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https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl DIY Forum >> Electrical Questions >> Old wiring outside light 2 switches https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1601827789 Message started by hutchrr on Oct 4^th, 2020, 5:09pm

Title: Old wiring outside light 2 switches
Post by hutchrr on Oct 4^th, 2020, 5:09pm

Hi.
I have an outdoor spotlight I'm trying to wire. It is wired to 2 switches, one in house one in garage.
The wiring is old style...one cable has a red, black and bare wire. The other a black and a bare one.
The 2 bare wires were connected together and had a green plastic outer added to them. I've assumed these should both be the earth.

When I wire them to their respective N L E connections on the light...it trips the electric. I wire the 2 black and 1 red to their respective natural and live fittings. And the 2 bare/green to the earth.

Is there something I'm doing wrong ??? I normally take a photo of the odd light when disconnecting, but forgot this time!

Any help would be great.

thanns

Title: Re: Old wiring outside light 2 switches
Post by Lectrician on Oct 4^th, 2020, 8:46pm

I would suspect the red is a permanent live, the black with the red a neutral, and the black on its own the switched live.

This is by no means me saying “this is how it is”, it is an educated guess.

The red may have been terminated in a terminal block and not actually connected to the light.

Title: Re: Old wiring outside light 2 switches
Post by hutchrr on Oct 10^th, 2020, 3:05pm

Thanks for your help...

Lights now working perfectly. :D

Cheers