Celing rose problem....? Help!

[Oscar22]

Hi all,

First post on here as I am going round the bend!!

Basically, I am replacing a horrible light in the living room, and have removed the fitting and am installing the new one. Stupidly, I didn't photo the existing wiring set up as I thought I knew what I was doing (i've changed a few before!)

I have got the 3 red wires in the central box, and have tried all 3 black wires separately in the 'switched live' slot (with the live wire going to the bulb holder), and it doesn't work with either of them, although with one of them the light flickers, but doesn't turn on or off. This seems strange to my elecrically niaive mind!

There are 2 switches for this light, one is solely for this one, and one has 2 other lights on it as well. When the light is flickering, the switch with the other lights on doesn't work at all (the other lights it operates don't turn on or off).

Hopefully I haven't broken anything, which I doubt, as the rest of the house seems to be working fine!

Any help greatly appreciated!

Oscar22

 

[High Tower]

Do you have a contanuity tester and do you know how to "ring out" a cable??

 

[Oscar22]

No on the tester, and afraid not on the 'ringing out', no. Is it something i need?

Oscar

 

[Guest123]

Please take this a friendly piece of advice....contact an electrician.

 

[High Tower]

Im afraid now that you have been trying different combinations the cables will be well mixed and will need a contanuity tester to decipher which lines are which.

This is done by identifying which are the common to switch and the switch line back.

As much as i know you probably dont want to im afraid that your going to have to concide and call a sparks in

 

[roukel01]

...or feel brave, seperate all the blacks, keep the reds connected together, turn the light switch on and quickly touch each of the blacks to find the switch live, it doesn't hurt that much! then, put that black in the live of the new light, and the remaining blacks in the neutral. Hey presto, just saved yourself a small fortune for calling someone out and the embarassment of an electrician laughing at you!!

On a serious note, call an electrician.

 

[High Tower]

...or feel brave, seperate all the blacks, keep the reds connected together, turn the light switch on and quickly touch each of the blacks to find the switch live, it doesn't hurt that much! then, put that black in the live of the new light, and the remaining blacks in the neutral. Hey presto, just saved yourself a small fortune for calling someone out and the embarassment of an electrician laughing at you!!

On a serious note, call an electrician.

Dont forget to lick fingers first, having said that there are probably sparks out there too tight to buy testers and use this method!!

 

[Oscar22]

...or feel brave, seperate all the blacks, keep the reds connected together, turn the light switch on and quickly touch each of the blacks to find the switch live, it doesn't hurt that much! then, put that black in the live of the new light, and the remaining blacks in the neutral. Hey presto, just saved yourself a small fortune for calling someone out and the embarassment of an electrician laughing at you!!

On a serious note, call an electrician.

I thought I'd done that by trying each one (of the 3 that there are), separately, in the live slot?

OK, another question, how can I leave it safe?!

Thanks all for the replies.

Oscar

 

[Sav]

Hi Oscar,
Even if you put all the reds in a connector block to make "safe", you still will be missing neutrals ( blacks ) , that are vital to the ongoing lighting circuit that powers other lights in your home !!

Call a sparks mate, and sort it properly, before you hurt yourself (230volts and a permanent orange afro ) !!!!!

Sav

 

[jpread988]

you should have:

3 red wires
3 black wires
3 earth wires (green, prob bare)

on the rose you should have 3 blocks

a block of 3 with the blue wire in,
a block of 3 (empty)
a block of 2 with the brown in

1) put all three red wires in the center block
2) then put two blacks in the one with the blue wire
3) put the remaining black in the one with the brown wire
4) turn mcb back on / put fuse back in and try light switch

IF THIS DOESNT WORK

5) remove one of the black wires from the block with the blue wire and swop it with the black wire thats with the brown wire
6) turn mcb back on / put fuse back in and try light switch

IF THIS DOESNT WORK

7) remove the other black wires from the block with the blue wire and swop it with the black wire thats with the brown wire
8) turn mcb back on / put fuse back in and try light switch

it will work one of the 3 times if not the bulbs blown
hope this helps

this link has a pic to help

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/project_images/electrical_safety/ceiling_rose.jpg

REMEMBER. switch off MCB/FUSE before working on rose

regards
jamie

 

[Oscar22]

Thanks Sav.

At the moment I've got the 3 reds in the central spot, and 2 blacks on one side and 1 in the other.

All lights (apart from the offending one) work perfectly so I presume it's OK for now.

I'll get a sparks tomorrow.

Ta again.

Oscar

 

[Amp David]

Is this a forum for electricians to start giving links to diy sites? OMG whats the world coming to?

 

[Guest123]

The OP has made the right decision.

Thread Closed.