Downstairs lighting no longer working

[Jupiter01]

Just had a call from my father in law to kindly (!!!) let me know that his lighting isn't working on the ground floor. I feel obligated to take a look and wanted some advice please.

Apparently, they switched the kitchen lights on and that caused all the lighting to switch off. No breakers had tripped at the consumer unit. The lighting returned in a couple of hours without any further intervention and one of the bulbs in the kitchen light had fused. Everything has hen been working for several hours and now, the ground floor lighting has gone again. I asked to check the consumer unit and he has confirmed that no breakers have tripped.

I will inspect the breakers myself when I get there this afternoon. Beyond that, I was planning to drop the light fittings (assuming they are looped at ceiling) and check with my two pole tester on the theory that the circuit has broken somewhere because of a loose live wire. No light fittings have been changed recently.

Is this a sensible course of action? I would appreciate any other tips.

Thanks in advance.

 

[terryplumb]

If no breakers have tripped ,then a loose connection would be likely , and I would start at the kitchen switch. If the line is looped from switch to switch ,check all switches. If looped through the ceiling roses / fittings then check those .

 

[Jupiter01]

would a loose neutral cause this as well as a loose live?

 

[chivers67]

Yes. Recycle the MCB to - switch it off & on before you start testing.

 

[terryplumb]

Yes ,it could. For every light on the circuit not to work the fault would most likely be on the first junction ,be that ceiling or switch ,depending how it's looped

 

[Jupiter01]

How will my two pole detect a lose neutral? I have a fluke model.

 

[Jupiter01]

I usually test across live and neutral and it then gives me a reading. If this is 240 ish and it’s beeping, I assume live is good and then move to the next junction. I am now wondering if this caters for the integrity of the neutral too?

 

[chivers67]

It won't detect anything loose as such only if there is voltage present.

 

[Jupiter01]

Excuse the ignorance of this question but if I went to junction #2 on a given lighting circuit and tested across live and neutral with my two pole tester and it beeped and have a 240ish reading, does it then follow that the live and neutral are good at junction #1?

or is this just confirming that Live is good at #1?

hope that makes sense

 

[chivers67]

Both should be good/making contact.

 

[terryplumb]

Turn the MCB off and check visually first. Testing between line and neutral only will not give you the full picture. If you get zero volts , the neutral could be disconnected and the line still live. You should then test line to earth ,

 

[Jupiter01]

UPDATE: nothing was tripped at the consumer unit. I first removed the switch in the kitchen (what seemed to have caused the issue). This had two wires from which I assumed that the loop was done in the ceiling. I then removed both kitchen light fittings and both only had one cable (two wires) dropping from the ceiling. I was expecting to see the live loop in one of these lights. Is it in the ceiling void and above the plasterboard?

I then dropped the light in the hallway and at the same time the lights across the ground floor flickered. Upon closer inspection, the live wires were in screw-in terminals with all the terminals loose enough for me to pull the wires out by hand. I replaced this with a wago connector and everything started working again. I assume that this light was #1 in this lighting circuit?

 

[terryplumb]

Glad you got sorted ,but shame on you for taking the hallway light down with the circuit still live !!!

 

[aptsys]

Glad you got sorted ,but shame on you for taking the hallway light down with the circuit still live !!!

Especially when there is a known fault.

 

[Jupiter01]

Living (fortunately!) and learning. It seems so obvious in hindsight. I was prepared for a cable popping out at me but not seasoned enough to switch this circuit off beforehand. Definitely a lesson for next time. Thanks guys.

Can anyone answer the two questions in this update please? One on the kitchen light fitting wiring and the second on whether this was definitely light #1 on this circuit?

UPDATE: nothing was tripped at the consumer unit. I first removed the switch in the kitchen (what seemed to have caused the issue). This had two wires from which I assumed that the loop was done in the ceiling. I then removed both kitchen light fittings and both only had one cable (two wires) dropping from the ceiling. I was expecting to see the live loop in one of these lights. Is it in the ceiling void and above the plasterboard?

I then dropped the light in the hallway and at the same time the lights across the ground floor flickered. Upon closer inspection, the live wires were in screw-in terminals with all the terminals loose enough for me to pull the wires out by hand. I replaced this with a wago connector and everything started working again. I assume that this light was #1 in this lighting circuit?