Electrical DIY

[Missy D]

So here I am doing my DIY as per usual. Laminate floors laid, sealant on the bath done, Curtain rails put up and then I come across a simple job of putting a plug on the Spotlight in my garden Whats with the new colours of wires?? No blue, brown or green but RED, BLACK and an uninsulated copper wire. Where do they go?? Feel like such a girl now cant even put a plug on a light whatever next. Can someone help before I blow up my whole house.

[dee]

maybe the wires go straight in the wall..... Only joking hope you get it sorted never come accross that before

[bigdjiver]

Originally Posted by Missy D

So here I am doing my DIY as per usual. Laminate floors laid, sealant on the bath done, Curtain rails put up and then I come across a simple job of putting a plug on the Spotlight in my garden Whats with the new colours of wires?? No blue, brown or green but RED, BLACK and an uninsulated copper wire. Where do they go?? Feel like such a girl now cant even put a plug on a light whatever next. Can someone help before I blow up my whole house.

Not new, but old. This sounds like very old wiring and may be dangerous and now illegal. Having the bare wire (earth) uninsulated inside a plug where it could conceivably come into contact with the live terminal, and attached to an outside light with the added hazards of damp sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Domestic AC power plugs and sockets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[stairman]

Originally Posted by Missy D

So here I am doing my DIY as per usual. Laminate floors laid, sealant on the bath done, Curtain rails put up and then I come across a simple job of putting a plug on the Spotlight in my garden Whats with the new colours of wires?? No blue, brown or green but RED, BLACK and an uninsulated copper wire. Where do they go?? Feel like such a girl now cant even put a plug on a light whatever next. Can someone help before I blow up my whole house.

Red = Brown, Black = Blue, The an uninsulated copper wire should have earth sleving put on it and a RCD instaled since it is out side

If in dought ask a sparks

[Missy D]

Only got it from B & Q this year!

[bigdjiver]

I am wrong about "illegal". The sort of cable with red, black and bare is usually used for wiring to junction boxes, the behind walls and ceiling wiring. . The earth wire going into a plug must be sleeved. Any outside mains electric appliance should be connected through an RCD device, which switches off the power within milliseconds if there is a fault.

[Missy D]

I get the feeling i should not attempt this myself! Right where is Raphael!

[Tartaniad]

Well you've got a B&Q person now.

The Red is the live, the black is the neutral and as a previous post says the copper wire is the earth.

You are using 2.5mm twin and earth cable.

If you are unsure you can still get normal cable.

3 core 5amp cable with the blue,brown and earth as normal in 5mtr or 10 mtr lengths.

Hope this helps and oh I only work to make money.

Dance and be happy

[StokeBloke]

That's not the old colours, that is the current (hehehehe) colours for wiring that usually lives inside the wall or under the floorboards. Domestic flex (power cords for lamps and TVs etc) is Blue[live], Brown[Neutal] and Green & Yellow[earth]. If you need to connect the two different types together you connect red-blue, black-brown and the bare wire-yellow & green. If the bare wire is long enough to slip a little bit of sleeving ove, you should do that. You can get the sleeving for a few pennies at any DIY shop.

HTH

[Raul]

Stokebloke, I suggest think that you have a rethink about your colours because Brown is live and Blue is Neutral.

What you have written is actually very dangerous.

Use the link provided by Bigdjiver


Domestic AC power plugs and sockets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Whitebeard]

Originally Posted by StokeBloke

That's not the old colours, that is the current (hehehehe) colours for wiring that usually lives inside the wall or under the floorboards. Domestic flex (power cords for lamps and TVs etc) is Blue[live], Brown[Neutal] and Green & Yellow[earth]. If you need to connect the two different types together you connect red-blue, black-brown and the bare wire-yellow & green. If the bare wire is long enough to slip a little bit of sleeving ove, you should do that. You can get the sleeving for a few pennies at any DIY shop.

HTH

Ooops Stokey; 'tis 'tother way round methinks. In appliance wiring flex, Brown is live and in a plug connects to the fuse, Blue is neutral, and, if present, the Earth is Yellow and Green stripey. Nothing very logical in that is there ?

Unlike the logicality of the old British system (still used for that hidden wiring) where live was and is Red (for danger) and neutral was and is Black. While the plain Green earth in both systems has changed to Yellow and Green stripey.

I can only think the EC inspired change might have been intended to aid the colour blind. But where's the sense in hidden wiring using a different colour code to appliance wiring? And, since colour blindness is much more common in men (all forms of which are, I believe, a sex-linked characteristic) do Elecricians have to undergo a colour vision test ?

[Barry Shnikov]

Originally Posted by Missy D

I get the feeling i should not attempt this myself! Right where is Raphael!

There are also rules about outdoor wiring, Missy. Where is the spotlight - on the outside wall? If so, you are OK. Otherwise wiring has to be laid to a certain depth (where you can't accidentally stick a shovel through) or in armoured sleeving.

But if the spotlight has red/black wiring, it is probably not designed to be connected to a standard plug top, but to be directly wired into the mains system. In any event if an appliance is designed to be plugged into a mains socket it is now (I believe) a requirement that it be sold with a plug top already fitted. It may be that you were sold the wrong thing. Consider returning it and buying one with a plug on.

If in doubt, don't mess with electrical stuff...

[StokeBloke]

Originally Posted by Raul

Stokebloke, I suggest think that you have a rethink about your colours because Brown is live and Blue is Neutral.

What you have written is actually very dangerous.

Use the link provided by Bigdjiver


Domestic AC power plugs and sockets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yep... :hangs_head_in_shame: it was late and I wrote it too fast without checking! Slapped writs for me... sorry!

[Barry Shnikov]

Originally Posted by StokeBloke

Yep... :hangs_head_in_shame: it was late and I wrote it too fast without checking! Slapped writs for me... sorry!

Oh, chill man! Court proceedings would be way over the top for such a simple mistake...

[Dreadful Scathe]

Originally Posted by Barry Shnikov

Oh, chill man! Court proceedings would be way over the top for such a simple mistake...

but how many have now died and was he apologetic enough ?

...at the least some sort of public flogging....