Confused by cables in ceiling light fixture

[mhn]

Hi, I've just moved into a new home and found that the living room has been left without a light fixture in the ceiling. We're on an extremely tight budget and I'd like to fit the pendant myself if possible, but the wiring in the ceiling has me baffled - I'm a newbie - as there appear to be colours within colours, and I don't know which cable should go where. I enclose two pics - one of the ceiling wiring, and the other of the pendant. I will of course kill the electricity at the fusebox before starting, and does it make any difference that the light switch appears to be metal rather than plastic? Can anyone advise?

Many thanks.

Michael

 

[JohnD]

the blue one with the "black" sleeving is probably the switched live. If so, the sleeving should be brown. I recommend you buy a multimeter so you can verify what they are. I believe they start at about £8 in sheds and Argos.

You can buy an assorted pack of heat-shrink sleeving on ebay for a couple of pounds. A hair-dryer or hot air gun will shrink it. A cigarette lighter may work, but could burn your house down, especially in that position. Plain sleeving tends to fall off when facing down.

The (uninsulated) copper wires are (should be) earth, and should be individually insulated in green and yellow sleeving (see above).

The importance of a metal light switch is that the circuit must include a good earth, and it must be connected to the metal switch. If you do not have a good earth then you must use only plastic fittings. However your wiring does not look old enough to have this problem unless the installer was incompetent.

edit

read this first
https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/wiring-diagrams-for-lighting-circuits.37582/

edit
none at argos now
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/test...ter&sort-by=P_breakPrice1&sort-order=asc&pn=1

 

[mhn]

John D, thank you. I went with your guesstimate, connected up the cabling, tried it, and it's all working fine. Many thanks for your help, John, appreciated. So we have light for now, and I will get hold of some sleeving as recommended and re-sleeve the cables. Thanks again.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If so, the sleeving should be brown.

It probably is - some is very dark.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I went with your guesstimate, connected up the cabling, tried it, and it's all working fine.

Electrical installation by guesswork is not a good idea, This time you were OK, another time you might not be - note that JohnD actually recommended that you identify which wires were which.

FYI:

• https://www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:Lighting
  
  
• http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/House_Wiring_for_Beginners#Lighting