Electrical Help needed

[Jan Coombes]

OK 1st of all I know about the new law, put that out your mind for this bit, all stuff was brought last year.

OK

I have run 3 core armered cable from my house, going into a 13A fuse spur.

And this has 2 loads coming out

1st load goes in to trunking and to a few plugs.

(this all works fine)

2nd load goes to a switch and then in to strip lighting, this is the problem.

As soon as I try to turn the lights on the fuse blows.

I have disconected all the other lights, so there is only one, so it can't be a load issue

The wiring is all OK.

What the hell am I doing wrong?

[pete g]

1st

jan if fuse blowing you have a earthing problem

second

live should go to light fitting first then to switch.

sounds like you need a electrician

make a drawing of what you have done and bring to essex area agm .and will cast my eye over it

[Major Stare]

Take a LIVE, NEUTRAL and earth to a switch.

Earth the back of the box if it metal, otherwise put the earth in a 5A connector.

Put the NEUTRAL in a 5A connector.

Put the LIVE in the bottom connector of the switch.

Now run a twin & earth 1.0mm or 1.5mm cable from the light to the switch.

Connect the LIVE to the top of the switch.

EARTH to the EARTH connector (remembering to earth the metal box if rqd).

NEUTRAL to the NEUTRAL connector.

At the light, earth to the lug/connector (in the strip light) and the LIVE to the BROWN/RED cable and the NEUTRAL to the BLUE/BLACK cable.

Is the SWA cable connected to a Fuse board or just a spur?

[Darrell O'Neill]

Check out the switch, any visible signs of damage?

If the cable goes to the switch first the wiring will be as Jon says above, It does not have to go to the light first......

Is the outlet side of the spur socket correct?..... Red-L load, Black-N load

Also check the connections of the strip light, I've recently come accross some new fittings where the labels dont actually match the wiring of the fitting.

If its flourescent lighting there will be three connections, one cable (the live) to a metalic ballast and then on to a starter before going to an end cap, the other (neutral) goes directly to the end cap.

Take my advice, check all the obvious things first, it does sound like something silly unless theres damage to the cable somewhere.

Oh, and the lighting part should ideally be protected by a 3 or 5 amp fuse.

[Darrell O'Neill]

At last Im able to answer a question.

Car's I'm learning about....... electrics i already know about

[Darrell O'Neill]

you could also disconnect the light and make safe the ends, and try turning on again.

This would eliminate a fault with the light...

Just be careful, it bites