Hi
Ive recently bought an Ikea light (the 'leding') with 3 halogen bulbs attached. I removed the old ceiling rose fitting and then realised that i still needed it as the ikea light only has one live one neutral and one earth.

So, i rewired the rose - put the earths in the earth place and the 2 red lives in the live (middle) slots. The black neutral i wired directly into the ikea light and the black/red switch wire i also wired into the ikea light - directly into the live terminal.

When i turn the electrics back on the lights come on but the light switch has no effect whatsoever. Everything worked fine before with the old light so it is unlikely that the switch is faulty.

What have i done wrong???? Please help!

Philip, May 2009

I daresay you've sorted this by now, but if anyone else with a similar problem is reading this, I'd ask: Did you first reattach the rose with incorrect connections, blowing a fuse or tripping the circuit breaker in the process, before correctly rewiring the rose - leaving the light permanently on? If that's the case (and the switched live has at any stage been connected to a neutral feed), then it could be that the power surge has fused the connection at the switch - in which case the switch needs replacing.

Amblonyx, July 2009

At the Ceiling you need 4 "ways"

Earth
Live
Neutral
Switched Live

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/project_images/ceilingrose/Untitled-1%20copy.jpg

I am unable to say what you've done wrong - but it ain't right.

Peccavi, May 2009

If you'd told me what is happening (you've had a go at putting a light in and it won't switch off) I would have said you've wired the live loop directly to the fitting without having a switch in the circuit.
If it is wired correctly as you say it is, the only other thing could be the switch not breaking contact, but you say this is unlikely.

Are you hoping that I'll say the fitting is faulty? If the fitting was faulty it wouldn't come on at all, a fault isn't going to generate electricity to make it not switch off.

Adam, May 2009