One or two choc boxes when changing a ceiling light

[Etrix]

Hi

We are replacing a ceiling rose with a glass flush ceiling light. We have the old style red and black wires.

We have followed the 'changing a light fitting' instructions on this site which are very helpful.

(http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/diy/e ... itting.htm)

However, we have a question about what wires can go together into a choc box.

We have three red live wires that will be connected together in one connector block

We have two neutral black wires that will go together into another connector block and our switched live that will go into another section on the same connector block.

Our question is, can all the wires be fitted into one connector block and put in one choc box?
Every site we have looked only appears to fit the neutral and live wires into one choc box but doesn't mention where the 3 live wires in their own connector block have ended up.

It seems very bulky to have to have two separate choc boxes.

(Apologies if we have posted this in the wrong section, we are new to using forums:)

Thanks in advance

Etrix

[wine~o]

Not entirely sure what you are asking...all the lives ito one piece of block..

Blacks to N on the new fitting, and the other black (Switched live) to live on the new fitting..

[Scotty001]

you can connect the 3 red into one terminal strip, 2 Black into another terminal on a terminal strip, the earth's into another terminal on a terminal strip, and switched live into another then place them all in 1 chock block, You can seperate each terminal fromt he strip or leave them attached to each other with the plastic connector (JUST MAKE SURE THE STRIP YO HAVE IS NOT ONE SOLID UNIT THAT IS INSULATED & CANT BE CUT INTO SMALLER BITS. THis kind of strip is what you would want



you can separate and arrange in a choc box like this.

[£££sjim]

just a suggestion you may find WAGO connectors easier if you get the two three or four type, easier than trying to get two or three wires into a choc block ?

[Etrix]

Not entirely sure what you are asking...all the lives ito one piece of block..

Blacks to N on the new fitting, and the other black (Switched live) to live on the new fitting..

[Etrix]

you can connect the 3 red into one terminal strip, 2 Black into another terminal on a terminal strip, the earth's into another terminal on a terminal strip, and switched live into another then place them all in 1 chock block, You can seperate each terminal fromt he strip or leave them attached to each other with the plastic connector (JUST MAKE SURE THE STRIP YO HAVE IS NOT ONE SOLID UNIT THAT IS INSULATED & CANT BE CUT INTO SMALLER BITS. THis kind of strip is what you would want



you can separate and arrange in a choc box like this.

Hi Scotty001

Thanks very much for your reply and a great clear diagram. Very helpful.
Just out of interest, why does the terminal strip have to be cut into separate pieces rather than kept inline?

[Etrix]

Not entirely sure what you are asking...all the lives ito one piece of block..

Blacks to N on the new fitting, and the other black (Switched live) to live on the new fitting..

Thanks very much for your reply wine-o, very helpful. We hadn't considered that we could take the neutral and switched live wires directly into the new fitting.

[Etrix]

We have had two very helpful replies from Scotty001 and Win-o

From this, it would be great to know, are there any advantages/disadvantages/safety issues to either:

* Wiring the two neutral wires and switched live wire straight into the new fitting
* Wiring the two neutral wires, switched live wire, 3 red live wires, and earth into 1 choc box and then on out to the new fitting.

Thanks in advance

[Scotty001]

Hi Scotty001

Thanks very much for your reply and a great clear diagram. Very helpful.
Just out of interest, why does the terminal strip have to be cut into separate pieces rather than kept inline?

Depending on how much "slack" wire you have you may be putting a lot of strain on the wires routing them into the chock box and fitting into the terminals that are running in a line, it may be easier to separate them out and space them in the box so your not putting the wires under strain. I found with my ceiling wires being different lengths to put them all running in a line meant id be putting some under stress.

[Scotty001]

We have had two very helpful replies from Scotty001 and Win-o

From this, it would be great to know, are there any advantages/disadvantages/safety issues to either:

* Wiring the two neutral wires and switched live wire straight into the new fitting
* Wiring the two neutral wires, switched live wire, 3 red live wires, and earth into 1 choc box and then on out to the new fitting.

Thanks in advance

1st can be fiddly and tricky to do if you have short lengths of wire to deal with and balancing the light fitting in one hand and trying to get the wires into the terminals in the light unit & tighten down the terminals to a good tightness.

2nd you don't need to use a chock box you could connect those as per the orig pic and not put them into a chock box, but id prefer to wrap some insulation tape around the other ends of the loop wire terminal block so there were no exposed bits, then push the 3 loop (RED) wires up into the hole in the ceiling, connect the lights live, Neut and Earth (if it has one) into the corresponding terminals ensuring there is no bare wire coming out past the insulation on the terminal block and again push that up into the ceiling.

[wine~o]

Basically what Scotty said...if there is enough slack on the cable then an extra connection won't be required, IMHO the less connector blocks used the better, less connections to work loose..

There is also no reason to seperate the individual pieces of block.