by ericmark »
Mon Jun 20, 2016 11:53 am
The rules don't allow the earth wire to be used for anything but an earth, but with the rest over sleeving is permitted. It is common with lights to over sleeve with a different colour, it is also common for the sleeves to fall off. So forget wire colours.
Two ways to work it out, one is test, the other is see where they were connected before you started. I can't do either from here. With AC power there is no + or - we have line and neutral both being called live wires.
Yes I know you don't think of neutral as live, but with lights it is all too common to get a borrowed neutral due to a two way system and as a result neutral is all too often live to a point where it can give a nasty shock.
This is why I use a neon screwdriver, not for the line wire but for neutral which becomes live as it is removed from a terminal.