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Lobster
 
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"Stefek Zaba" wrote in message
...
Jonathan Baker-Bates wrote:
I feel sure this must be in the FAQ somewhere, or in the archives, but I
can't find the answer...

I have an Ikea light (a LEDING its called) that I need to fit to a

cieling
rose. There are two sets of wires in the ceiling: one I assume is the
switch, the other the mains (each have L/N/E wires).

OK. Here's the ugly way to do it - but if you do get tired of the light
and want to switch back to an ordinary pendant later (or grow so
attached you want to take the new fitting to a new house) you'll thank
me for it:
- leave the ceiling rose in place
- mount the IKEA fitting to the ceiling close by
- run the existing pendant cable, or a short length of new cable
(heat-resistant if you can lay your hands on some) to the new fitting.


Eeew.

This way you haven't monkeyed with the fixed wiring at all.

The light fitting has three wires L/N/E, and that's it. No block like

you
normally get with friendly labels on.

So, my question is: what wires do I fit where? I assume the earths all

go
to the same place, but what about the rest?

OK. If you want to make the new connections "inside" the new fitting,
your job is basically to faithfully replicate the pattern of connections
inside the existing rose. So, label the wires of the existing cables
carefully. There are four, yes four, sets of cable cores which are being
connected together; so to replicate the existing interconnection you
need a 4-way section of "chocolate block" (terminal block) - if we're
talking doing the best job, try to find the sort which has little leaves
of spring metal clamping down the cable groups instead of just the bare
screw.


If the fitting is anything like many I've fitted, you might find it hard to
get all those cables, plus the terminal block, inside the casing of the new
light fitting. So there is a Third Way, and actually you might find this a
bit easier to wire than Stefek's. Lift a floorboard in the room directly
above the light fitting, and having labelled the wires as Stefek described,
disconnect them and pull them up through the ceiling. You then replicate
the existing connections using a 4-way junction box and then have just a
single length of cable poking down through the hole in the ceiling (this
will be the thick, fixed stuff used in the lighting circuits, not the skimpy
multi-strand flex which comes with the light fitting). See
http://tinyurl.com/6xmty or
http://www.diydata.com/planning/elec...ric_lights.htm .

You now need to connect a 3-way section of terminal block to your L/N/E
wires inside the light fitting, and connect the other side of the block to
the L/N/E wires, respectively, of the cable now coming down through the
ceiling.

Whether you use this method or Stefek's, you need to ensure that all bare
earth wires throughout (ie in the junction box and/or light fitting) are
sheathed in yellow/green sleeving (you should see bits of this within your
ceiling rose now - B&Q etc sell it by the metre).

When you do the job, don't forget to turn off the mains electric switch, not
just the light switch!

If this doesn't make sense, leave the job alone and get someone who does
have a grasp of what they're doing to wire it up!


Seconded!

Good luck
David