electric wiring makes absolutely no sense

replaced light in the khazi with one of those modern LED puppies and the bog wiring is of pre-decimal vintage some black ones, couple of red ones and a couple of bare wires. presumed the bare ones were earth so bunged them in the ncfc socket. the blacks and reds must be live and neutral according to the google so bunged them in their respective holes. screwed the rotter up and flicked the switch and on she came off she went, the breaker tripped. Chief of Staff says "get an electrician in" no way am I paying for a bloke to put a light in so, instead of going on a football or politics forum i went on an electrician forum and they talked me down. the two red wires dont go in the light fitting just connect those 2 puppies together and tape them up then find out which is the live and neutral "black" wires and bung them in the respective terminals. wire the two live wires together don't connect them to the light and that's gonna work?

but you can't ascertain which is which without a multimeter or a sacrificial pet/family member which means it's a 50/50 chance of getting it right.

how insane is electric wiring? also, if you are in the mainland europe how come they just have 2 pin plugs and it doesn't matter which way up you shove them in? I think electricity is just a big con to keep electricians rich. the light works a treat now, hopefully it wont catch fire tonight and burn the house down and even if it does, at least i've saved money on calling out an electricity wizzard.

Posted By: Tombs, Oct 3, 14:13:19