Fitting pendant lighting

[Matt..]

I am struggling to find a good electrician at this time of year for some reason, so am thinking about doing a few things myself. Though have to say i'm a little scared by electricity...! It's a ~100yr old house (though electrics updated and new fuse box a few months ago).

I have approx 8 pendant lights to fit.

Is it easy? Are there any tools/devices i should get to make the process safer/easier?


Thanks

[Salesy]

Where are you based?

Might be able to help

[roofer]

Are they going to existing feeds?

[Matt..]

roofer said:

Are they going to existing feeds?

Yes. Just replacing existing lights.

[B17NNS]

All DIYable so long as you work safely and methodically.

Get a copy of this...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Complete-Wiring-Li...

or this...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Complete-Manual-Al...

Buy a few tools if you haven't already got them and have a go.

If you get stuck shout up on here. Someone will get you out of a spot.

[Steve_W]

Matt, just one thing worth checking - are they heavy replacements?

My OH bought a lovely mini chandelier to replace the single hanging bulb in our guest bedroom. When I took the existing light down I found it was just screwed into the plasterboard ceiling. Had to add a noggin screwed between the ceiling joists to take the additional weight of the new setup.

As others have said, it's a reasonably straightforward replacement, and folks on here will give you pointers too.

Steve

[Renovation]

TURN OFF THE ELEC TO THE WHOLE HOUSE.

I have only turned off the power to the lights before and had a nasty jolt.

Take a pic on your phone when you can see the wiring so you are 100% sure where it all went before disconnecting anything.

If you do that - it's a doddle

[dxg]

Renovation said:

TURN OFF THE ELEC TO THE WHOLE HOUSE.

I have only turned off the power to the lights before and had a nasty jolt.

Take a pic on your phone when you can see the wiring so you are 100% sure where it all went before disconnecting anything.

If you do that - it's a doddle

Unless the original electrician hasn't left enough slack in the cables. Bad memories...

[B17NNS]

Renovation said:

TURN OFF THE ELEC TO THE WHOLE HOUSE.

Good advice. Don't trust the labelling on your CU.

Also, start the job early on, making sure there is plenty of daylight to complete the task. Also make sure the shops are open for the duration in case you need any bits.

[sjj84]

Make sure you label where everything goes before disconnecting anything. There are regular threads on here with people asking how to get their lights working after disconnecting everything and assuming all browns go together and all blues go together.

[Griff Boy]

Also, buy a simple pen voltage tester. Absolutely foolproof to use and a very easy habit to get into. I always have one in my pocket when working and routinely double check with it when working. Best advice I've heard is renovation. Turn off the whole house, and as someone else says... Take a picture and label the wires first.

[roofer]

Griff Boy said:

Also, buy a simple pen voltage tester.

This, unless you want to look like Kevin Keegan

[dazwalsh]

Take a picture of the wires and their locations in the existing light should you need to return it to how it was.

[FlipFlopGriff]

roofer said:

This, unless you want to look like Kevin Keegan

Don't work on lead covered cable, as I found out!
FFG

[hairyben]

Renovation said:

TURN OFF THE ELEC TO THE WHOLE HOUSE.

I have only turned off the power to the lights before and had a nasty jolt.

Take a pic on your phone when you can see the wiring so you are 100% sure where it all went before disconnecting anything.

If you do that - it's a doddle

The error you made (and are presumably still making) is it's not enough to throw any switch and hope for the best- you should be using a suitable testing device/procedure to prove the circuit dead.

[Matt..]

hairyben said:

The error you made (and are presumably still making) is it's not enough to throw any switch and hope for the best- you should be using a suitable testing device/procedure to prove the circuit dead.

What device would you recommend?

If i do this myself then i have the money that would be going to the electrician for tools!

[hairyben]

Matt.. said:

hairyben said:

The error you made (and are presumably still making) is it's not enough to throw any switch and hope for the best- you should be using a suitable testing device/procedure to prove the circuit dead.

What device would you recommend?

If i do this myself then i have the money that would be going to the electrician for tools!

I carry something like this in my handtools for basic stuff, checking fuses/bulbs etc

http://www.qvsdirect.com/di-log-voltage-continuity...

However a more basic one like this is just as suitable:

http://www.qvsdirect.com/silverline-3-in-1-voltage...

or you could use a multimeter if thats a usefull tool for you to have.

Whats important is "proving the tester" official method is to "prove" the tester on a known supply, test the circuit to be worked on between ALL terminals (L-N, L-E, E-N, and all to any other terminals such as switched lives etc) then re-proove the unit on a known supply again...

This is the official procedure and might seem (and is) annoyingly long winded but the prove-test-prove protects against tester failure and testing all terminals protects against certain fault conditions (it's possible for instance, for L-N and L-E to test clear but there be 240v N-E) and if I didn't demonstrate all this every year during my assessment I'd be in deep....

[Renovation]

hairyben said:

The error you made (and are presumably still making) is it's not enough to throw any switch and hope for the best- you should be using a suitable testing device/procedure to prove the circuit dead.

I have testers etc

The error I made was knowing that I'm careful enough to do it live and getting blasé

[CorradoTDI]

This is a really good book too -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Readers-Digest-DIY-Lightin...

[sampsan]

Make sure if fitting a metallic fitting you have an earth connection available, not unusual to have no earth available within the rose.

Extra work running an earth or changing fittings to non metallic type.