Anyone know anything about changing a light fitting?

[SomebodysMum]

I thought I could do this myself as all the Argos reviews said it was an easy job. But I’ve taken the cover of the pendant thing that we currently have and seem to have far more wires than will fit in the new light fitting I’ve bought. Have I got weird light fittings or am I missing something obvious? Why are there 3 blue ones?! Please help I keep looking at the pictures and feeling like more and more like an idiot. An idiot who can’t afford an electrician.

This is what’s on the ceiling at the moment and the new light fitting I’ve bought. Any ideas or guidance at all please?

Have you had a quote from an electrician? You might be surprised, ours doesn't charge much for this sort of thing, just lets me know when he's in the area and can pop by. Not the sort of thing I'd be messing with myself if I had any concerns that I might get it wrong!

Do not do this yourself. Electrican required far from safe.

@bravotango

Have you had a quote from an electrician? You might be surprised, ours doesn't charge much for this sort of thing, just lets me know when he's in the area and can pop by. Not the sort of thing I'd be messing with myself if I had any concerns that I might get it wrong!

Would you mind giving me an approx figure in £ please? I am imagining about £40 but that is unfortunately more spare cash than I have at the moment.

Thanks.

I wonder if you have a handy neighbour who is confident at little wiring jobs and would either do it for you in exchange for a cuppa and some chocolate biscuits or even talk you through doing it? If you have wired up a plug before it’s probably achievable with a bit of in person help to recognise what you’re looking at. But (obvious I know) make sure you turn off the electric first.

Yes, around £40. Honestly I would wait until you have it spare - electrics are the one thing you shouldn't really mess with!

It’s a standard ceiling rose. easy enough to wire in a modern fitting. Some info here.

www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/replacelightfitting.htm

Take pictures as you go.

If you mean you want to replace the pendant (not the ceiling rose) you will see that its flex has only two wires (brown and blue), plus, usually, an earth (green and yellow).

take a photo of the connections in the rose before you start. Only take out the cores on the flex, and put the new ones in the exact same terminals. You will need a very small screwdriver.

It is important to know that the wires in a ceiling rose are still live even if you turn off the light switch, so you must turn off at the consumer unit main switch.

The ceiling rose typically contains about three cables, each with two wires plus an earth, and the colours do not mean what you think they mean. You must not connect all the browns together or all the blues together, or you will construct a fuse-blowing device. This is a common mistake of beginners.