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I am trying to change my ceiling lamp to ceiling lamp with fan. However, when I took the ceiling lamp off, I see that the cables have the same color so I have no way differentiating them visually, which one is Neutral, Live and Earth wires.
Is there a device that I could use to find this out?
Here are the images of what I am seeing, the colors are exactly like on the picture.
Cables are covered with paint but once paint is removed, it does not help to see the colors really.

enter image description here enter image description here

Maybe there is some kind of tool I can use to find out the type of cable?

And a follow up question because it is very related. Once I find the type of cable, I will need to extend a tiny bit one of the cables that is too short (by like 5 cm tops). Do I need to buy this specific type of cable or will any cable of the same mm work?

UPD: Like pointed out by @Armand, one of those wires did not have bare metal and completely covered in paint - this was Earth and it was not used before I removed old lights. 1 down, 2 to go. The other 2 appeared way easier to figure out what to do with, as this is alternate current, any of them could have been used as Live and Neutral wires to connect my next ceiling fan, which worked out fine (not sure what consequences of this are, but it works).

Oleg Gulevskyy
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  • Where are you located at? – JACK Jul 27 '22 at 13:59
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    Did you take a picture before disconnecting the wires to the ceiling lamp? – JACK Jul 27 '22 at 14:01
  • I am located in France, and sadly I did not pay attention to the way things were configured. You are right there were colors on my old lamp, which would have helped – Oleg Gulevskyy Jul 27 '22 at 14:04
  • First, to keep track of the wires now, mark each of the three by wrapping with a bit of electrical tape - either 3 different colors, or with black only use two pieces, one piece, and zero pieces to identify the 3 wires. – Armand Jul 27 '22 at 15:37
  • One of the wires (the rightmost in your photo) looks like it has no bare metal end - perhaps it was not connected to your light and only the other 2 were used? Also, especially in older installations there is sometimes no earth wire at all, just some number of hot/live and neutral wires. Also, sometimes there are two hot wires with different "phases". This is all to say that unexpected setups are frequent and can be very dangerous - you should consider having a professional look at it. – Armand Jul 27 '22 at 15:41
  • Finally to install a lamp or other item on the ceiling you also need to make sure it is physically secured in a way that will not interfere with or damage the wiring. – Armand Jul 27 '22 at 15:43
  • You have more problems than just wires. It appears that the ceiling surface was holding up the light. That's typically not strong enough to hold up a fan. In the US, you would use an "old work ceiling fan box". This might help solve your wire problem because you would have to cut a larger hole in the ceiling to install the box, and that might give you a better view of the wiring behind the ceiling. – longneck Jul 27 '22 at 19:07
  • Assuming there's some solid piece of wood wood behind the ceiling that will be fine to attach the fan bracket to. Most of these Americans have closed minds, ignore them. – Jasen Jul 28 '22 at 01:10
  • There's nothing "close minded" about making recommendations for a safe installation, @Jasen. If you want to install a ceiling fan by mounting it to a couple of plastic anchors in a drywall/plaster ceiling, then by all means, go right ahead. When the vibrations cause the fan to fall within the first day of running, don't come crying to us. – FreeMan Jul 28 '22 at 12:40

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To figure out which wire is which, the solution is usually just to turn it on and watch it with a multimeter. Make sure all of the wires are separated and not touching anything. I like to use a multimeter with clamp leads, then I'll just clamp onto a hot wire, turn on the breaker, and see if that was it. This way I'm not fumbling with my multimeter and hot wires and re-up my subscription to the 120 Club.

For short wires, it depends. If the wires reach into your electrical box but are not quite long enough, then you don't need sheathed wire - you can just use regular wires pulled out of the sheath and extended with wire nuts, or even better a push-in connector (like those made by Wago).

If your wires aren't reaching your electrical box, and assuming you have finished walls, then I suggest putting in an "old work" electrical box. All electrical junctions need to be in an electrical box, and an old-work box is a kind where you just cut a rectangular hole in your wall and push the box in. Then you can do a junction in there, put a blank face on the box and paint it to match the wall.

Rule of thumb: regular wires only inside electrical boxes, and sheathed wire is required outside of electrical boxes. Even if you are jumping between two boxes close together, it needs to be sheathed.

Smith
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    An old work box won't work. You need a box rated for a ceiling fan. – JACK Jul 27 '22 at 14:05
  • They make old-work ceiling fan boxes, @JACK. I've got several installed in my house. ;) Remember, too, that this is in France and regulations are probably different there. It is important, though, to ensure proper mounting for a fan which will be heavier and have movement than the old light. – FreeMan Jul 27 '22 at 17:23
  • @FreeMan Right you are. I don't think that's what the OP is describing though so I pointed it out. – JACK Jul 27 '22 at 17:32
  • @JACK There are old work boxes that can hang a ceiling fan. They have a channel through the middle so it straddles the 2x4 and the box is screwed directly to it. The channel in the middle makes it tight to work in, but it's an option. – Smith Jul 27 '22 at 19:03
  • @Smith Yes, I know. But the person asking the question doesn't know so you need to specify that they need a ceiling fan rated box. – JACK Jul 27 '22 at 19:19
  • if he was to move his entire dwelling to USA then yes he would require a ceiling box. – Jasen Jul 28 '22 at 13:21
  • @JACK He is in France. US code doesn't apply. In Europe generally ceiling boxes are required in new builds, but older homes may still do without. Usually the light fixture is directly attached to the ceiling (hopefully on a joist or blocking between joists) and the cabling is going straight into the fixture. – Tonny Jul 28 '22 at 13:54
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You can use high voltage multimeter to detect voltages.

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    Can you please precise what this would tell me exactly? I have 3 things I need to find - Earth, Live, and Neutral. How can I find each of them? (lack of voltage in one, too much voltage in another etc). I am very new to this stuff – Oleg Gulevskyy Jul 27 '22 at 13:52
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    A standard multi meter would work no need for “high voltage” at least in code terms. – Ed Beal Jul 27 '22 at 16:59
  • Your meter should have "CAT II" or better if you're going to use it on house wiring, but you're better off using a lamp. it's much harder to get the wrong answer from a lamp. – Jasen Jul 28 '22 at 04:57