At first glance, it seems that connecting the fixtures is not particularly difficult. Is it difficult to connect the wires? However, in reality, there may be situations (and often) when the number of wires in the chandelier is not two, but three or more. What if they are different colors? Such a turn already significantly complicates and confuses the situation. How to connect the wires in the chandelier in this case?
In any case, it's obviously not worth panicking, as well as doing everything at random. Incorrect connection of lighting devices threatens with various consequences, from electric shock to a short circuit. Therefore, even such an easy matter must be taken seriously and responsibly.
Features of lamp operation
Electric current in home wiring flows throughclosed circuit, which is formed by a phase and neutral conductor. This is what allows the light bulb to glow, as the electrons pass through its spiral. But if it is not applied to one of the potentials, then there will be no glow. Accordingly, the lamp will burn while there is voltage, and will go out when the supply to the phase or zero is interrupted, as well as when the power goes out.
At the same time, according to the safety rules, it is the phase that should break. Otherwise, when replacing lamps with a burned out filament, even with the switch turned off, there is still a risk of electric shock. To do this, it is enough to touch the grounded current-carrying part. This is worth remembering for anyone who wants to know how to connect an ordinary lamp or an LED ceiling chandelier.
But when the phase is cut off, then a working zero is applied to the cartridge, and it is definitely not capable of harming the human body.
How wires are marked
In old residential buildings built since the times of the USSR, the wiring has only two wires: phase and zero. And most often the wires are not color-coded, so it's easy to get confused. With apartments in modern high-rise buildings, everything is somewhat simpler - there is already a color designation here.
Many years have passed since the days of the USSR, and today there are rules that have been established by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization. They are accepted in Europe, China, the Russian Federation. That is, now there should be no problems with how to properly connect the wires of the chandelier.
According to these standards, wiring is marked with the following color shades:
- Working zero should be indicated by one Latin letter N, the color shade is usually blue.
- Phase - L, and color - gray, black, brown.
- Zero protective conductor (grounding) - already indicated by two Latin letters PE, color - yellow-green.
In other countries, the colors may differ from those shown above. This is due to the date of manufacture of electrical appliances and the type of cables indoors. As noted above, the wires in the buildings of the Soviet Union were of the same color, and most often white. In this case, you should be able to determine where the phase is, and where is zero. And this will be discussed further.
Determining wires
How to connect a chandelier with 3 wires when the documentation for the lighting fixture has not been saved? This sometimes happens, and there may be no color coding at all, which is important for old houses. In this case, try to determine where, the phase, and where is zero. In such a situation, it is best to use an indicator screwdriver, which every electrician definitely has.
At the same time, if only two wires fit the chandelier, then if you mix them up, the chandelier will still work, even though the current will be supplied to the side contact for the base. However, if there are more of them, then the introductory machines will work.
Determining the belonging of the wires is done as follows - the sting should touch the bare wire, and the finger of the hand is pressed against the end parttool. If voltage is present (phase), then the indicator will light up, otherwise it will not light up (zero or ground). Of course, this is worth doing when the switch is in the “ON” position.
Help multimeter
What to understand, how to connect the wires in a three-arm chandelier in an old residential building, in addition to an indicator screwdriver, you can use a multimeter to determine their belonging. It is also useful for every home master to keep such a device in the house.
To begin with, it is worth making a small check: put the device into the continuity mode (diode icon with a buzzer indicating a sound signal) and short-circuit the probes for a short time. A signal will sound, which will be evidence that the device is working, and the measurement limit has been selected correctly.
The actual procedure for determining zero and phase:
- To understand how to connect the wires of a five-arm chandelier, first unscrew the lamps from it. Contacts are visually determined in the cartridge. The spring in the center corresponds to the phase, while the entire metal thread (serves to screw in the base) is already zero.
- Finding zero on the wires. With one probe, you should touch the side thread of any of the cartridges, and with the other, alternately touch the bare part of the wires going to the chandelier.
- A sound signal will let you know that the neutral conductor has been found - it is better to immediately mark it with a marker or in any other way.
- Finding the phase conductor. Everything is done in the same way, only one probe touches the spring contact in the middle,and the other - in turn to the remaining wires. The same beep will notify the phase, which should also be marked somehow.
After determining the phase and zero, it is worth moving on to determining the number of circuits. To do this, one probe touches the found phase conductor, and the other - in turn to the spring contact in each cartridge.
Determining the contours will also help you familiarize yourself with how to connect the chandelier wires and wiring. If there is only one, then an audible signal will be heard when the contact in each cartridge is touched. If some of the contacts do not give "signs", then the second probe should be applied to another wire. The presence of a sound signal will be evidence that the other conductor is also phase, and the entire system is already double-circuit.
Sometimes the third wire can mean ground, which is also indicative of a single circuit system. The check in this case comes down to the following - one probe to any metal part of the chandelier, and the other to the third conductor. You should also hear a beep.
Required Equipment
When the conductors are found and the number of circuits is determined, you can proceed to consider how to connect lighting fixtures. What might be needed for such a job?
To do it right, you need the help of a certain tool:
- indicator screwdriver;
- multimeter;
- pliers or pliers;
- knife;
- duct tape.
On top of everything else to solvetasks, how to connect a chandelier with 6 wires, 3 or 2, you will need a stepladder or a stable stand, a passport for the chandelier (if it has been preserved), a marker, a blank sheet of paper. It is better to connect the wires not by twisting (which is even prohibited by the PUE), but to use a three-pin terminal block. It is available at any hardware store and is inexpensive.
