Please help me understand Norwegian ceiling wires!?

[gizmo1990]

Really hope someone can help me with this.

I'm staying in a friends Norwegian flat and I'd like to put up some lights for them. Unfortunately each ceiling outlet has a massive jumble of wires coming out of it! I've never seen such a mess and they are preventing me from attaching ceiling roses properly.

If anyone has any experience of Norway or Scandinavia in general, you will know that it is INSANELY expensive so I really would like to fix this myself!

So what I'd like to do is trim all the wires back and make them much neater. Probably bind some insulation tape around them too as they've got that really old woven type material surrounding them.

Before I do that though I'd really like to understand the mess of wire coming out the ceiling!? What exactly do they all do!? Basically there are 8 wires in total and they seem to be broken into 2 groups. 3 wires come out into a junction box and then 1 wire out the other end. This is then repeated in another group. Only this time without the junction box and just taped together!

Here's a photo I took along with a diagram where I hope I've explained it better.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[TicklyT]

Those look like old rubber insulated cables. In the UK they would probably be considered well past their sell by date. Old rubber insulation tends to crumble into dust if the wiring is pulled about, then either the fuse or breaker pops, or the house catches fire

With the possibly ancient wiring, I think you will need an electrician to prove the general safety of the whole installation.

As far as the wiring goes, it looks similar to the 'loop at ceiling rose' method illustrated in the Electrics UK section.
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37582.

I would expect the live connection of your fitting to connect to the choc bloc with the single wire in it, and the neutral to connect to the choc bloc with the group of three wires.

You don't appear to have an earth connection available, so you will be limited to using double insulated fittings.

 

[sonicm1etn]

They used to use different colours to us, new wiring should be the same as ours.

Old stuff IIRC is:
Live = Blue
Neutral = Black
Green, Green/yell, random bits of other colours wire = Earth.....loads old stuff didn't have earths, and way, way back in Germany I believe the earth was Red

HTH

 

[gizmo1990]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Well I guess I'll leave well alone then. Mates can't afford to get an electrician in I'm afraid. The ceiling will just have to remain lightless for now!

Apparently most old flats have wiring like this and everyones the same, can't afford electrician so leave it..

 

[mattylad]

Not being an electrician I would assume that the choc block has the switched live & neutral on it.

What would putting a lamp across those do it it was not?
Why would it be like that - with no other accessible wire ends if not?