I am replacing a ceiling light fitting and when I removed the old one I noticed some extra cabling hanging out the hole in the ceiling. I pushed it back into the ceiling as my new light is smaller than the old one. After doing this one of the other lights no longer worked so I assumed I had loosened off a wire so I pulled the cabling out again and there is a loose wire. I wanted to check before attempting anything but should this loose brown wire be connected to the red wire block?
Thanks
Loose wire in looped ceiling light
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ericmark
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Loose wire in looped ceiling light
Oh dear what a mess. However it is common, the standard ceiling rose was a junction box with typically 4 connections switched line, permanent line, neutral and a clamp for the earth.
When the ceiling rose is removed it should be replaced with a junction box
which has the same connections, and cable clamps so cables can't be pulled out.
The regulations talk about a key or tool being required with a NOTE: This regulation does not apply to:
a ceiling rose complying with BS 67
a cord operated switch complying with BS 3676
a bayonet lampholder complying with BS EN 61184
an Edison screw lampholder complying with BS EN 60238.
These are allowed to have a cover which you can remove without a tool, the problem lies in that we tend to fit chandeliers from below not above, I use this type
of ceiling rose to take the weight, however all ceiling roses should take 5 kg (559.6.1.5) but personally I would suspect many are screwed into plaster board and would never take that weight, personally holding even 2 kg while making connections I find hard.
However we start by counting the cables.
2 cables likely end of line, so one is supply and one is to switch.
3 cables likely supply in and supply out plus one to switch.
4 cables likely the extra one is either a second supply out or there are two lights in the same room.
It seems likely that brown is a second supply out and should go in the the reds, but without testing that is just a guess.
When the ceiling rose is removed it should be replaced with a junction box
which has the same connections, and cable clamps so cables can't be pulled out.The regulations talk about a key or tool being required with a NOTE: This regulation does not apply to:
a ceiling rose complying with BS 67
a cord operated switch complying with BS 3676
a bayonet lampholder complying with BS EN 61184
an Edison screw lampholder complying with BS EN 60238.
These are allowed to have a cover which you can remove without a tool, the problem lies in that we tend to fit chandeliers from below not above, I use this type
of ceiling rose to take the weight, however all ceiling roses should take 5 kg (559.6.1.5) but personally I would suspect many are screwed into plaster board and would never take that weight, personally holding even 2 kg while making connections I find hard.However we start by counting the cables.
2 cables likely end of line, so one is supply and one is to switch.
3 cables likely supply in and supply out plus one to switch.
4 cables likely the extra one is either a second supply out or there are two lights in the same room.
It seems likely that brown is a second supply out and should go in the the reds, but without testing that is just a guess.
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allanmb
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Loose wire in looped ceiling light
Thank you for taking the time to give such a detailed reply. It's really appreciated. I have a multimeter to test. My guess would be to test the brown with the black wires and/or the red with the black? Failing that, I will just have to bite the bullet and get an electrician round and install a junction box.
Thanks again
Thanks again
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allanmb
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Loose wire in looped ceiling light
Just to update the thread. I got the multimeter out and tested teh various bwires and was convinced the brown should be connected to the red block. I turned off the electricity and unscrewed the red block and, low and behold, the copper wire that snapped off the brown wire fell out making me confident to wire it up. I fit my new Philips Hue light and now have everything working. Thanks for the input @ericmark