think that you are replacing a light into a space that once had a heat, light and fan unit previously. The other possibility is that you have a three or four way switch there, even though I can't figure out why there would be one in a residential bathroom. Most likely, the green wires are for a ground, at least in the U.S. In the U.S., the black wires are usually the hot wires, in a 120 volt ac circuit. I think the red ones are for you switch wires on a three-way or four way light switch, and that is too difficult for me to explain here. If you old light had a fan, and/or heat, then the red wires could be hot wires for those, with the blacks hooked up to the neutrals. I think that if you can't hook it back the way you found it, you need to call an electrician before you burn the house down.

Answer 4

Leave it as it was when you took off the old light. If they weren't connected before , don't connect them now. Connect your new light to the wires which you took off the old light, red to brown and black to blue, green to green/yellow. There are endless connection possibilities in your description. Impossible to go through them all here. I hope that the light is suitable for the zone it's being fitted in??

ADDED>> Leave the three reds that were together, and connect to 'spare' terminal. Connect single red to L/ brown terninal. Connect two blacks to N/Blue terminal. Connect 2? Greeens to Earth/ Green-yellow terminal. I'm puzzled as to why you only have two earth conductors out of what appears to be/ should be, three, twin and earth cables. Has one been cut off ??

If you have separated the red cores, you will have to identify which cable has two red cores, put one core with the two other reds, and the remaining red core is the 'single' one which connects to L on the light fitting.

ADDED 2> I cant believe that SMIFFY calls himself an electrician and suggests to someone with no electrical knowledge to touch bared ends to trace which is live. This is one of the stupidest suggestions I have ever seen on YA, and there are plenty!! You'll go down for manslaughter.

Answer 5

Replace the wires in the same place as they were before from the old fitting on the new light fitting. If you have trip switches installed on your fuse box you won't do any damage as they will trip if you get it wrong.
Just remember to put the earth wires (green or greeen/yellow) directly onto the fitting or it my be live should you touch it.
Good luck!!!

Answer 6

Nooooooooooo!!!!!!


Find an electrician quickly - You start randomly twisting together cables you're gonna fry yourself your lights most of your fuses and probably half the street

Answer 7

it is against the law to carry out any electrical work in a bathroom, even changing the light fitting! unless your part p complaint.
Do you now if the light fitting is correctly IP rated for the zone it is going in?
Do yourself a favour and get a electrician who is part p compliant to do it before someone gets hurt.
You could even get fined!

Answer 8

Lick your finger test !!!! I think that has got to go down as THE STUPIDEST answer I've EVER heard, and to put it in to writing for advice. ????

Answer 9

DONT TOUCH,please it sounds like you dont know what your doing,not being disrespectfull,get someone who knows,there a few ways this could be wired,and aint good taking chances,sorry,

Answer 10

No you cant:::::::;you have two feeding the switch , the earth (green/yellow )yes together :::::the other three reds .one the main feed , one the loop to the next light etc ::::::leave alone use a tourch ::""""