Safety
In order to connect the chandelier, it is not necessary to call an electrician. Everyone can cope with such work, there would be a desire and time. At the same time, certain rules must be followed. First of all, you should not twist to combine several light bulbs into separate groups. Over time, oxidation will occur, the quality of the contact will deteriorate, the junction of the wires will begin to heat up. As a result, this leads to a risk of fire. Therefore, it is recommended to resort to soldering.
How to connect the wires in the chandelier on the ceiling? This should be done exclusively through the terminal blocks. As a rule, most modern lamps are already equipped with them; for old chandeliers, you should buy them separately. But sometimes the thickness of the group of cores can exceed the dimensions of the opening of the terminal block. In this case, it is filled with tin and a wire is soldered to this place.
In addition, the connection should be made only after power is supplied to the apartment or house, and you can de-energize the entire dwelling or turn off only the machine on the lighting line where the work will be done.
There are also a number of important points to consider:
- The handles of the tool being used must be insulated with no signs of damage.
- Before starting work, always make sure that there is no voltage on the wires.
- You should put a mat of any dielectric material under your feet.
Now it's worth figuring out what lighting connection schemes exist today.
Two-wire connection
How to connect wires in a chandelier when there are only two of them? In many apartments of old buildings, only phase and zero usually hang from the ceiling. In this case, the chandelier is controlled in only one way - the lamps are lit all at once if there are more than one (2, 3, 5, etc.). This corresponds to a single circuit lighting system.
If the chandelier is designed for one lamp, then no special difficulties are foreseen, but if there are two, three or more, additional preparation should be carried out. The first step is to combine all the phase wires in the chandelier into a single contact. Thus, one contour is formed. The same should be done with other wires. Many chandeliers usually have phase and zero in different colors, usually brown or black and blue respectively.
In some models, the groups are already combined by the manufacturer, so we leave everything as it is. At the same time, some lighting devices are in a metal case and have a third ground wire. But since in our case it will not find a use, it should be cut off, isolated, because it is completelyis excluded from the process.
The general workflow of how to connect the wires in the chandelier will be as follows:
- First, you need to determine which core from the ceiling corresponds to what.
- Appropriate notes are applied.
- Now it remains to connect the wires of the chandelier with the ceiling conductors. Moreover, it is better to start by connecting the neutral wires.
- Next, the phases are connected.
- The chandelier is being fixed to the ceiling.
- Checking the performance of the lamp.
If you follow the instructions above, then there should be no particular difficulties.
Connection with protective wire
In this case, this indicates that the electrical network of the residential building is made in accordance with modern standards. A protective zero of the corresponding color is already used here. Difficulties should not arise here either, since the connection is made in accordance with the color code of the wires.
If the purchased lighting device is made in a metal case, then the ground wire in the chandelier is always present as an indispensable attribute. And if earlier it was mentioned that it should be isolated from the rest, now it is connected to the corresponding output from the ceiling through the block.
What to do when all the wires are the same shade, we now know. An indicator screwdriver or a multimeter will help you find their accessories.
Final stage of connecting the chandelier
After connecting the wires of the chandelier to the ceiling leadsjust connect the switch. This is already the final stage of all work. As we now know, with its help it is the phase that is disconnected in order to avoid electric shock if live parts are accidentally touched. As for the neutral and ground wires, they go directly to the lamps, bypassing the switch.
Many stores sell devices with different numbers of keys. There is a wide range of single-gang switches. However, there are other options. For example, for a 5-light chandelier, a double switch would be the best choice. There are also three-key counterparts.
Single key switch
This is the simplest circuit that allows you to turn on and off all the lamps in the chandelier at once (if there are several). As a rule, this option is relevant in cases where only two wires hang from the ceiling, corresponding to phase and zero. And no matter how many wires the chandelier itself has.
The process itself comes down to connecting the wiring in the device itself and installing it on the wall. That is, a phase from the junction box is screwed on the input terminal, another wire that goes to the chandelier is connected to the output.
Two rocker switch
How to connect the wires of the chandelier to the double switch? Here the circuit is complicated by the fact that there are already two phases instead of one.
Such switches are relevant for the formation of a dual-circuit lighting system - the lamps are simply grouped into several categories:
- 1+1;
- 1+2;
- 2+2;
- 2+3;
- 3+3;
There may be more such groups, because everything depends on the number of lamps in the chandelier. The connection itself is made in the same way as with a switch with one key, but with a small exception. Now one phase wire from the junction box is connected to its input, and two wires go to each group of lamps from the output.
Three-key variant
Such switches are already relevant for multi-track chandeliers, where there can be more than 5 lamps. Here you can already form not two, but three independent groups. Accordingly, three phases should be connected to the lighting device, in addition to the working zero and protective (if any, in the wiring of an apartment or house).
The connection is made in exactly the same way as we have already considered, only here the difference will be that there are already three wires at the switch output that will go to the groups of lamps. At the input, there is still the same phase from the junction box.
Modern chandeliers
As for modern LED ceiling chandeliers, their connection is carried out in the same way as conventional lamp chandeliers. However, they are not designed for a 220 V network, they need a lower voltage and for this a special step-down module is hidden in the case. It remains only to connect the wires: phase, zero, ground (if any). We now know how to do it.
At the same time, it should be understood that such lamps are mainly produced in China, which means that their quality directly depends onmanufacturer and, accordingly, the cost of the chandelier. For this reason, it is better not to choose the cheapest options, it is worth buying a more expensive option, but it will last much longer.
Conclusion
As you can see, the task of how to connect a chandelier with 3 wires or more should not cause much difficulty.
The main thing is to follow the elementary rules and in no case ignore safety precautions. Then you can be satisfied with the result and avoid electric shock.
