Electrical Ceiling Wiring Help

deejay911

Hi all I was wondering could someone could help me out here. I am about to fit some spot lights in my living room which is controlled by to light switches in the room. When taking off the old light i am kinda confused.

My new spotlight has the usual | Neutral | Earth | Live |

But the old original fitting has

| N | - main with 2 black wires

| LOOP | - main connecting 2 red wires with another main connecting 1red wire to the loop and another to the live

Ive fitted spotlights in the past with the normal 1way 1n 1e 1live, but this 2way has confused me, how do i go about this?

Any help much appreciated.

Bogtrotter

One black is the neutral from the consumer unit and the other is the neutral to the light in the next room.

Likewise one live red wire is the permanent live from the consumer unit.

The other 3 red wires 1 is the permanent live feed to the next light. The other 2 are the connections to the common on each switch.

The 2 neutrals are joined and this provides the neutral for your light.

The live to the next room and one of the switch wires are joined to the permanent live from the consumer unit and the live of your light is connected to the other switch wire.

In your case the 3 reds connected to LOOP. 1 is from the consumer unit 1 is the live to the next room and 1 is the switch. The L is the connection to the other switch and is connected to the live of your light.

deejay911

So I will join the 2 black wires together and put in the neurtral terminal of the spotlight

Obviously earth in earth terminal

And the red wire that was connected to the live on my old switch goes to the live on my spotlight right? If so do i need to join any of the 3 loop red wires to the live feed?

Bogtrotter

deejay911 wrote: »

So I will join the 2 black wires together and put in the neurtral terminal of the spotlight

Obviously earth in earth terminal

And the red wire that was connected to the live on my old switch goes to the live on my spotlight right? If so do i need to join any of the 3 loop red wires to the live feed?

The 3 red wires that connected together to LOOP should be permanently live and all connected together and nothing else. 1 is the live feed from the consumer unit, 1 is the live feed to the next circuit, 1 is the live feed into switch number 1

The red wire that was connected to L is either the switched live from switch 1 (if there is 3 wires connecting your 2 switches together and is the most likely configuration) or the switched live from switch 2 (if there is 2 wires connecting your swithes together) and should be connected to the live of your spotlight and nothing else.

deejay911

Bogtrotter wrote: »

The 3 red wires that connected together to LOOP should be permanently live and all connected together and nothing else.

So the switch return wire just goes into a blank terminal block or insulated with electrical tape?

And the 3 red wires that was connected in the loop I have to join together and put into the live terminal of my spotlight? If thats case than how do I go about putting 3 thick red wires into one small little live terminal, because my old configuration had a loop with 3 terminals slots, with the new spotlight having only just the one live terminal slot.

zax47

deejay911 wrote: »

So the switch return wire just goes into a blank terminal block or insulated with electrical tape?

No, it goes to the LIVE on your new light - it's the return of the live from the switch to the fitting and completes the circuit to make your light work.

And the 3 red wires that was connected in the loop I have to join together and put into the live terminal of my spotlight?.

No they are connected to each other in a blank connector ("choc-block") AND TO NOTHING ELSE.