ceiling light diy disaster?

Question

hi brought a new ceiling light but am having probs fitting it! it has 4 red wires and 4 black does anyone know the combination they should be wired onto the loop (or the 8 hole thing as i call it ). at the moment my pantry light turns on the hall light and i have no lights upstairs cheers ppl

Answer 1

sounds like you re-wired it completly wrong..
you need to go back and look at all the cables.. as one guy has allready stated one or more black insulated cables MAY be live.
I can comment without seeing the whole thing but would rather not as i dont want to be held responsable for any misshaps.
please consult a local electritian (advice is free) and remember it is now supposidly illegal to work on the electrics in your household..
1 more thing.. If anyone here does manage to help and you do decide to finish it, well Be carefull a 230 volt shock does hurt and can kill some...

Answer 2

Your big problem is that one of the four black wires will be LIVE.

This is because the live goes down a red wire to the wall switch, and comes back live. Conscientious electricians bother to buy and use cable which has two red wires, because both wires in the cable to the light switch are live.

So the wires which you have there are now:-

1 red + 1 black = power to the ceiling rose.
1 red + 1 black = power from the ceiling rose to next light.
1 red + 1 black = live to and live back from the wall switch.
1 red + 1 black = wires to your new light.

Once you no longer know which of the black wires is live, or which of the red wires goes to the switch, then you're in trouble.

Someone with a reasonable understanding can work it out easily in about fifteen minutes, but it's not a job for a novice.

Answer 3

Yes i think you might have to call someone in!
One red wire comes from your fuse box or previous light in the circuit. A second red will go to the next light in the circuit and the third red will go to the wall switch. Don't know why you have four, but its safe to assume all reds will link together.
Your problem is with the blacks, because one of them is the return from the switch.
Basically, your lamp should be have one terminal connected to black, neutral. The other two black neutrals will also connect to this point. You will have one black left over which will go to the second terminal of the light, because its not really neutral, its the live return from the switch. Got it?
Your job is to find out which is the errant neutral!!!!
If you buy a cheap multitester, TURN OFF your FUSEBOX.
Now you can test yourself. Unscrew your light SWITCH. take out the black wire and wrap it around one lead from the multitester. The other lead will not be long enough so use a long piece of wire as the other lead. Set your meter to Ohms x1 (usually a horseshoe symbol) now put this wire on each of the four blacks in turn until the meter moves nearly all the way over. You've found it! Now connect all reds. Connect all blacks except the 'live' one. connect one end of bulb to group of three blacks, and the other end to 'live' black. Put switch back together and turn fuse box on. Hey presto! This is the best way to do it if you are not to sure what you are doing, and you don't want to work 'LIVE'. Hope i haven't confused you too much!

Answer 4

You are writing about the wires in the ceiling rose?
Buy an electrical screwdriver with a neon light mains tester, use it to identify the live mains feed to the rose -RED -check that its the correct wire by switching the light switch on and off. Connect lead from light pendant to this feed, connect Black wire from pendant to black wire -switch on light. Bingo!
Don't forget to turn off the mains supply before touching any live wires.

Answer 5

Yes I do know how they should be connected into the light.

Sounds like you have seriously screwed up the wiring, call in a professional to sort it out. It's no longer a DIY job.

Answer 6

Dont mess until you get the right answer here, i know of your frustration here but sorry i'm not sure on this, i was lucky and only had the 3 to contend with. It's because that light basically feeds others you see. You do have to get this right!! i'm sure your answer will come soon??

Answer 7

"it has 4 red wires and 4 black "

Really. In the fixture itself? Or in the ceiling box?

Answer 8

Even our electrician found our new ceiling lights difficult to install (well he complained enough anyway...). My husband is pretty savvy about things electric but decided not to attempt this himself. I really think you need to call out an electrician.

Answer 9

if it was just the one light i would help but with the other problems you best get a qualified electrician in it may cost £100 to put things right but at least it will be safe !!

Answer 10

i really think you should call an electrician if you dont know what you are doing before you end up blowing yourself up and moreso others.