light fitting help

mrscb

its just a single switch......

jonnysparks

in that case if youv'e put the wires back in the right order it's probably a loose connection. if not already done try putting the three reds in a connector rather than twisted and tape together. of course making sure electric turn off first

sparky883

Use the connector Block in the light fitting as your junction box,its the same its just more difficult to connect up as you are limited on space and somone has to hold the light,that is why the junction box is a row of 4 as you will use all 4-you will struggle to connect the light up like this, depenends on how much "slack" you have,if you cannot do it revert back to using a junction box.

Fire_Fox

mrscb wrote: »

All i wanted was some advice as to wether my wires were in correct place which is why i came on here first rather than call an electrician (i have changed lights in the past)...Surely that is what a lot of people do.:beer:

Yes they do; but a lot of people do a bodge job and probably negate their buildings insurance in the process. You clearly only know the basics - evidenced by the fact that you had to try several times before you got the result you wanted. It's pretty difficult from even the most experienced person to advise on an electrical set-up that (a) they cannot see and (b) you are not articulating very well. :rolleyes:

sparky883

TBH this is not the right place for Electrical advise,Its an Electrician you need to speak to,I tend to try not to offer advise as i feel i could be in some way responsible for the outcome,But have tried to help in your case but really think you need the "pro's" as you did not seem to be able to work out your connector block is your junction box its just harder to do it that way.

mikey72

I agree with sparky883 last posting.
I would add though that if everything was wired correctly it's virtually impossible for one light switch to affect another in a different room.
That suggests either there is a fault in the lighting circuit wiring, or the ring is disconnected somewhere, and needs further investigation. This wouldn’t necessarily stop any lights working completely, but might make some dimmer.
Without knowing your house, it is possible that if the ring main is disconnected, the wiring could potentially overheat, so it's worth getting it checked.

matbe

Lighting circuts are not ring mains they are radial circuits.

A ring is what it says it leaves the mcb or fuse at the the consumer unit or fuse box and goes around the circuit and then returns to the fuse or mcb

This way you double the size of the conductors

A radial circuit leaves the fuse or mcb and feeds all parts of the circuit and then stops at the last point.

This is why with a lighting circuit you wil have mains in and out (live and neutral) at each light fitting and the last point will only have live and neutral.

(i know you can have different variations on this so please dont pick holes in this)

But from a basic point the problem has nothing to do with ring mains.
The problem here is that one or more lamps have become wired in series and this is causing the dimming effect.

The op needs to find the switch wire (permanent live and switch live) that goes down to the switch if you cant or dont know how to do this then as sparky 883 has said leave it alone and ring an electrician.
If you do, connect up as he has said and it should be ok.

if you need any more info pm me and i will try to help.
Amateurs posting info about electrical work only cloud the issue and do not help.

jonnysparks

as matbe says you really need proffesional advice my main concern was with the taped together lives. leaving possible unproperly connected cables under possible load is a serious risk arcs etc

mikey72

matbe wrote: »

Lighting circuts are not ring mains they are radial circuits.

A ring is what it says it leaves the mcb or fuse at the the consumer unit or fuse box and goes around the circuit and then returns to the fuse or mcb

This way you double the size of the conductors

A radial circuit leaves the fuse or mcb and feeds all parts of the circuit and then stops at the last point.

This is why with a lighting circuit you wil have mains in and out (live and neutral) at each light fitting and the last point will only have live and neutral.

(i know you can have different variations on this so please dont pick holes in this)

But from a basic point the problem has nothing to do with ring mains.
The problem here is that one or more lamps have become wired in series and this is causing the dimming effect.

The op needs to find the switch wire (permanent live and switch live) that goes down to the switch if you cant or dont know how to do this then as sparky 883 has said leave it alone and ring an electrician.
If you do, connect up as he has said and it should be ok.

if you need any more info pm me and i will try to help.
Amateurs posting info about electrical work only cloud the issue and do not help.

Glad you have diagnosed the problem so accurately.
I've seen ring lighting circuits, and wouldn't dismiss it as a possible cause out of hand, without looking first.
I would wait for you to describe how it's also possible to connect the new light in the radial circuit, with the switch across it, and what colours should be wired where, but with a house I've never seen, I wouldn't second guess, even by PM I'm afraid.
Again, it needs to be looked at, not second guessed.

matbe

I have seen lighting circuits wired as a ring when an amateur has done the installation but this would not cause the problem you would still only have mains in and out.

As i said the poblem is being caused by connecting the switch wire up incorrectly and two lamps or more are running in series.