Light fitting: two neutrals and two lives coming out the wall.

[hspottinger]

Hey there! I am fitting four lights in my kitchen and have come across two issues (pictures attached - this is really the best quality I could do, sorry).

1: the light fitting takes one live (brown) and one neutral (blue) wire in a white junction that goes inside the fitting.

In two of the spaces where I'm fitting the lights, there is one live, one neutral, one earth - I have taped off the earth and the light fits fine on the wall.

In the other two spaces, there are five wires coming out of each hole - two neutrals, two lives, and an earth. The two neutrals end in a junction that has a space for three wires - same with the lives.

So, I can take the white junction out the light fitting and connect the fitting's wires to these junctions and the light works, but there's too much going on to fit it all into the fitting and attach to the wall. What's going on with the two lives and two neutrals, can I just tape off one live and one neutral and use one each to fit into the fitting's white junction?

2: the fitting requires that I drill directly above these wires - where they run up the wall. I can drill a shallow hole and put a short raw plug and screw in to avoid contact with the wires, but want to check that this is safe. This is how the bracket for the fitting would go on:


Thank you!

 

[Rockingit]

Firstly, what you've got there is a 'piggy back' arrangement - so one of those pairs is actually the feed to one of the single sets, just imagine them all in a row going in-out.

If you're tight for space in making the connections off then your options are limited to either finding a method of connector that does fit or maybe knocking out a bit of plasterwork to make enough room behind. It's fine to forget the small white connector that comes with them and just go straight into the orange connectors (Wago's) if it's easier.

BUT...... I really wouldn't risk drilling those brackets to ANY depth, to be honest that's poor design from the manufacturer. How heavy/large are the lights? I'm wondering if instead you might be better off scraping the paint on the wall off back to bare plaster and using a good quality grab adhesive instead.

 

[westward10]

If those fittings are metal then they are likely to need an earth unless all conductors can be contained in that white connector.

 

[hspottinger]

I feared both of these warnings... Maybe I have to package them as nicely as I can and take them back to the shop!

 

[brianmoooore]

Take them back. If enough people do, then perhaps the manufacturers would stop designing and supplying such badly designed rubbish.
If this fitting has no earth connection, and is made from metal, then all the connections and single insulated wire need to be inside the minute connector box, otherwise the double insulation is compromised.