Discuss Practical advice???? in the Industrial Electrician Talk area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

F

fudorduf

I'm doing a repair job for a friend whose kitchen spotlights aren't working. The wiring is poor and the light switch has five seperate cables wired in a way that defies all reason. (Now disconnected and made safe). I've agreed to repair it only if I can rewire the whole set up by the book.

The problem I've got is that to run new cables in I want to take the floor boards up on the floor above. His daughter is revising for her A-levels at the moment (the floor boards are in her bedroom) and he doesn't want the disruption at this important time.

The only way I can see to access the space in the ceiling is to cut a channel through the palsterboard almost the length of the ceiling, so I can run the cables in through the joists, then board up and plaster when complete. Messy but effective.

Does anyone have experience of a more straightforward approach. I've got Part P and CG 2381 but practical stuff like this isn't in any textbooks.

Any good advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks, John.
 
hi
without knowing the exact layout im not sure ,some of the 5 cables should go to the light ,i would try tying a new cable on ,and pulling him thro ,the live and neutral should be ok unless you intend changing them as well.so it should be quite easy ,tie it on well and pull it hard if it gets stuck you will have to estimate where its stuck and bash a hole in the plasterbourd
good luck
 
Welcome to the real world !!

You are quite right, most of this type of work isn't in any book or teachable in a training bay.

When you say the wiring is poor, how do you know this?

Has it got a low insulation resistance? no cpc? showing signs of wear and tear or age?

or just wired by a proper electrician and you don't understand it? is the problem even at the switch?

Is the girl doing proper A levels ? or meaningless quals like health and beauty and media studies? if so lift the boards it won't ruin her future
 
have you tried changing the lamps?? only joking! when you say 5 cables i assume you mean singles is it two wayed with another switch?? cos that would take five cables? or is it feed in feed out and a switch wire?? if uve split all the cables and the rest of the lighting in the house still works i reckon this is your best bet but without more info best i can do m8 ;) lol
 
Thanks for the replies. There are 8 spotlights in the kitchen ceiling and a single lamp under one of the wall cupboards. Both are controlled by a two gang switch, with a dimmer for the ceiling and a normal switch for the cupboard light. The two gang switch has five twin and earth cables running into it. The neutral cables are terminated in an terminal connection and taped up. The cpc's are wired together in a similar way. The five phase are split with two wired in together in a terminal block with a single phase wire then connected to the dimmer. The three other phase cables are attached to the switch for the cupboard light and there is a single wire connecting the dimmer and the other switch together. It's a bit unconventional or maybe just too advanced for me so I'd prefer to start from scratch so I know where I stand.

The real question is how to get into the ceiling void without cutting too much plasterboard down. The cables attached to the spotlights hold firm when I've pulled them so it doesn't seem to be case where I can pull new cable through.

Any top tips? Ta, J.
 
ok well all the neutrals and earths should stay as they are 1 of the two lives in the connector is feed in other is feed out so that stays the same seperate the other 3 lives and switch the power on and the 1 that is live is a permanent feed from the fitting(not sure y they have done this) and the other two will be switched lives to each fitting so put the permanent live in the common of one of the switches and the link from that should be to the other common and then just put the other wires in the l1 terminals respectively and all should be well. unless 1 of the 3 wires you assumed where lives is in fact a neutral hth and im sure you will get to the bottom of it from what you described tho sounds as if he had been tinkering lol even though they never have lol ;)
 

Reply to Practical advice???? in the Industrial Electrician Talk area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock