How to wire my bathroom mirror light?

suburban guy

Hi there,
Could someone out the please be so kind as to instruct me how to wire my bathroom mirror light? It came without any instructions whatsoever and as I pretty much a novice with electronics, I want to be sure to do it right. I've attached 3 photos concerning the said mirror, for which I have the following conundrums:
Photo nb. 1 - A, this contains the yellow/grn, blue & brown wires which I assume attach to the corresponding wires from the wall outlet?
B, these are the wires coming from the light which I assume connect to the two blue wires closeby? Only thing is the two light wires are red & clear!? C, this is maybe an earth (see close up shot nb 3)? Do I connect it somehow to the extra, slightly fatter yellow/grn wire coming from wall?
Photo nb. 2 - the wall outlet. There are 3 browns, 2 blues and 2 yellow/grns (one a bit thicker than the other), which throws me off somewhat. One the mirror there is just one of each..what do I do with the extra wall ones?
Photo nb. 3 - question on photo.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Stoner

In photo no 1, the top right hand side , the cable with the red and black cores, where does that go? I can't see it on the pic.

BTW the light does not look very safe/suitable for a bathroom in those pics, is it 230 Vac? what does it say on the white controller box please?

I can't tell if that is an earth connection in the third pic, the earth connections will usually be connected to the frame/ exposed metal surface of a fitting. It is not clear if this is to be connected to an earth or if it is to be bolted to the fitting and has become loose. It may be that it is to connect onto the bolt below.

I'm also a little confused about this fitting, why are the connections at location B out/loose? there should only be one place to connect a light fitting, all other connections should be already terminated and closed up in termination boxes by the manufacturer, the whole thing looks dangerous to me TBH. The cables have nothing to hold them in place over and above their connections, it looks like something that was made in china and I can't see any quality control test stickers on it anywhere for example where the cables from point A enter the connection box the inner PVC cable is exposed although the open connection box does show cable clamps.

the bigger earth cable in the wall outlet is fine, I don't know why there are three browns, is there a 2 or 3 gang light switch controlling them somewhere? they may be three switch-wires or some combination of switched and unswitched lives here.

suburban guy

Hi Stoner
Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply. I've posted 2 more pics that aren't quite so close up and that might better demonstrate the make-up of the mirror.
At the top right hand side of photo 1, those two cables are attached to the light and they're hanging loose because the light came packed separately and I attached it to the mirror with a supplied bolt. Maybe the earth connection, if that's what it is, in photo 3 should be bolted here too? On the white box it says Input AC 230V / Output AC 12V and also 35W, CE.
I bought the mirror in a well-known tile/bathroom supply shop and it was actually quite expensive!
Hope the 2 extra shots shed extra light on the problem as I'm anxious to get the thing hooked up. Thanks again.

Davy

Doesn't seem to be of the highest quality. The two tails out of the light should be terminated in the junction box closest too it .

From what i can make out, the incoming supply is terminated in the white box that is hanging off at the bottom [A]

Does the bracket have a hole to bolt the earth lug too?

Stoner

this is just a guess, and I'm just discussing possibilities not action .

Is there only one light on this whole mirror i.e the large light with the shade?

the red black and clear wire may connect into the box beside them,
red to brown,
black to blue
Clear to earth

before i did this I would check where the cables (red black and clear ) went
I would expect to see the red and black connect to the light fitting (remove the shade and see what colors connect to the lamp holder) I would expect to see the clear being connected to a metal surface, i.e some where that people could touch. If I did not see this I would not connect them in the way offered above.

Tracing where the input green earth comes from, any cables that are connected from that earth within boxes shown as closed on your pics would bolt onto exposed metal surfaces, however you'd have to be 100% sure that they were part of the earthing system, if you can't do this then I'd suggest leaving it alone and getting an electrician to help. Bolting a live cable to the surface is potentially fatal, just to put the thing into perspective.

If there is only one light it might be a simple arrangement, where the transformer steps the voltage down to V for the light, this is why I don't understand why there are so many connection boxes.

At a glance it appears as if the connections at the bottom of the pic are where your input cables go, and the lamp connects as described above.

But I don't know whats going on at your switch, the connection you showed with 3 browns and the joined two blues and joined earths, is this in a wall plate behind the mirror or in a switch? and what connection have you at the light switch?

sorry for all the questions , but its not clear what's going on.

Basically with the closed boxes, and different cable colour schemes it is very difficult to be sure that these guesses are correct. Therefore this should not be undertaken by a non professional as there is potential to cause serious harm.

knx

There are only two wires coming from the light fitting. Correct?.. It's a 12v capsule fitting I'd say. These connect to the junction nearest as davy said. Doesn't matter which way round. Box on the extreme bottom of mirror is a pullchord with mains connection coming from it(labelled A). Trailing earth should be connected to metal chasis that light fitting is bolted into. As for the connector block pictured I would say that the twin brown is run to the switch to allow for switching outside the door. This can be disregarded if this is the case. Arm yourself with a working phase tester and see if there is any voltage on them. If not take off the switch outside the door and see if the other end of it is there. Your mains should be connected to the three connections on the right hand side of connector block as it is pictured. I've seen/installed several fittings like this and I reckon they're more about aesthtetics than electrical quality and ease of installation. By the way you should probably get a bigger junction box that will take the connector block hanging from the wall as the one provided with the fitting will definitely be to small, as will the connectors in it I'd say.

suburban guy

Thanks a lot Stoner, Davy & knx for your replies.

Knx's comments strike a big chord with me & I'm almost tempted to go ahead & connect it up, but I think I'll go with what Stoner said in that I should get an electrician to take care of it - best to play it safe & fork out the shillings. I wanted to have it installed & working as a surprise for my girlfriend when she comes home from vacation tomorrow, but I guess it's better not to chance a surprise that finds me transformed to a slice of toast in the bathroom!
Just to answer the various questions:
(Davy) The bracket doesn't have an actual hole to bolt the earth lug to (maybe it's meant to be pinched in place by the bolt that tightens the light to the bracket?)
(Stoner) Yes, there's only one light on the mirror. The connection with 3 browns and joined blues & earth is coming from the wall, not in a switch. The light switch is at the bottom of the mirror with a pull cord.
(knx) Yes, there are only 2 wires coming from the light fitting & it's a 12v capsule alright.

Thanks again.

jconn

hey subarban guy, any problems with the light on this mirror since you last posted?

I have the same bathroom mirror, and have problems with the light not working. I need to replace the light fitting apparantly and the retailer (the same well-known tile/bathroom supply shop) where I bought it want to charge me €40