Beginner Rewiring a Light Fitting that's a Basic Radial Loop System
Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 7:34 pm
Hey there guys. Apologies for the beginners' question but I've been thrown a little by the way the loop has been wired in my house and wondered whether someone out there could help.
I'm trying to replace four light fittings with this POS from B&Q:
I seem to have a basic radial / loop system with two lights to one switch. The old light fitting had a decent block system for the wiring. Here's a photo of the old slaved light:
What's throwing me is the way that the loop and switch has been wired in. Here's the wiring in question:
It seems a standard colouring scheme with the earth as the green/yellow, Neutral as blue and Live/Line as Brown. I assume that the two sets on the left are my lines to and from the next ceiling rose. The other two sets, in which the Earthing lines have been joined and one of the Neutrals has been sheathed in a live jacket is thowing me. Here's a better shot of those six wires:
I presume that the jacketed neutral wire should be wired into the live circuit as part of the switch but I would appreciate some guidance!
The second issue is that the B&Q lights come with a tiny, cheap plastic 3-way terminal block for the new wiring, like this:
There's no way that I could physically fit five live wires plus a sixth for the actual light fitting into that block. There is an extension piece for a loop but I have no idea which wires then need to be together. Is there an easy solution to this? Should I be buying a better terminal block to make life easier? There does seem to be room in the base for the light fitting:
Any/all help much appreciated!
Ben
I'm trying to replace four light fittings with this POS from B&Q:
I seem to have a basic radial / loop system with two lights to one switch. The old light fitting had a decent block system for the wiring. Here's a photo of the old slaved light:
What's throwing me is the way that the loop and switch has been wired in. Here's the wiring in question:
It seems a standard colouring scheme with the earth as the green/yellow, Neutral as blue and Live/Line as Brown. I assume that the two sets on the left are my lines to and from the next ceiling rose. The other two sets, in which the Earthing lines have been joined and one of the Neutrals has been sheathed in a live jacket is thowing me. Here's a better shot of those six wires:
I presume that the jacketed neutral wire should be wired into the live circuit as part of the switch but I would appreciate some guidance!
The second issue is that the B&Q lights come with a tiny, cheap plastic 3-way terminal block for the new wiring, like this:
There's no way that I could physically fit five live wires plus a sixth for the actual light fitting into that block. There is an extension piece for a loop but I have no idea which wires then need to be together. Is there an easy solution to this? Should I be buying a better terminal block to make life easier? There does seem to be room in the base for the light fitting:
Any/all help much appreciated!
Ben