This is my first post on this forum ..... so here goes.
I moved to a house which had cables for wall lights already in place, but no actual lights. Just a couple of live cables pointing out the wall.
These are stair lights controlled by a switch at the bottom of the stairs, and a switch at the top.
Bottom of stairs switch is 3 gang / 2 way switch. (Other two lights are single lights)
Top of stairs switch is 1 gang / 2 way switch
Along with some other essential electrical work (installing the correct Earth bonding to gas & water) I had an electrician fit some LED lights. Each light has a bank of 9 white LED's.
After a couple of days I noticed that the lights did not quite turn all the way off - there was a faint glow. I phoned the electrician who unhelpfully said "You have a Neutral to Earth fault ..... you need to find your junction box" ... and hung up.
I left the lights in place and learned to live with the fault as I couldn't find the junction box.
1 year on and during some decorating I discovered that behind the light front, most of the LED's have blown.
I ripped down the ceiling in my hallway to find the junction box, which was a mess. I had a different electrician in to diagnose the problem.
He removed the neutrals from both lights to the junction box .... but the lights were still faintly illuminated.
He confirmed an Earth to Neutral fault. He also told me he has a similar problem at home, and has had shocks from his lights switches for 11 years !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to actually fix this fault, rather than ignore it like the two electricians.
How can I go about this?
Is there an electrical tester that will pinpoint how far away the fault is?
The house has a new-ish Consumer Unit with MCB's. The circuit is the correct amperage (6 amps) for a lighting circuit.
Some of the cabling is over cabled ..... but none appears to be under cabled.
Is this a common problem ..... is this just an issue for LED's ?
I'm okay with logical fault finding (IT Network background) ... but am far from a competent electrician.
Any suggestions on where to start - is there an easy way to diagnose this ... or will I have to disconnect each room to find the logical path of the circuit.
Any help greatly accepted.
Jay.
I moved to a house which had cables for wall lights already in place, but no actual lights. Just a couple of live cables pointing out the wall.
These are stair lights controlled by a switch at the bottom of the stairs, and a switch at the top.
Bottom of stairs switch is 3 gang / 2 way switch. (Other two lights are single lights)
Top of stairs switch is 1 gang / 2 way switch
Along with some other essential electrical work (installing the correct Earth bonding to gas & water) I had an electrician fit some LED lights. Each light has a bank of 9 white LED's.
After a couple of days I noticed that the lights did not quite turn all the way off - there was a faint glow. I phoned the electrician who unhelpfully said "You have a Neutral to Earth fault ..... you need to find your junction box" ... and hung up.
I left the lights in place and learned to live with the fault as I couldn't find the junction box.
1 year on and during some decorating I discovered that behind the light front, most of the LED's have blown.
I ripped down the ceiling in my hallway to find the junction box, which was a mess. I had a different electrician in to diagnose the problem.
He removed the neutrals from both lights to the junction box .... but the lights were still faintly illuminated.
He confirmed an Earth to Neutral fault. He also told me he has a similar problem at home, and has had shocks from his lights switches for 11 years !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to actually fix this fault, rather than ignore it like the two electricians.
How can I go about this?
Is there an electrical tester that will pinpoint how far away the fault is?
The house has a new-ish Consumer Unit with MCB's. The circuit is the correct amperage (6 amps) for a lighting circuit.
Some of the cabling is over cabled ..... but none appears to be under cabled.
Is this a common problem ..... is this just an issue for LED's ?
I'm okay with logical fault finding (IT Network background) ... but am far from a competent electrician.
Any suggestions on where to start - is there an easy way to diagnose this ... or will I have to disconnect each room to find the logical path of the circuit.
Any help greatly accepted.
Jay.