Not Good practice I know but

[lofty84]

I changed my parents consumer unit to a new 17th eddition MK one a little while ago. Everything went well and when I turned it all back on there was no problems with any of the rcd tripping so it looked like everything was good and I knew what Iw as doing. Today though I was just being nosey and trying to work out this 2 way lighting mylarkey as its always confussed me so much so I always let someone else do it while I did something else. well anyway I turn of the mcb which I running the downstairs lights and on the right hand side rcd. the upstairs is on the left as you do. well having turned it off and watching the lights go out I set about undoing everything (taking a picture of it before of course) to see if I could work it all out (which I couldnt) and low and behold I got a bloddy shock. Im gonna sound a right cowboy but most of my tools are in my buddys van so I didnt have me voltage/continuity tester to double check and just plouged in as the lights had gone of but as I say I got a shock. Im thinking there must have been a borrowed neautral or something from the lights upstairs somewhere but Im not sure. I didnt want to turn the upstairs light breaker of and then touch it again to find out and obviously I didnt have my tester to see, so I just turnt everything of at the main switch terminated everything back together as per the photo and turned it back on where it all works as before.

Any ideas what is going on and am I right about it being down to a shared neautral somewhere. I will set about finding it if it is but I wont be that till i buy a mft

cheers

 

[trev]

Changing a CU without carrying out any tests before or after or even owning a tester. Interesting concept.

 

[Silly Sausage]

....... but I wont be that till i buy a mft

cheers

No comment! :smilielol5:

Lofty, have you ever heard the phrase 'Less is More!' ?

 

[pistolpete]

No not a borrowed neutral, prob 2 way with top of stairs or hall whatever's on the lighting circuit. Not good practice to have two separate feeds in same switch. However if you can't work that out i wouldn't bother leaning how to do 2way lighting or change any other consumer units

 

[Essex parky]

itll be using the live feed from the downstairs and the neutral feed from the upstairs most probably. ot way to get around it will be to wire a leg between the cu and the landing light being fed from the downstairs lights mcb. remove the leg between the landing light and previous light so its totally isolated from the upstairs circuit and problem solved

 

[Tony Way]

Without stating the obvious - If you turned off the D/S lights and left the upstairs on, then removed the downstairs switch for the landing light then it's bound to be live as the feed comes from the upstars lighting circuit.
No way could yoou have a borowed neutral from up to down if they are on different RCDs - the RCD wouldn't stay in.

Also - human voltage tester equals bad hair day at the least.

Pistolpete beat me to it..................

 

[Gage]

:behead:

 

[lofty84]

its not my fault no one trains you up properly these days. Its just how it is everyone wants to make money so they havent got time to talk you through things like you guys probably had the luxury of.


at the switch theres just 2 incoming t&E cables this ones was acually in the dinning room ones goes into the back of the left switch for the light on the left and one goes into the back on the rhitch hand switch for the right hand lights. literally live into the common on both and neautral (blaclk) (switch line) which isnt sleved on either goes into the 1 way termiation point on each. maybee theres 2 feeds with one going tnto one light and the other going into the other.


How would you fix that I cant help it if I dont know I balme the people who were supposed wo be teaching me the way problem is as i say if you dont come across it how are you gonnna learn if you do come across it but its quicker for the person in the no to sort it with out talking you through everything as time is money blah blah blah how are you supposed to know

 

[DJ Ovengloves]

Start taking responsibility for your own actions and stop blaming everyone else.

its not my fault no one trains you up properly these days. Its just how it is everyone wants to make money so they havent got time to talk you through things like you guys probably had the luxury of.


at the switch theres just 2 incoming t&E cables this ones was acually in the dinning room ones goes into the back of the left switch for the light on the left and one goes into the back on the rhitch hand switch for the right hand lights. literally live into the common on both and neautral (blaclk) (switch line) which isnt sleved on either goes into the 1 way termiation point on each. maybee theres 2 feeds with one going tnto one light and the other going into the other.


How would you fix that I cant help it if I dont know I balme the people who were supposed wo be teaching me the way problem is as i say if you dont come across it how are you gonnna learn if you do come across it but its quicker for the person in the no to sort it with out talking you through everything as time is money blah blah blah how are you supposed to know

 

[Tony Way]

Lofty84

Start at the begining. What does this 2g switch in the dining room do? Which light does each side of the switch operate?

 

[trev]

its not my fault no one trains you up properly these days. Its just how it is everyone wants to make money so they havent got time to talk you through things like you guys probably had the luxury of.


at the switch theres just 2 incoming t&E cables this ones was acually in the dinning room ones goes into the back of the left switch for the light on the left and one goes into the back on the rhitch hand switch for the right hand lights. literally live into the common on both and neautral (blaclk) (switch line) which isnt sleved on either goes into the 1 way termiation point on each. maybee theres 2 feeds with one going tnto one light and the other going into the other.


How would you fix that I cant help it if I dont know I balme the people who were supposed wo be teaching me the way problem is as i say if you dont come across it how are you gonnna learn if you do come across it but its quicker for the person in the no to sort it with out talking you through everything as time is money blah blah blah how are you supposed to know

Considering you freely admit that you didn't/don't know what you were/are doing, what made you think it was a good idea to carry out this work?
Sorry if you think I'm being hard on you Lofty but you're out of your depth. When I was an apprentice my parents wouldn't allow me to do anything at home because I wasn't qualified.

 

[Tony Way]

Oh well -no reply from L84.

Kind of agree with trev - but got to go and do a lighting fault now. Guess what.... homeowner dicided to change fitting connected all reds to one terminal and all blacks to the other and then wondered why it went bang and won't work now.

 

[trev]

Oh well -no reply from L84.

Kind of agree with trev - but got to go and do a lighting fault now. Guess what.... homeowner dicided to change fitting connected all reds to one terminal and all blacks to the other and then wondered why it went bang and won't work now.

Oh well, an easy few quid on a Saturday afternoon

 

[ian.settle1]

No not a borrowed neutral, prob 2 way with top of stairs or hall whatever's on the lighting circuit. Not good practice to have two separate feeds in same switch. However if you can't work that out i wouldn't bother leaning how to do 2way lighting or change any other consumer units

Gather you have only done house bashing and no commercial/industrial work then with a comment like this.:yesnod:

 

[lofty84]

well ive passed my 2330 and 17th eddition just got stiched up on my NVQ. I have done a fair few board changes before but I know you shouldnt really comision something without testing it I just wasnt gonna let them pay 450 when its something I could do. I dont think your being hard on me I just got let down really due to the recession I think