Ceiling has 3 sets of wires for lighting

[OllieOllie]

Hello,
Replacing my ceiling light in the lounge and have taken the previous owners pendant down. to find that it has three sets of wires, like this:

My new pendant fitting looks like this:

Do I just bunch the 3 brown wires into the Live bit of the new fitting, the 3 blue into the neutral and 3 earth into the earth? I'm guessing so, but this has thrown me (particularly as one of the blue wires has a small bit of brown wrapping on it....).

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks a lot
Ollie

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

You have in those three cables L+N+E in; L+N+E out and L+SwWire+E. The latter Switch Wire should be the one with the brown sleeving on it.

You will need an extra 5amp connector, for all three L (browns) to go into. All two N (blues, no sleeving) go to the N terminal of your fitting. The blue with brown sleeving goes to L in your fitting. The three E's (earth wires green/yellow) go to the E on your fitting.

 

[OllieOllie]

Thanks Harry, that's really useful...and beyond my skill so I'll get an electrician in. In the meantime, so I can turn the power back on is it safest to wrap the exposed wiring in electrical tape?
Cheers mate

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Thanks Harry, that's really useful...and beyond my skill so I'll get an electrician in. In the meantime, so I can turn the power back on is it safest to wrap the exposed wiring in electrical tape?
Cheers mate

I'm sure you are going to find that if you turn the power back on, that at least some of them will no longer work.

Get a connector block and join the two browns, two blues and two earth wires - ignore the entire cable with the brown sleeving on. That should get the rest of your lights working.

The cable to ignore, goes to your switch for that particular light.

 

[SUNRAY]

Can i suggest you mark the sheath of the cable with the brown sleeve before the sleeve falls off. Tape or pen or tippex etc will be fine.

If you still feel you'd like to do the job the following 2 sketches show where the wires go. However I completely understand and applaud your comment about your skill level.

And excellent pictures, thank you.

OR

 

[Ismi01]

Hi guys same issue with me I’ve got these 3 I want to do it myself how would I go about ?

 

[terryplumb]

You need to establish which of the three cables is the switch cable. Once you know that follow Sunrays diagram.
Do you have a continuity tester or a multimeter ,to use to establish which is the switch cable ?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Hi guys same issue with me I’ve got these 3 I want to do it myself how would I go about ?

As pointed out OP, you need to establish which of the three cables, goes to the switch on the wall - Really, you ought to have started a separate thread for your question first though.

Are any of the three marked in any way and what test equipment do you have - test meter maybe?

 

[Ismi01]

Yes one of them had a yellow and green casing around the earth wire

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Yes one of them had a yellow and green casing around the earth wire

All three should have had the green and yellow sleeving on the earth wire, so it doesn't really help. Is SW, or SWITCH written on any cable, or is there a deliberate nick in the grey of one cable?

 

[Ismi01]

The only difference was this one had the green and yellow thing around it mate

 

[EFLImpudence]

https://www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:Lighting

 

[Ismi01]

Here’s a clear photo of all the wires guys

 

[terryplumb]

You need to do some testing to determine which is the switch cable,as already advised.

 

[Ismi01]

I have bought a volt meter how would I test it now ?