Help With Downstairs Lighting

[ban-all-sheds]

a family friend disconnected it.

Well did he have the sense to note which wires went where?

so she's pulled the fuse and disconnected all the cables, leaving me with the wires shown in the previous picture

Which lights work/do not work with those cables disconnected?

Do you have a multimeter?

Basically, all I want to do is check all of the downstairs light switches and fittings to ensure it's nothing obvious, then she can phone an electrician. But in order to do that, I need to reconnect the 3 bulb fitting in the living room

You don't need to reconnect that light to check all of the others, and the switches, for loose connections.

 

[skuba]

No, I don't have a note of the cables. With the 2 sets of cables disconnected in the picture, none of the lights downstairs will work as it breaks the loop. Between the 2 sets of wires there are 3 live, 2 earth, and 1 neutral, so I would guess that you connect a live to a live and an earth to an earth between the 2 sets of cables. This would leave a live and a neutral to connect up to a light fitting in the living room. But that's a guess, which is why I need your help

 

[riveralt]

From the picture you have shown it would appear that this particular ceiling rose/light unit is at the end of the circuit.
Normal standard lighting circuits would have two cables for the loop and one for the switch.

You need to double check that the cable with two red conductors is the same at the switch. One red in the common and one red in L1. I would also say test that this is the case but I don't think you have a multimeter.

If you are going to put up a ceiling rose then for the red/black conductors in the left hand grey cable - put the red into the centre terminals of the rose (live loop) and the black into the neutral terminal.

Then take the red/red cable on the right hand side and place one of the reds in the centre terminals (live loop) and the other red (switch live) into the terminal with the brown pendant light cable.

Put the earth cables in earth terminal.

 

[riveralt]

Hang on I have just read your last post and you say none of the lights work when these conductors are disconnected - which would suggest that this is not the end of the lighting circuit. It would also suggest that there is a missing cable somewhere.

Can you confirm exactly how the lights should work.

In the room with the three light cluster are there two three light clusters that operate from one switch? In other words one switch turns both sets of lights on/off.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

No, I don't have a note of the cables.

Give that family friend a slap.

With the 2 sets of cables disconnected in the picture, none of the lights downstairs will work as it breaks the loop.

If none of them work that means that it must be the first light on the circuit.

It also means that there's a cable missing - the one that runs to the switch. What you see there could be the end of the circuit, and the switch cable, but in that case disconnecting them wouldn't stop anything else from working.

Or maybe it is the end of the circuit and the switch cable, and whatever has stopped the other lights from working is unrelated to these cables being disconnected.

Between the 2 sets of wires there are 3 live, 2 earth, and 1 neutral,

How have you established that?

so I would guess that you connect a live to a live and an earth to an earth between the 2 sets of cables. This would leave a live and a neutral to connect up to a light fitting in the living room.

It would also leave the lighting loop without a neutral, which would be a bit of a drawback....

But that's a guess, which is why I need your help

You need to stop guessing.

You need to learn how lighting circuits work. http://www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting

You need to see if there's another cable at that location.

You need to get a multimeter.

Or, you need to do none of the above and get an electrician.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Hang on I have just read your last post and you say none of the lights work when these conductors are disconnected - which would suggest that this is not the end of the lighting circuit.

Could be the front end, aka the start.

It would also suggest that there is a missing cable somewhere.

Or that the other lights have stopped for another reason - maybe whatever was loose that was causing the flickering has gone solidly o/c.

It's time, really, for all of us, including the OP, to stop guessing, and start testing, identifying and tracing cables.

 

[skuba]

i've just asked her to put the fuse back in and try the other lights and they definitely still work WITHOUT the living room cables being connected. sorry for the confusion. she also said the dining room lights still flicker

i guess this brings me back to riveralt's first suggestion?

 

[riveralt]

i've just asked her to put the fuse back in and try the other lights and they definitely still work WITHOUT the living room cables being connected. sorry for the confusion. she also said the dining room lights still flicker

i guess this brings me back to riveralt's first suggestion?

So I would connect the wires in the photograph as suggested after checking the switch.

Then check all the connections as suggested in one of my initial posts.

If that doesn't work then it is probably wise to get someone in to check the circuits - it very difficult to do that from a forum.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

With the 2 sets of cables disconnected in the picture, none of the lights downstairs will work as it breaks the loop.

i've just asked her to put the fuse back in and try the other lights and they definitely still work WITHOUT the living room cables being connected.

I'm out.

Good luck.