Light wiring has me stumped

[Pete999]

agreed
PIR switch missing, I assume that the two red lives are T&E from old military PSA standards? . What's going on with the cable in the second picture?

Are you ex PSA ackbarthestar?

 

[skywayd]

Well I took lamp off to have another look and.... wiring was 2 x twin & earth but the guy had put the switch live (black) in a connector block and stuffed it back into the wall cavity!! I decided to buy another pir so have wired it 2 reds together for constant live, neutral is black and other black is switch live. working fine now. Thanks for your input guys. I registered with another forum for help and all I got was, "get someone competent round"
cheers guys

 

[Octopus]

I registered with another forum for help and all I got was, "get someone competent round"
cheers guys

Which isn't bad advice !

From your pictures I would say you should get somebody round as you seem to have had DIY Dave doing work ..

 

[skywayd]

agreed
PIR switch missing, I assume that the two red lives are T&E from old military PSA standards? . What's going on with the cable in the second picture?

Oh that's just paint flaking where he had painted the skirting. I cant believe I missed all these bodge jobs when we viewed the property, and we came back 3 times!! I can see why he did the ceiling lights as a lazy mans way but he wasn't no young inexperienced person, he had his own classic car restoration business and was coming up to retirement.

 

[ackbarthestar]

Are you ex PSA ackbarthestar?

No, Just ended up doing rewires, additions and fault finding on some of their properties after the PSA closed down.

 

[Pete999]

No, Just ended up doing rewires, additions and fault finding on some of their properties after the PSA closed down.

Oh right Ta I was just wondering I was / am ex PSA, and apart from a long term friend I can't for the life of me find any ex PSA types anywhere.

 

[skywayd]

Which isn't bad advice !

From your pictures I would say you should get somebody round as you seem to have had DIY Dave doing work ..

Trouble is when you move to an area and you don't know anyone in the trade and you are a competent person I always like to educate myself first about the situation and then if I am not confident or don't think I can do it I will call someone out. Plenty of well dodgy rip off merchants that will tell you that you need to re-run cables here and there and charge you hundreds when it is an easy fix. Its a breath of fresh air when guys give you some input like they have here, otherwise whats the point in having a forum for help.

 

[MJPD29]

Could have originally been a light with a pir get someone with proper gear to test and see what they are

Could have originally been a light with a pir get someone with proper gear to test and see what they are[/QUOTE
Why dislike tim Barnard?

 

[Toneyz]

Trouble is when you move to an area and you don't know anyone in the trade and you are a competent person I always like to educate myself first about the situation and then if I am not confident or don't think I can do it I will call someone out. Plenty of well dodgy rip off merchants that will tell you that you need to re-run cables here and there and charge you hundreds when it is an easy fix. Its a breath of fresh air when guys give you some input like they have here, otherwise whats the point in having a forum for help.

I have to disagree with part of your post, not all us electricians are like that most of us will do the job in hand and ask for a competitive rate and if further corrective works are needed advise the customer what needs to be done and cost.

 

[telectrix]

as he said ^^^^^^. there are rip-off merchants out there, but a lot of them are not professional sparks. but some customers think it's just 3 wires and a couple of hours' work, without allowing for the knowledge gained over years at considerable cost, let alone remedial work to make sure the installation is safe. (e.g. earthing & bonding).