kitchen spot downlighters

[jules85a]

Help .... I am very much a novice at electrics!!!

I have 3 groups of spots in my Kitchen (downlighters) all running from the same fuse. They all have seperate dimmer switches.

i have a bank of 5
a bank of 2 in the middle
and a bank of 4 .

The fuse popped on Friday so i thought like before there was a bulb gone (GU10) 240V 50W . I found 2 had gone black inside them so changed them both pushed up fuse and waited for another triumph.
but no! only the bank of 5 lights lit up all others dead.
I have put a simple electrical screwdriver on backs of switches and there is power to all swiches. I then removed a number of the spots from the ceiling and tested them . These are showing no signs of power at the live terminal.
Are all the lights connected Like a ring main? i cant seem to see this as the wires dont seem to go off to each other. But cant get my head around the 1 fuse for all but 75% off the lights now are powerless.

Hope some one can point me in the right direction.
Many thanks Jules

 

[bernardgreen]

I have put a simple electrical screwdriver

The right direction first is the waste bin with that screwdriver. If you want to solve this then go and buy a cheap multi-meter that can measure voltage, AC and DC, resistance and continuity.

Then tell us if the lamps are 230 volt, 12 volt or some other voltage.

Which group(s) were the blown lamps in ?

Possibly when the lamps blew they destroyed the dimmers.

If they are not 230 volt lamps then somewhere there are transformers between switch and lamp and most likely one or more of these has blown.

 

[jules85a]

Harsh I have had that Screwdriver since 1853....

The bulbs i buy are 240volt GU10 50 watt so i dont think there are any transformers in the circuit cant see any any way.

If the dimmers were knackered would i get a low voltage reading at one point?

Any one want to buy an 1853 Electric screwdriver it Glows!!!?

The bulbs not working are the middle 2 and the end 4

 

[Steve]

Can you put up photos of the back of the switch (dont undo anything)?

Use Macro focus (picture of a flower) if you have it, this is for close ups.

They still sell those screwdrivers for 10p to unsuspecting DIYers who think they have all the test kit they need now.

Is it two full banks of lights that have gone? If so i suspect a loose connection in the back of the switch, OR, just as likely, you've fried the dimmers (if both bulbs were on different switches).

If its just TWO LAMPS that have gone, then check connections in the lights themselves (they simply pull down, they clip to the back of the plasterboard with springs, watch these as they can have quite a bit of tension and snap back quite fast ).

 

[jules85a]

Thanks Steve

I will take a pic tonight and put it onto the page.
Yes it is two full banks of lights that have gone 2 in the middle and four down one end.
Do the dimmers fry quite easily or will i have maybe another problem causing these to fry?
many thanks for your help

I have invested in a multimeter so technology has caught me up!!!

 

[Steve]

A bulb blowing can quite easily destroy a dimmer. It was enough to trip your MCB, so its definitely enough to do bad stuff to dimmer electronics.

 

[jules85a]

hope this helps. picture of dimmer switches. cheers

 

[jules85a]

View media item 12918
DOOOH WHAT A NUMPTY SORRY not very good at this as well!!!!

hope you can see pic now. cheers.

 

[ColJack]

if it's 2 individually switched banks, then I'd be inclined to check the neutral at the lights.. sounds like you've dropped a common neutral..

is the fuse a fuse, an MCB or possibly and RCBO ( looks like a breaker but has a test button )?
might be that it's an RCBO and then neutral falling out touched the earth and tripped it.
could also be that the neutral falling out touched the live and tripped the MCB or blew the fuse.

 

[jules85a]

There is no power at any of the lights on the middle bank and end bank. But still 5 work on a seperate bank (3rd lot) all come from same fuse and seperate dimmer switches. The fuse is just a black push up reset button, (no evident test button)

 

[ColJack]

still sounds like a neutral..
you checked for power how?
multimeter between live and neutral?
check between live and earth and neutral and earth.

 

[Steve]

a couple of questions.

in the picture, i will number the switches 1, 2, 3 and 4, left to right.
______________________________________________

What is switch 1, a dimmer or a push button? What does it control?

Switch 2 is a push button - I take it this is for something unrelated? Worktop lights?

Switch 3 - what does this do?

Switch 4 - now, I may be wrong, but is this switch dead? Does it do anything? Both wires appear to emerge from C, which would render the switch useless in its current config.
______________________________________________

So which 2 switches have dead lights?

Have you tightened all the terminals in the switches?

 

[jules85a]

They are all push button switches.
no 1 seems dead at present
n02 powers up the bank of lights that do work
no3 powers kithen under cuboard lights
n04 seems dead at present

Although there was always one switch that didnt do anything, now i am really confused. Sorry

 

[ColJack]

are you numbering the switches the same as Steve?

switch 1 is a dimmer.. ( it's gone by the sounds of it.. )
switch 2 is not a dimmer..
switch 3 is..

so the bank of lights that do work are not dimmable?
the other 2 banks were ( and were off the same switch? )
if you'd told us this in the first place then we could have told you that your dimmer is stuffed..

 

[jules85a]

ok my mistake sorry

how do i test a dimmer with a multi tester to see if it works or is faulty please