Could I install new ceiling light or should I get a sparky in?

PeteW

Pretty new at DIY stuff and never done any electrics, but have now bought a new light, the fitting bit for which has two plastic two-pronged plug things like this:



Which I somehow need to attach to this thing on the ceiling:



Is this something I could do myself safely - and if so what do I do??
Or should I just get an electrician in -and if so, any ideas how much would be a fair price?

Ta

Pete

adaze

I would do it yourself, this is very simple to do. Switch off you lighting circuit, or if you aren't sure switch off ALL the electrics (if your not sure how to do this then maybe you should get out the yellow pages )

All you need to do is to unscrew the connections where the brown and blue wires are connected, unscrew the plastic block off the end of your new light (you should find that one of these is blue and one brown), now simply connect the blue to where the original blue was connected and brown to brown.

If your not too sure, then consider getting a decent DIY book that will walk you through with pics and will be useful lots else too :money:

brownbake

Looks pretty straightforward to me as you have a live and a neutral on your existing fitting and you just need to connect the new one to that.

I ain't a sparky and I don't have a clue what I am talking about btw!! The problem will be what you do with all the other cables when you replace the rose - the existing fitting.

FYI my sparky charges £25 for new socket connection so am assuming that would be a ballpark figure for fitting a new light socket.

HTH

amarg

It's a doddle-
http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/diy/electrics/light_fitting/changing_light_fitting.htm

tuggy12

PeteW wrote: »

Is this something I could do myself safely ?

The fact that you have had to ask the question means that you should not attempt to do this.

Get an electrician to do it for you.

andrew-b

First look at the ultimatehandyman link above to help understand what your doing and isolate the electricity supply as already said.

If you are going to try yourself you need to identify the switched live cable (in your case the right-most black wire whose insulation is covered in white paint which is connected to the same terminal block as the brown wire which feeds the existing pendant). Once the switched live is identified wrap a piece of brown/red insulation tape or sleeving around it to identify it.

With the fitting you have purchased you have two choices. It depends really what is above..if the loft is above or the room above has floorboards that can be lifted then i'd replace the ceiling rose with a junction box in the loftspace/underfloor above. If not then i believe it's ok to use the small plastic insulated snap-off connector blocks (similar to the connector blocks on the new fitting) to replicate the connections to the ceiling rose within the new fitting.

If your at all unsure get someone in!

Andy

sparky883

You cannot just connect the live and neutral from the ceiling rose into your new light connector block,As it will not fit over the origional rose.
And what about the earth?? or do we just leave this??
This is not a job for a DIYer,We charge £65 and change about 5 per week after we get calls from DiYers.
You need to identifty the switch wires from the feed wires,Re-wire the cableing and bring down a new 3 core flex to connect to your new light.
If you do not understand this then dont do it,It will end in tears i promise you!!!
Most of the electrical advise on here is a waste of time and will make matters worse.

27col

If you do not even know what "this thing on the ceiling" is called. Then I suggest that you steer clear of working on it.
If you feel that you must have a go, then andrew-b is dispensing good advice. This type of question is always coming up on this forum. The job is straight forward for anyone who knows what they are doing. But there are always little complications that can occur, and familiarity with them, means that those of us who have experience with this type of job, have a variety of ways of dealing with them.
I have just read sparky883 and he is right, the problem is almost always that the fitting will not fit over the existing rose. If it would then the job would be a doddle.

andrew-b

sparky883 wrote: »

This is not a job for a DIYer,We charge £65 and change about 5 per week after we get calls from DiYers.

Not sure i entirely agree with you as it depends alot on competency and knowledge...i think that's ultimately in agreement with what our nanny state wants though!

For a relatively short job (an experienced spark should manage this within 1/4 of an hour tops including cuppa!) £65 is in my book daylight robbery for basically tightening a few screws when i could do the job myself to the same standard! Yes i appreciate you need to know the regs. I would guess that as an electrician your more likely to see the failed DIY attempts such as the old chestnut of not identifying the switch cable (one that regularly appears on the forum here which is why i tried pre-empting it in this case!) than the successful DIY jobs that wouldn't require a call out? I'm sure you'd much rather have some nice big rewire jobs than piecemeal work picking up after failed DIY attempts though! But i do appreciate this to be the going rate and all the overheads associated with running a business - not a charity!

It's hardly rocket science and fairly straightforward job...but i'll agree that you do need to know what your doing in order to do it safely and for it to meet the regs. Most of us as DIYers have a fair idea of what our capabilities are and our limitations - like i'd attempt this job but i wouldn't attempt a full rewire or change of a consumer unit which require a great deal more knowledge that i don't have. I know you haven't said it... but that i didn't train to become an electrician doesn't make me incapable of carrying out electrical work - A-level physics and a degree including a large amount of electronic and electrical engineering help though!

Incidentally even your own advice about bringing down 3-core flex could be miscontrued too..you and me both know you mean cable with solid conductors rather than "flex" consisting of multiple stranded conductors twisted together used for appliances etc. Reason i point this out is the previous owner of our house had used 3-core stranded flex to connect a 180W 3-bulb light fitting! Not good! I know i'm nit picking your valid post ...but in a way it goes to show how careful we all have to be giving electrical advice here as it's so easy assuming even the slightest competence! I'm sure similar holes can be picked in my electrical posts too so don't take it personally!


Andy

PeteW

OK, well after a lot of googling and reading the Ultimate Handyman link, it all seems to make sense, and shouldn't be too hard.

The only issues I can see are that I can't see anything on the new light to say which is live and which is neutral as both wires are just silver, not blue or brown! The sheath does have some writing on it over one of the wires, would this signify anything?

Also, the wire with the connections on is way too long - can I just lop off the appropriate length and strip the ends before screwing them back in the chock block? The current wires have some little gold terminals wrapped around them - would these be necessary at the new end if I cut it?

The only bit above that doesn't entirely make sense to me is 'bring down a new 3 core flex' - anyone care to translate?

Thanks for all the help and advice!

andrew-b

I see what you mean in your picture. Are there any labels on the side of the terminal blocks - perhaps raised part of plastic even? Else can you trace where the wires goto? If the only component in the light is the bulb it shouldn't make any difference which way the live and neutral go. I'd leave the connection wires as they are as you need room to get hand and screwdriver in when wiring up and to actually see what your doing. If you muck up stripping the wire (easily done if your inexperienced at doing it) you may end up with them too short. A set of proper wire strippers are a worthwhile investment i found. If you make sure all wires are well tucked into the fitting and not at risk of getting trapped or damaged it should be ok. Make sure all wires are firmly connected into the correct terminals without the stripped bare copper ends showing. Earth cabling should be properly sleeved as before with green/yellow sleeving rather than leaving it bare.

Don't forget to keep track of the switched live wire and make sure the electrics for the circuit your working in are off! Double check by turning on/off at the switch.

Other thing to note is be wary when putting in the screws for the removable metal bracket on the base of the new fitting...it's very easy to screw into a cable above as there are 3 cables in your case to account for! If you've got access from above check first where the wires go, move them aside if necessary and check again before turning power back on to make sure you haven't damaged them...else you may be able to get a rough idea from the direction they disappear into the ceiling .

Andy