Old wiring

hanb

Hi all,


We recently bought a Victorian terrace where the lighting is rather old! It was signed off last year when an electrician did some work (new consumer unit and other bits) and as long as plastic switches etc are used, all is fine for now.


But, there's 3 light fittings that we don't know what to do with! We had thought we could just wire them in to more modern plastic rose to then be able to hang a shade or a double earthed fitting or something other than a dangling lightbulb. However, neither of us are confident with wiring and so I thought I'd ask here before getting an electrician out to see if it's as scary as it looks?


I've uploaded photo's of the 3 lights in question and would be grateful for any advice https://postimg.org/gallery/m7f2gz2i/


Do we just need to get an electrician out to take a look or is something we could look at doing ourselves? Both relatively handy but have never had to deal with anything beyond a fuse change!


Thanks in advance

FreeBear

The first one would be best replaced, but you'd need to pop the cover off to see what state the wiring is in. Numbers 2 & 3 need proper ceiling fittings installed - Judging by the wires, the cabling is fairly old. If you feel competent, it is a fairly simple job to wire up new fittings.

Certainly worth having the wiring checked out, both on the lighting, and the ring main(s).

Crinkmeister

No Earth connections?

hanb

Thank you.


No earth to the lighting, no.


Apparently that's fine as long as any fitting is 'double earthed' and all switches are plastic (they are). The electrician checked the whole system last year when fitting a new consumer unit and additional lighting downstairs. They've said it's fine but to have it checked again 5 years from then/4 from now. When buying the house, I contacted the electrician to confirm all was ok and he did.


I'm sure it will need a re-wire at some point but, for now, I'm told it's safe so I had hoped to just tidy those 3 up for now. All other lights have the normal plastic rose(?) and are tidy, just the hallway lights that have been left like this.

always_sunny

you should be able to do it yourself, I had to do the same no long ago and essentially you're just replacing like for like. It is fairly old with the black and red wires!
Map the cables and you should be good to go; before making any changes, take photos of the wiring so you can always roll back

Risteard

hanb wrote: »

No earth to the lighting, no.


Apparently that's fine as long as any fitting is 'double earthed' and all switches are plastic (they are).

Not double earthed - it's double or reinforced insulation. (The lighting circuit is unearthed, after all.)

That said, it isn't "fine" if the fittings are double insulated - it is still a non-compliance with the Wiring Regulations although it does not pose any immediate danger. However depending on the backboxes/lugs/screws used for the switches, the screw heads may be at risk of becoming live under fault conditions even with a Class II (double/reinforced insulation) switch.

You should have a periodic inspection and test of the entire electrical installation carried out without delay, which will result in the compilation of a detailed Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). The only reason not to do this would be if you are to rewire immediately.

hanb

Risteard wrote: »

Not double earthed - it's double or reinforced insulation. (The lighting circuit is unearthed, after all.)

You should have a periodic inspection and test of the entire electrical installation carried out without delay, which will result in the compilation of a detailed Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). The only reason not to do this would be if you are to rewire immediately.

Thank you. There was an EIRC completed last year which stated to check again in 5 years. Do you mean I should still get another? I spoke to the electrons who carried out the test about my concerns and it was him that told me everything was ok.

brightontraveller

If that’s how "electrician" left installation after changing consumer unit and other bits (even if it was as before ) ? I would say complete and utter cowboy, no pride in work and absolutely desperate for work ( even f its because client doesn’t want to pay) you walk away leave it to the bodgers you wouldn’t change CU leave lighting like that ….

Its peanuts for ceiling roses, pendant etc and 15-30mins to put it right you are getting paid for CU and other bits so not as if you'd be doing it for nowt? I would certainly seriously doubt there ability and any paperwork I would take to be as reliable as junk mail?

Ectophile

I grew up in a 1960's house with un-earthed wiring on the lighting circuits. None of were electrocuted even once, and the house didn't burn down.

In reality, not having an earth in the lighting circuit is not really dangerous provided that all the switches are plastic and all the light fittings are double insulated.

The main reason that re-wiring such circuits is always recommended is that once the electrician has left, there's nothing to stop the householder replacing the existing plastic fittings with metal ones.

If you're worried about the metal screws on the light switches becoming live, buy a pack of nylon ones in the same size. Beware - they could be imperial or metric threads, and the two look almost identical, but aren't quite the same.