electrician help please,uk?

Question

trying to replace an old kitchen light,
when i disconected there were 7 wires
3 red,3 black,1 earth,i know the wireing is old
but why so many wires?
i tested for the live wire using the old light wires and a bulb,only 2 of the 7 wires will light the bulb,
1 red, 1 black,
when i have the bulb lit and ask someone to turn it of at the switch it doesn't switch off,
i know the switch isn't faulty,
thanx in advance.

thanks jay,sounds like you got it cracked,cheers,m8.

thanxs holly

robin i may be stupid but i aint that stupid,lol,ta for yer advice
i'm in scotland m8.
just add,the new light only has 3,
connectors

Answer 1

You disconnected the old light from one red, two blacks and an earth. Put the new light back on the same cores and it will work as it did before. You made the mistake that everyone else makes on YA and disconnected everything instead of just removing the connections to the light, and not noting what you were doing. NB. The 'one red' may be a black, but should be marked with red tape or sleeving. If you have no idea which cable is which, start by joining the three reds, then trace which of the blacks goes live/ dead with the switch on/off, mark this with red tape- this connects to red/brown on the new light. The remaining two blacks join together and connect to the black/blue of the new light. All earths connect together. The three reds connect to nothing except each other.

Answer 2

First off I'm not an electrician, but I have had this before doing a bit of DIY ing - I ended up getting a pro in! Are the wires at the light end or at the switch end?? There could be extra wires because there's a double switch, like a switch at one end of the room and a switch at the other. Very common in kitchens so you can switch on the light when you come in the back door and also when you enter from the hall/livingroom. It could also be that the lighting circuit is being used as a junction box and the extra wire goes to a spur connection. Now that you've disconnected everything, is there another light somewhere else that doesn't work - check outside lights too. You have a live wire -obviously you have to and that comes from the fuse box, when you connect the wiring back up, that live wire will connect to another of the red wires in turn making it live and thus creating the circuit. I reckon that the wiring has been added to over the years and that's why you've got extra wiring. The switch I opened (was replacing it with a metal style switch) had 10+ wires, it was a double switch and was wrongly wired to start with because someone had added an outside light and an extra bathroom light using the switch as a junction box to extend the live wire. It was a mess, that's why I got someone in.

Sorry I can't help you with the rewire though.

Answer 3

You have all these wires because:

1 One red and one black go to the kitchen light switch. ( when the circuit is correctly connected and the light is on BOTH these wires will be live!

2 One red and one black go back to the fuse box or are fed from a different lighting junction box. (red live black neutral)

3 The remaining red and black go to the next lighting junction box. (red live black neutral)

4 Earth (green) should be connected to any exposed metal parts of the new light.

If you can identify the switch wires (in 1 above) then the rest is fairly easy as follows:

I am assuming that you have got four terminals available either in a junction box or a ceiling rose.

Connect the reds together and include the red switch wire.
Connect the blacks together but NOT the black switch wire. These two connections will be your live and neutral supply.
Connect the green earth cable to its own terminal and connect the black switch wire to its own terminal. Connect one wire of the new light to neutral, and the other to the black switch cable. Connect the earth to the new light if necessary.
If in doubt do consult someone who knows or if you are in the St Austell area in Cornwall I can do it for you.
If you tackle it yourself then dont forget to pull the lighting fuse for that circuit.
Best wishes

Answer 4

Two of the reds are the ring lighting main as are two of the blacks. There should have been two earths as well but as long as an earth is connected, it should be safe.

The third red and third black sound like a hatchet job. It should be two reds and an earth. The black may have a bit of red tape on it to identify it as a lighting switch circuit rather than an electricity supply.

The ring main supplies electricity to the lamp rose or fitting connector but not the lamp. The power to the lamp is taken by the red (or black with a red piece of tape) to the switch and from the switch back to the rose or connector and from there to the lamp.

If you look at the connector/rose there should be FOUR different connectors. there may be several screwed terminals in each connector.

1 is ring main RED (LIVE TERMINAL)
2 is earth (EARTH TERMINAL)
3 is ring main BLACK (NEUTRAL TERMINAL)
4 is switched RED (SWITCH TERMINAL)

If you are in any doubt at this point, I would recommend you call an electrician - it is literally a 10 minute job for them to reconnect it and should only cost you £20.

I'd know to look at it which cables connect where but it's tricky to give you precise instructions without seeing what you see.

The ring mains are all Grey outer sleeving with three wires (cores) One coated in RED insulation, one coated in BLACK insulation and one is plain copper but should have an earth sleeve (green or green/yellow) on it for insulation. B&Q do this in rolls if you don't have any.

The switching cable should also be Grey outer sleeving with three cores but this time there are two coated in RED insulation and one is plain copper but should have an earth sleeve to insulate it.

The ring main should connect red to red, black to black and green to green.

Answer 5

my fella is a electrician, he said put all the reds together in a connector, connect the black that lit the light up to the brown of the light fitting as this is the switch live, connect the other 2 blacks as these are your neutrals to the blue of the light fitting. hey presto you have light..

Answer 6

1 red & black hot coming in
1 red & black hot going out
the other goes to your swt
I beleive you use only 220 volt systems
one of the light wires should tie into red from swt .the other light wire to the 2 reds.tie the blacks together and push to back of box.

Answer 7

Jay has got it right m8. a cheap multitester would probably help or your trusty screwdriver/tester, cheers

Answer 8

It sounds like you are on a loop like a lot of houses retrace your steps and rewire how it was failing that Collins book of DIY is a god send and a must have for all DIY

Answer 9

Do you have a multiple switch like at the top and bottom of stairs.

Answer 10

www.diydata.co.uk look up electrics.