DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi guys/gals..

My light fuse blew yesterday as i turned on the living room light. I changed the fuse and the same happened so i got out my fluke and went to work!

It appears that there are 2 red switched lives and 1 black switched live, is this right?

The 3 blacks were all together, 3 reds together, 2 earths together and 2 switch live reds together.

I have removed the black wire that goes live with the switch from the block and the fuse has stopped blowing, but the other light or this light dont work at all.


Any advice greatly appreciated...

Thanks...[/img]

With the standard ceiling rose you will normally have three cables.
Feed in
Switch
Feed out
The feed in and out will connect like colours together however the switch cable should have two wires either red or brown according to age of wiring.
Often however a cable with line and neutral colours is used and the wire with neutral colour (Black or Blue) will have a sleeve red or Brown on it.
This wire is line not neutral and many DIY people have problems here and often due to someone losing the sleeve.

I will guess you have mixed up the cables and putting the wire which should be sleeved in with the neutrals will cause a direct short.

In the past I have tried to write guides as to how to ID each cable but I was accused of giving dangerous information and as a result so I'll leave the guiding to "Singer" to guide you through this time!