Changing a ceiling rose

452

Hasbeen said:

FreeBear said:

nofoollikeold said: 3. You should really put a bit of brown tape around the red coming back from the switch, as it will be live when the switch is on. Its for the benefit of anyone coming along looking at the wiring after you.

Wiring regs state that the colour of a conductor should not be changed (before our resident pedant jumps in). Ideally, the cable should be changed to a twin brown & earth, but that is not always easy or practical.

Personally, I prefer a short length of brown sleeving to highlight the switched live where it is impossible to run a new cable. Tape has a habit of losing its stick and may well fall off over time.

Great that Op has resolved problem without help from the Resident Pedant?? Is there one? This is a DIY forum so unless the resident pedant? who I presume is expert at this? Do not know?? But presume they could help where applicable on simple problems that most people encounter by owning property? We are not talking about complete rewires here? My opinion only but why frequent a DIY site if not to give advice and help? 

He's equally unhelpful on other forums. 

Must have a sad life.

Undervalued

452 said:

Hasbeen said:

FreeBear said:

nofoollikeold said: 3. You should really put a bit of brown tape around the red coming back from the switch, as it will be live when the switch is on. Its for the benefit of anyone coming along looking at the wiring after you.

Wiring regs state that the colour of a conductor should not be changed (before our resident pedant jumps in). Ideally, the cable should be changed to a twin brown & earth, but that is not always easy or practical.

Personally, I prefer a short length of brown sleeving to highlight the switched live where it is impossible to run a new cable. Tape has a habit of losing its stick and may well fall off over time.

Great that Op has resolved problem without help from the Resident Pedant?? Is there one? This is a DIY forum so unless the resident pedant? who I presume is expert at this? Do not know?? But presume they could help where applicable on simple problems that most people encounter by owning property? We are not talking about complete rewires here? My opinion only but why frequent a DIY site if not to give advice and help? 

He's equally unhelpful on other forums. 

Must have a sad life.

Quite!

I am pleased to see that the forum team have at least deleted the link to his own website from the signature line on his posts!

bethh_

I'll be honest I didn't bother engaging with their comment because, while they may have a point that these things are usually better done by a qualified electrician, for simple things such as changing lights and sockets I'd rather do them myself than pay through the nose to get someone else to do it! Also not particularly keen on inviting a stranger into my house at the moment given I live with an NHS worker and we've been at home for 4+ weeks now. But thought that might have gone without saying..

Cheers for the support and advice once again - much appreciated and I'll be more confident doing similar jobs in future!

Risteard

bethh_ said:

I'll be honest I didn't bother engaging with their comment because, while they may have a point that these things are usually better done by a qualified electrician, for simple things such as changing lights and sockets I'd rather do them myself than pay through the nose to get someone else to do it! Also not particularly keen on inviting a stranger into my house at the moment given I live with an NHS worker and we've been at home for 4+ weeks now. But thought that might have gone without saying..

Cheers for the support and advice once again - much appreciated and I'll be more confident doing similar jobs in future!

So how do you know that you have left a safe electrical installation then, given that no initial verification (inspection and testing) has taken place?

bethh_

Risteard said:

bethh_ said:

I'll be honest I didn't bother engaging with their comment because, while they may have a point that these things are usually better done by a qualified electrician, for simple things such as changing lights and sockets I'd rather do them myself than pay through the nose to get someone else to do it! Also not particularly keen on inviting a stranger into my house at the moment given I live with an NHS worker and we've been at home for 4+ weeks now. But thought that might have gone without saying..

Cheers for the support and advice once again - much appreciated and I'll be more confident doing similar jobs in future!

So how do you know that you have left a safe electrical installation then, given that no initial verification (inspection and testing) has taken place?

I didn’t ever say that I had verified that, however the wealth of information available online and the responses on this post would tell me that it is quite common for people to do small jobs like this in their own home. However you have completely ignored the vast majority of my comment and the comments of others just to prove your point.  

