Ceiling lights

[jamesson]

I bought some ceiling lights for our new house to replace the awful ones which were already there, and when I took them down the cabling in the ceiling is too short to be able to wire it in to the new fittings.

The old lights were dangly with the little box you screw the wires into free from the fitting itself but the new ones have the little box fixed to the fitting meaning insufficient space to attach and screw in the wires. The cable in the ceiling is held fast in place and won't budge, unlike my old house where you could pull down what you needed and push it back up when it was all attached.

On my brother's advice I bought some cabling and have extended the wires by twisting the exposed bits together and holding them in place with electrical insulating tape but it's not working (and yes, I have flicked the fusebox back!).

I've put up umpteen light fittings before so I do know what I'm doing under normal circumstances, but clearly extending the wires the way I've done it hasn't worked.

Any advice on how to fix the problem?

Thank you in advance for any help.

[CedGTV]

jamesson said:

I bought some ceiling lights for our new house to replace the awful ones which were already there, and when I took them down the cabling in the ceiling is too short to be able to wire it in to the new fittings.

The old lights were dangly with the little box you screw the wires into free from the fitting itself but the new ones have the little box fixed to the fitting meaning insufficient space to attach and screw in the wires. The cable in the ceiling is held fast in place and won't budge, unlike my old house where you could pull down what you needed and push it back up when it was all attached.

On my brother's advice I bought some cabling and have extended the wires by twisting the exposed bits together and holding them in place with electrical insulating tape but it's not working (and yes, I have flicked the fusebox back!).

I've put up umpteen light fittings before so I do know what I'm doing under normal circumstances, but clearly extending the wires the way I've done it hasn't worked.

Any advice on how to fix the problem?

Thank you in advance for any help.

Print this off and give it to the investigating fire officer.

HTH

[jamesson]

Any actual advice?

[Nolar Dog]

By "little box" I'm assuming you mean transformer?

If so, (long shot but) are you using a dimmer switch and your new lights aren't compatible?
Failing that it sounds like a loose wire somehwere.

[mik.ross]

post some pics. Then call an Electrician as "twisting the wires together" is not an option.

HTH

[jamesson]

Transformer it is then!

A loose wire sounds likely, but what would be the best way of ensuring connectivity?

[jamesson]

mik.ross said:

post some pics. Then call an Electrician as "twisting the wires together" is not an option.

HTH

What would an electrician do?

[mik.ross]

He would ensure all connections were "Mechanically sound" and connecting them by "twisting them together & using Insulating tape" is a very good way of setting your house on fire. Most house fires that are attributed to "Electrical" are due to bad conections.

Edited by mik.ross on Sunday 10th May 17:56

[Dogwatch]

jamesson said:

mik.ross said:

post some pics. Then call an Electrician as "twisting the wires together" is not an option.

HTH

What would an electrician do?

Chocolate block connectors.


Or a proper rewire.

[jamesson]

Thanks mik.ross, I appreciate your advice.

But I'm curious as to how the electrician would do it. Is there something you can buy from B&Q or wherever? It can't be that difficult surely...?

[jamesson]

Dogwatch said:

jamesson said:

mik.ross said:

post some pics. Then call an Electrician as "twisting the wires together" is not an option.

HTH

What would an electrician do?

Chocolate block connectors.


Or a proper rewire.

Thanks for that.

These chocolate blocks then. Are they widely used? Or do pros avoid them?

[miniman]

You need one of these (from B&Q or whatever):



Edit: bloody keyboard

Edited by miniman on Sunday 10th May 18:00

[jamesson]

Thank you miniman!

[Graham E]

you use choc block connectors for this - the "2 screws in a little plastic bit" thing. Unfortunately, you can't legally touch the house wiring these days without being city and guilds approved - not as a handyman type, anyway.
I'd agree with the other posters re. getting a man in - no offence but if you're willing to do "twisted together" wiring on 240v, you're possibly a bit out of your depth? (really, i mean no badness by this btw)

[jamesson]

Graham E said:

you use choc block connectors for this - the "2 screws in a little plastic bit" thing. Unfortunately, you can't legally touch the house wiring these days without being city and guilds approved - not as a handyman type, anyway.
I'd agree with the other posters re. getting a man in - no offence but if you're willing to do "twisted together" wiring on 240v, you're possibly a bit out of your depth? (really, i mean no badness by this btw)

Hi Graham,

Thanks for your advice, and no offence taken.

My brother is normally very good at DIY, which is why I asked him.

Should have known to come to PH first.

[mickk]

You cant just use connector blocks, they need to have a cover over them. Go to B&Q and ask for 5amp junction boxes

[miniman]

Graham E said:

you use choc block connectors for this - the "2 screws in a little plastic bit" thing. Unfortunately, you can't legally touch the house wiring these days without being city and guilds approved - not as a handyman type, anyway.
I'd agree with the other posters re. getting a man in - no offence but if you're willing to do "twisted together" wiring on 240v, you're possibly a bit out of your depth? (really, i mean no badness by this btw)

That's not quite true though, is it? There are still plenty of DIY-able tasks that do not require sign off by an approved spark. Primarily kitchen and bathroom-related tasks are no-nos.

[Ganglandboss]

JESUS fkIN' CHRIST!

I have read the OP and skimmed the rest. OP, no offence, you are not competent enough to be messing with electrics; if you have to ask such a question, you seriously need to ask whether you should be doing this yourself. Those of you who have suggested connector blocks; you scare me.

GET A COMPETENT SPARK IN!!!

Dave

Qualified spark.

[Graham E]

Re. the "what you can and what you can't do" bit, it all seems to be misleading - what I was meaning was, say you were an electronics retailer, you can't hard wire any products into someone lese's house unless the man you send is city and guilds.. happy?

[jamesson]

Ganglandboss said:

JESUS fkIN' CHRIST!

I have read the OP and skimmed the rest. OP, no offence, you are not competent enough to be messing with electrics; if you have to ask such a question, you seriously need to ask whether you should be doing this yourself. Those of you who have suggested connector blocks; you scare me.

GET A COMPETENT SPARK IN!!!

Dave

Qualified spark.

Hi Dave,

As a qualified spark, what would you do?

No offence taken!