How to attach new light fitting (beginner DIY'er!)

[monkeymagic]

Hi,
I had an electrician in some months ago and he put up all the pendatnts for me around the house. I have successfully put up new light fittings today but am having a problem with the one in my hall as there are no joists running where he has put the light up.

He somehow secured the original pendant light by simply screwing it in to the plasterboard ceiling and it was secure and tight when I unscrewed it.

But when I went to screw in the bracket for the new three armed light fitting the screws won't hold in the plasterboard - I tried plugs in the original holes, I also tried new holes and used the screws he used to secure the bracket (so basically doing what he has done previously) but the screws are simply not 'biting' into the plasterboard and therefore the bracket hangs down and is loose.

So basically, how can I secure the fixing bracket for the new light to the plasterboard ceiling?

 

[leeco]

can u lift a floorboard up and get a nogging between the 2 joists

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I tried plugs in the original holes,

What sort of plugs?

And what happened to the plugs originally in the original holes?

I also tried new holes and used the screws he used to secure the bracket

What sort of plugs?

Were the holes the right size for the plugs?

Were the plugs the right size for the screws?

So basically, how can I secure the fixing bracket for the new light to the plasterboard ceiling?

What do the instructions say?

How much does the light weigh? Can it be fixed to the ceiling like that, or is it going to have to be fixed to a joist or similar?

Do you have access to the void from above so you can put a noggin in?

 

[leeco]

or go buy some of these

 

[monkeymagic]

wood flooring above so unable to get to floorboards unless take this up.

The electrician had not used any plugs but somehow got a secure fix with just screws. However when I used the exact same screws in new holes they just wouldn't catch.

I tried the plugs that came with the light fitting and the screws that came with them but the screw went in certain way and then just kept rotating. I then tried bigger screws but this just pushed the plugs through the plasterboard.

What are they called leeco?

 

[leeco]

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/38860/Fixings/Cavity-Fixings/Fischer-Spring-Toggle-5-x-50mm-Pack-of-20

Fischer-Spring-Toggle

 

[monkeymagic]

Thanks,
These would seem ideal but if it is self expanding won't it be too big to fit through the holes of the fixing bracket supplied with the light fitting. Don't know what diameter the holes in the fixing bracket are but an average size screw passes through the holes (maybe 1cm diameter holes???) or am I missing something?

 

[leeco]

what you would do is take the screw out of the bracket then into the light fitting then back into the bracket also the bracket bends in half in a spring i think thats how they go into the plaster board then spring back out

 

[Wontdothatagain]

DEPENDING ON THE WEIGHT OF THE LIGHT

Try these.

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/fixingtoplasterboard.htm

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Let's just hope that their attitude to truth and accuracy is better on that topic than it is on electrical advice....