As another commenter said, if your only contribution to a DIY forum is ‘call a qualified person’ then I think you’re slightly misunderstanding the point of the term ‘do it yourself’, are you not? If I’d wanted recommendations for electricians I would have gone to a different website to find a qualified tradesperson. 

I gave a perfectly reasonable example as to why I wouldn’t want to invite someone into my home during a nationwide lockdown. 

Take care. 

Risteard

bethh_ said:

Risteard said:

bethh_ said:

I'll be honest I didn't bother engaging with their comment because, while they may have a point that these things are usually better done by a qualified electrician, for simple things such as changing lights and sockets I'd rather do them myself than pay through the nose to get someone else to do it! Also not particularly keen on inviting a stranger into my house at the moment given I live with an NHS worker and we've been at home for 4+ weeks now. But thought that might have gone without saying..

Cheers for the support and advice once again - much appreciated and I'll be more confident doing similar jobs in future!

So how do you know that you have left a safe electrical installation then, given that no initial verification (inspection and testing) has taken place?

I didn’t ever say that I had verified that, however the wealth of information available online and the responses on this post would tell me that it is quite common for people to do small jobs like this in their own home. However you have completely ignored the vast majority of my comment and the comments of others just to prove your point.  

As another commenter said, if your only contribution to a DIY forum is ‘call a qualified person’ then I think you’re slightly misunderstanding the point of the term ‘do it yourself’, are you not? If I’d wanted recommendations for electricians I would have gone to a different website to find a qualified tradesperson. 

I gave a perfectly reasonable example as to why I wouldn’t want to invite someone into my home during a nationwide lockdown. 

Take care. 

Inspection, testing and verification is the most important element of the job. So my points are perfectly reasonable.

Mutton_Geoff

bethh_ said:

Thank you all for your comments, wasn’t expecting so many responses so quickly! 

Turns out I had wired the light switch upside down, with red into L1 and black into ‘com’. Fixed that and all working fine! Typical that it was the simplest bit I managed to muck up! 

Thanks again your help everyone - stay safe 😁

Are you sure that was the problem? It would not matter if they were the wrong way round, a switch does not have polarity, it simply closes a contact (or in the case of a two way switch connects the COM to either L1 or L2). The only way it wouldn't have worked before is if you put the two wires into L1 and L2 because these never get connected together with the operation of the switch.

Risteard

Mutton_Geoff said:

bethh_ said:

Thank you all for your comments, wasn’t expecting so many responses so quickly! 

Turns out I had wired the light switch upside down, with red into L1 and black into ‘com’. Fixed that and all working fine! Typical that it was the simplest bit I managed to muck up! 

Thanks again your help everyone - stay safe 😁

Are you sure that was the problem? It would not matter if they were the wrong way round, a switch does not have polarity, it simply closes a contact (or in the case of a two way switch connects the COM to either L1 or L2). The only way it wouldn't have worked before is if you put the two wires into L1 and L2 because these never get connected together with the operation of the switch.

Indeed. It's a complete misunderstanding as to how a 1-way switch operates on the OP's part. It is either open or closed and not any other state. But alas, the OP believes they are expert enough and doesn't care whether the installation is safe or not.

mollycat

Risteard said:

Indeed. It's a complete misunderstanding as to how a 1-way switch operates on the OP's part. It is either open or closed and not any other state. But alas, the OP believes they are expert enough and doesn't care whether the installation is safe or not.

That's not the way I read the thread.

Risteard

mollycat said:

Risteard said:

Indeed. It's a complete misunderstanding as to how a 1-way switch operates on the OP's part. It is either open or closed and not any other state. But alas, the OP believes they are expert enough and doesn't care whether the installation is safe or not.

That's not the way I read the thread.

So you show me where they have acknowledged the importance of initial verification then. I can guarantee they neither have electrical test equipment nor the ability to use it. They also have no knowledge of the Wiring Regulations and would also be unable to inspect the works for compliance.