Any sparkies out there?

[1pudding1]

Hi, hoping for any help with a little electrics at home.

I fitted an outside security light yesterday. There was an existing wire poking out of the wall under the eaves outside, and then a 2-gang 2way switch next to the back door. One of the switches works the back door inside light using 3core+earth (red+blue+yellow+green). The other switch wasnt connected to anything, but a wire was in the socket which appears to be the same as the one wired up to the outside light, which is a 2 core+ earth (red+black+green).

Here's a pic:-

From L-R - Blue=Switch1 Yellow=Neutral1 Red=Live1 Red+Black from 2nd wire I think go to the security light.

How can I wire up the outside light to work? Even if both lights will work off one switch that would be ok for now.

Thanks.

 

[Mat]

Just a small point, but you might want to pull that 2 core through so you can get the earth wired in as well.

 

[1pudding1]

The earth is wired in, its a bare earth wire which is wrapped in that green tape and conncted to the socket.

 

[Visage]

That picture isnt very clear. There appears to be three wires coming out of the waal - are they all twin and earth?

Can you describe, from L to R, what each wire is connected to, and what colour wires are coming out of it?

 

[1pudding1]

First post edited with descriptions. There are 2 wires into the socket. The first is 3core and connected to inside light and is working. The 2nd wire is just 2 core to the outside light. Both also have the green earth.

 

[Visage]

Connect the red to the common terminal at the bottom (where the pre-existing red wire goes into, and the black wire into the unuesd L1 connection, That way the red wire will be live (as its connected in common with the other red wire) and the swicth will optionally connect it to the L2 termninal, which will for a circuit with the black wire.

I think.....

 

[Cyanide]

Oh how I love lighting circuits when the previous sparky doesn't use the proper colours and doesn't label anything

 

[helmet]

I believe Visage is correct.

Blue / Yellow--------|| Black
--------------------||
--------------------||
3 core red (loop red)|| 2 core red (loop red)

BTW, the blue is a strapper, not a neutral .

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Have you got a mains tester like

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/54634...ins-Tester;jsessionid=VVY2NB2QVQ03OCSTHZOSFFI

They are very useful to find out which of those wires are live etc. My house is only 15yrs old and when ive got to put in new sockets/lights etc etc ive found the damm electricians have used the wrong coloured cables for live, basically theyve used anything that was free at the time. Its hidden away so no one knows or cares until you come to do some DIY electricity work yourself.

 

[Biohazard]

^ a lot of older houses are like that.

My whole house was pretty much wired with a single colour.

 

[jas72]

Connect the red to the common terminal at the bottom (where the pre-existing red wire goes into, and the black wire into the unuesd L1 connection, That way the red wire will be live (as its connected in common with the other red wire) and the swicth will optionally connect it to the L2 termninal, which will for a circuit with the black wire.

I think.....

Problem is you don't have a live cable.

The live cables are usually kept in your ceiling roses.

Thus all you have at your switch are neutrals and switch wires. How you going to feed your light with a live?

 

[helmet]

There is a common feed at the switch which gets "looped" and provides a live to each "way" of the switch.

There is no neutral at the switch, blue and black don't mean neutral in some cases. The neutral goes straight to the light and "loops" around each light in the circuit.

Yellow / Blue = Strappers
Black = Switchwire
Red = Live

 

[jas72]

Ignore....