Wiring a light fitting with no earth

Andrew1981

  I have another lighting question..... (sorry). The missus bought 2 lights of Ali express.... Most of the stuff we've bought off there has been very good, but I'm slightly stumped here. Its going to be wall mounted to a cupboard, and so wired in and plugged into a mains plug. 

The light had just 'live' and 'neutral', and no earth cable or 'double insulated' symbol. In the picture above I've added a earth cable fixed to the casing, which I'll in turn connect to the earth cable in the plug.

If, hypothetically the lamp is double insulated, is there any harm in earthing it as well?

Many thanks, 

Andrew 

grumbler

It's obviously not double-insulated and has to be earthed, although there would be no harm in earthing a double-insulated one.

Yes, connect the earth wire to the orange wire terminal.

FFHillbilly

If it is double insulated then it doesn't need an earth connection to the metal casing, and in that case you can earth it if you want but it's not required. double insulated normally have a symbol to denote , it's a square inside a square.
that light fitting is not double insulated, you can clearly see a single insulated core touching an unbushed metal part. that should be earthed as you have done (apart from the wrong colour sleeving which could be potentially dangerous if someone later thinks thats a terminal for the permanent live for example) you should also check earth continuity from any other bits of metal on the fitting. I would not advise fitting that light if you don't have a correctly working 30mA RCD protecting the circuit to be honest.
how much cheaper are lights from AliExpress?

Andrew1981

Thanks for your replies. There's no double insulated symbol, hence the question.  Thanks for clarifying that I can earth it anyway. We find the lights are about 30% of the cost. Downside is you have to wait a month sometimes, but there's so many more options available to us from just UK suppliers. Agree my wire is the wrong colour, I'll mark it. 

I'll check the fuses but sure it's larger than 30ma,ill investigate that too 👍

Mutton_Geoff

Interesting you went to the trouble of connecting an earth but then used a red sleeve. It would be more secure to fit the earth via a tabbed washer.

Andrew1981

Only as I only had red wire and not any earth cable. Off to buy a washer and earth cable as you guys are making me feel bad lol! 

macman

You just need some earth sleeve, not cable.
It's worth pointing out, though not relevant to your particular situation, that what you can't do is connect a non double-insulated metal fitting like that to an unearthed lighting circuit, many of which still survive in the UK.

Risteard

Throw that non-compliant light fitting in the bin. It doesn't remotely comply with standards. They can't even get the colours right, never mind how they have made the termination. Don't buy electrical equipment from Ali Express.

outtatune

If it only costs 30% of the price of a light from a trusted UK retailer, then send it to bigclivedotcom for a teardown. If it turns out to be a death trap, you've had a lucky escape. If it turns out to be perfectly safe you can buy another and still have a working light for 40% less.

It's a win-win either way.

Andrew1981

Thank you all.  @ Risteard, the red sleeve and earth loop was me, not the retailer. I've since replaced with a green/yellow cable and a proper washer.

@outtatune never seen that guy, but been down a rabbit hole watching some videos, thank you. Some scary stuff out there.... 

Back to mine, item seems way better made than most stuff on those vids, did continuity tests and and was happy to fit. 

All plumbed in and working fine. Quality of product looks and feel good. Came with more fixing and electrical connectors than the £130 dunelm light I bought 2 weeks ago.... 

Risteard

Andrew1981 said:

Thank you all.  @ Risteard, the red sleeve and earth loop was me, not the retailer. I've since replaced with a green/yellow cable and a proper washer.

That's even worse! A luminaire shouldn't need to be modified like that. It is of highly questionable quality.