Ceiling Light

Hi Sam, the ceiling rose you removed, what wires were there actually present, ie is the rose on a loop in loop out system or is it fed from a junction box. It might pay to remove a few more roses to try and establish how your lighting circuit is wired. What is the general state of the rest of the wiring, CU for example, is it a modern one with MCBs or a rewirable fuse type, Also are you sure there isnt a cpc poked up in the ceiling void ?

The solution appears obvious.

Regards, NT

Why do you bother writing to a newsgroup if your going to come up with pithy statements such as this? I am not an electrician and want to absolutely sure before I do any work on my house.

Well, if the fitting must be earthed and you've no earth in the lighting wiring, the answer is pretty obvious. All lighting wiring has been required to provide an earth for many years, so if yours doesn't it needs replacing.

NT:

SG:

Hi SG.

If your light needs an earth and your supply has no earth, then you need an earth. Or to not install the chandelier.

As Dave pointed out there is a 2nd consideration too: if the lighting circuit has no earth it is probably very old, probably 1960s or earlier, which raises the question of what condition its in after all this time, and how safe it is.

Regards, NT

But for a start the OP didn't say the fitting must be earthed, he said it was made of metal so *imagined* it must be earthed (and indeed, no doubt it should be). And maybe he didn't know lighting cables should now always have an earth, but that many years ago they didn't, so he could have very out-dated wiring in need of replacement. Or maybe he has got modern wiring, but some numpty who wired in a non-earthed bayonet fitting years ago just cut the earth back beyond the ceiling rose so it's invisible without probing further.

TBH I don't see that the solution is any more obvious than for other queries which get asked here every day.

David