Weird Problem with new light....

MRTOWNDRO

hey all, i bought a new light the other day. it has 3 50w GU 10 240v bulbs.i wanted to install it in my front room.

my cables from my ceiling are as follows,

3 power cables consisting of 3 earths,3 reds (insulated n out the way)and 3 blacks where out of the 3 ,1 is the switch wire(labelled) for my front room.

heres the problem, I connected the switch wire to the live terminal of the light and the other 2 blacks to the neutral terminal & earth 2 earth....

the light works fine when i switch it on BUT, my (ground floor lights)kitchen & dining room lights have become very dim.

Also if i disconnect my front room switch which has a black and red wire behind it & turn on my kitchen lights my new front room light turns on

can any1 help lol ........
so right now i have just taken the new light out my front room and attached all the blacks together where now my kitchen lights are working fine, the bulbs in the kitchen are also 50w, is this a power serge problem or isit me? helpppppppp

AllanJ

You have connected the new light incorrectly.

Was there an old light in the place you put the new light or was that place nothing more than a junction box cover?

I don't know the wiring color code for your house; in most U.S. homes neutral is white. You need a neutral and a hot feed to start with.

You will need to tell us how the wires were connected before you started. While you are at it, with the black wires still taken apart, measure the voltage between each one and earth, for both switch positions. Also measure the voltage between the reds and earth for each switch position. Report back.

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MRTOWNDRO

Hi allanJ thanks for the reply,

firstly im from the Uk, where now our NEW colours are.

live supply- brown
earth/ground - yellow & green
neutral- blue.

my cables are the old wires (blacks and reds)- blacks-neutral,red live,
the reds were insulated even before i attempted to change my light,
and i have just realized that out of the three blacks there was no black wire with a tag for the switch, i just assumed 1 was the switch as I got a normal lamp and attached the neutral and live of the bulb to 2 of the black wires from my ceiling in order to find the switch,where when i attached the live & neutral of the lamp to 2 of the 3 blacks the lamp lighted up.

um to be honest i am not a electrician so im not sure how to measure stuff lol,is there anything else?also I dont remember the way the wire were before,i think they were loose as when i took the previous light out they just fell out of the junction box.

behing the switch in my front room i have a black and red wire and also a earth,if that helps.

thanksss

InPhase277

I think you have mistaken the cable for the switch with the cable for the next room in the circuit. Or at least one or two wires are mixed up. Throwing the switch is making or breaking a series circuit somewhere.

MRTOWNDRO

thanks for the reply,

hmmmm what should i do?

i suppose that explains why when the three blacks are not connected together none of my downstairs lights work, n when they do work with the new light they are dimmed, so how else could i find the switch wire but again none of the cables were even tagged with a switch wire label or anything :S.

and why do you think the 3 reds are insulated, could i not play with them?

InPhase277

Well, do you by chance have a continuity tester? If not, the we could do it by trial. Make sure the light switch is in the off position. Then connect the black and red from the mains to one of the other sets, leaving one set of black and red disconnected. Check to see if the lights downstairs work. DO NOT FLIP THE LIGHT SWITCH ON YET!!

What we are doing is trying to identify the cable going on to the next part of the circuit, which is apparently downstairs. If the downstairs lights work, then that connection of black to black and red to red needs to be maintained and is correct. If the downstairs lights do not work, the cable goes to the switch.

So, once you have done this test, you can then wire it properly. Black from mains to black downstairs and neutral of new light. Red from mains to red downstairs, and to black to switch. The red wire from the switch will go to live on the new light.

And that's it.

MRTOWNDRO

wont i get a shock if i touch the reds when the power is on? ill do it but just want to confirm,or shud i turn the power off and then turn it back on after each set?

thank u

InPhase277

You are joking right? Of course turn the power off before each trial! Do not work on anything live.

MRTOWNDRO

LOL just checking haha, dw i shall post back 2mrrw, i will be alive.