Electrical Help

homebrew79, Sep 6, 1:40am
Replacing a broken light fitting. We have a red and black wire coming out of the roof. The old fitting has 2 holes for the wires. New fitting has 4 holes. One labeled E, one labeled L and nothing on the other 2. What goes where lol
kwaka5, Sep 6, 1:53am
In the ones not marked. Red in one and black in the other. E is for earth and L is for loop.
homebrew79, Sep 6, 1:54am
Thanks, that's what I presumed but just wanted someone to confirm.
trade_menow, Sep 6, 10:19am
if you need to ask about 1 wire for a socket id hate to see how you'd get on if there were several wire's coming from the socket - if in doubt , call a sparky
pauldw, Sep 6, 2:38pm
Is the new fitting a metal one? Any light fitting with an earth terminal must be connected to an earth wire. Find a fitting that doesn't need an earth or call a sparky.
tmenz, Sep 6, 3:58pm
If your fitting has an Earth terminal, it means that it has exposed metalwork that legally must be connected to a safety earth. Since you don't appear to have an earth wire associated with your existing wiring, it means that a separate earth wire needs to be run from the switchboard - an electrician's job!
As above, get a completely plastic fitting or a certified 'double insulated' one.
johotech, Sep 6, 4:40pm
Just because the lampholder has an earth terminal, doesn't mean that it requires an earth, or that an earth wire MUST be connected.

An earth terminal and a Loop terminal are provided on all plastic batten holder fittings so that there is a place to terminate the earth wire, when an earth wire is used in the wiring (which is required for all new wiring).
ryanm2, Sep 6, 5:38pm
You obviously are not a sparky so you shouldn't be giving out 'advice' on a public forum.
bill1451, Sep 6, 5:54pm
Now children, what we need to establish here from #1 is whether the new fitting has exposed metal which must be earthed unless it has the double insulated logo on it, now get back in your corners , and come out when the bell rings.
nzjay, Sep 6, 8:27pm
If the light fitting has ES lampholders, then it is important that the red and black wires are connected correctly.
tmenz, Sep 6, 9:11pm
OK, fair enough - I stand corrected!
In the absence of full information on the aforementioned fitting, I was 'erring on the side of caution'.
pauldw, Sep 7, 2:48am
Seems logical but a householder works under ECP51 rules.
ECP51 5.3.4 Light fittings that have an earth terminal must be earthed. Light fittings of the double insulated type must not be earthed.
johotech, Sep 7, 5:39am
That's well spotted.

All I can say is, that ECP51 is over ten years old, and based on rules which originally were even older than that. It is severely outdated and a lot of the more technical aspects do not even comply with the current wiring rules that electricians work under. However ECP51 is what homeowners are required to work to, and any work that needs to be inspected, has to be inspected as complying with ECP51.

Let's assume this question is about a batten holder with 4 terminals and one of the loop terminals is specifically marked as "earth", rather than just "loop". Batten holders with those marking were not around when ECP51 was written, and as you will be aware, a batten holder does not require an earth connected in order to be electrically safe.

In this case, to comply with the technical point you have raised, the person could just replace the batten holder with a PDL one, which just has the two additional terminals marked as "loop" - and nothing marked earth. But do we think that is really necessary?

Of course, if the OP is replacing with a fitting which actually requires an earth to be electrically safe, then that is a whole different story.
pauldw, Oct 7, 11:48am
According to ESR 2010 57 anything that needs inspecting is done to 3000 Part 2 not ECP51 as written so it is a good idea to clear what you are doing with the inspector before starting.