Too many wires for light connection! HELP!!
#1
Too many wires for light connection! HELP!!
Hi all ...
I recently purchased a light fitting from IKEA ( ) to replace a standard ceiling light fitting (one bulb). The problem I have is that the new light fitting has a thingo that you can connect one earth (green/yellow) one neutral (black) and one live (red) wire to it, but there are four wires that come out of the ceiling from the standard light connection (green/yellow, black, red and BLUE).
Firstly, I connected the earth, neutral and live wire to the new light (taping up the blue wire) and although the light worked the light switch was actually off, and flicking it into the on or off position made no difference to the light - it was permanently ON.
Therefore, I assumed that the blue wire had something to do with the light switch, but without any spot on the back of the new light fitting to connect it to I tried a number of combinations of pairing it with one of the other wires (yes I know it was foolhardy, lucky i have a circuit breaker) ... anyway, pairing the blue wire with the earth wire produced the same result (light on, no switch control), pairing the blue wire with the neutral wire meant the light was on, but tripped the circuit breaker when i tried the switch - the same thing happened when i paired the blue wire with the live wire.
At the moment I have a lovely new light fitting hanging forlornly out of my ceiling and am eating my dinner practically in the dark because I have no idea how to make this light work as it's supposed to.
Is it possible to buy a different plastic wire connector thingo - you know the thing that goes between the light fitting wiring and the actual house wiring so that has a spot for the blue wire?
Someone please help me before i turn myself into a hanging kebab!
(ps - i'm in australia if that helps regarding the wire colours)
I recently purchased a light fitting from IKEA ( ) to replace a standard ceiling light fitting (one bulb). The problem I have is that the new light fitting has a thingo that you can connect one earth (green/yellow) one neutral (black) and one live (red) wire to it, but there are four wires that come out of the ceiling from the standard light connection (green/yellow, black, red and BLUE).
Firstly, I connected the earth, neutral and live wire to the new light (taping up the blue wire) and although the light worked the light switch was actually off, and flicking it into the on or off position made no difference to the light - it was permanently ON.
Therefore, I assumed that the blue wire had something to do with the light switch, but without any spot on the back of the new light fitting to connect it to I tried a number of combinations of pairing it with one of the other wires (yes I know it was foolhardy, lucky i have a circuit breaker) ... anyway, pairing the blue wire with the earth wire produced the same result (light on, no switch control), pairing the blue wire with the neutral wire meant the light was on, but tripped the circuit breaker when i tried the switch - the same thing happened when i paired the blue wire with the live wire.
At the moment I have a lovely new light fitting hanging forlornly out of my ceiling and am eating my dinner practically in the dark because I have no idea how to make this light work as it's supposed to.
Is it possible to buy a different plastic wire connector thingo - you know the thing that goes between the light fitting wiring and the actual house wiring so that has a spot for the blue wire?
Someone please help me before i turn myself into a hanging kebab!
(ps - i'm in australia if that helps regarding the wire colours)
#2
Standard wire colors for Europe and Australia are brown for line, light blue for neutral, and a combination of green and yellow for ground. However, black and red are also frequently used for line (hot wires). In the U.S., common convention would be that red is the switched hot and black is the unswitched hot.
Is there just one each of those wires in the ceiling?
Please stop experimenting. The worst case scenario is that one of your experiments makes the light work perfectly, but the next person to change a light bulb is electrocuted. Don't kid yourself--this is a possible scenario. Not everything that works is safe.
Is there just one each of those wires in the ceiling?
Please stop experimenting. The worst case scenario is that one of your experiments makes the light work perfectly, but the next person to change a light bulb is electrocuted. Don't kid yourself--this is a possible scenario. Not everything that works is safe.
#4
Originally Posted by John Nelson
Standard wire colors for Europe and Australia are brown for line, light blue for neutral, and a combination of green and yellow for ground. However, black and red are also frequently used for line (hot wires). In the U.S., common convention would be that red is the switched hot and black is the unswitched hot.
Is there just one each of those wires in the ceiling?
Is there just one each of those wires in the ceiling?
Please stop experimenting. The worst case scenario is that one of your experiments makes the light work perfectly, but the next person to change a light bulb is electrocuted. Don't kid yourself--this is a possible scenario. Not everything that works is safe.
Originally Posted by joed
Can you tell us how the old light was connected? The same two wires that were connected to your old fixture connect to your new fixture.