Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Ceiling Fan Wiring - Too Many Wires?

I have recently purchased a new ceiling fan, I have installed one before in my old house and didn't have a problem, so I thought i would be able to do the same in my new house.

However, when I removed the cover to the standard ceiling rose, i was shocked to see 3 wires coming out of the ceiling each containing a black, red and earth wire. so now I have 9 wires to connect (3 black, 3 red, 3 earth) - but where do I connect them to?

They are all currently connected to different connections in the rose, however there are no markings on the rose connections telling what they are for.

There are 3 connections on the fan i am wanting to install - live, neutral and earth.

It maybe that there used to be more lights connected to the same circuit before the house was converted - but i have no idea what is dead, if it is at all!

I hope someone can help, I know i can do this job, I just require a little advice.

Thanks.
:confused:

Are you in the U.K.?

What was there before and how was it connected? This is the single most important piece of information. Without it, everything is ten times harder.

Is this controlled by one wall switch or two (or none)?

Are there any other wires, such as light blue or white, in the box at all?

yes i am in the u.k.

i don't know what was in the flat before i moved in - i only moved in a couple of weeks ago. there is only one switch in the room and only one light.

hope you can help.

p.s.

there are no other wires out the ceiling at all!

The problem seems to be that, according to any of the various U.K. wire color conventions, there is no neutral wire in the box (actually, a "grounded" conductor since U.K. does not use a neutral). Could you please describe the wire you call "earth"? Is this just a bare copper wire?

It is possible that some inexperienced person wired this with non-standard wiring colors. You could check this out with a multimeter. Do you have a multimeter?

yes - the earth wires are bare copper wires - and no i don't have a multimeter!

is that gonna be a problem?

Yes, I suggest you go buy some sort of electrical test device. A multimeter would be okay. It's the only way for sure you're going to figure out which wire is which.

You should also now inspect the wiring in the wall switch box and report everything you see in that box (all the cables, all the wires, all the connections). This will provide more clues.