New light not dimming

[Mattatooi]

Just put a new light up which has 3 x e14 40 w golf bulb connections. I am intending to get some LED ones which can dim soon, but in short term I needed to get some basic light bulbs to do me untill then. I picked up some Philips EcoClassic bulbs from tescos, these - http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=280132712

It says on the package that they are "dimmible / variable"

However they are not dimming. I just had a basic light bulb since I moved in and only putting these up now. It dimmed fine, but now it doesnt with new light fitting. Anyone know why this would be?

Also concerned about spending alot of money on led dimmable bulbs if they are not going to work! There are 3 bulbs on the light fitting, got 2 lights.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Have you checked that the dimmer switch is compatible with both lamps and load?

http://www.universal-lighting.co.uk/buying-guides/choosing_the_correct_dimmer_switch

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The lamps are straightforward LV incandescent, so there shouldn't be a dimmer compatibility problem - given "I just had a basic light bulb since I moved in ... It dimmed fine" it's a normal one, and with 84W of lamps it's hard to see how it could be over- or under-loaded.

Mattatooi - if you replace the previous light does the dimmer still work?

It does turn the lights on and off?

The very first time you tried the new light, were there any problems?

 

[Mattatooi]

Yes actually. When I first tried it the lighting circuit tripped. I thought maybe some of my wiring came loose as it was a balls to get cables all in. So unscrewed it and wiring looked fine, just checked connections were good and tightened up again, then tried it again and it worked but no dimmer. Would you say dimmer is knackered? I've no idea what they are.

Just had a temp pendant in during decorations. Previous owner took light with her (she didn't even leave terminal blocks! Just some ****ty PVC tape lol) anyway I think it was a 4 bulb light.

Is it fine to let it run with dimmer in circuit if it's not dimming?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Yes actually. When I first tried it the lighting circuit tripped.

I thought it might have done.

I thought maybe some of my wiring came loose as it was a balls to get cables all in. So unscrewed it and wiring looked fine, just checked connections were good and tightened up again, then tried it again and it worked but no dimmer.

And you definitely did not change how it was wired up? You left every conductor where it was originally, when the lighting circuit tripped, but it no longer trips?

Would you say dimmer is knackered?

Yes - given the description of what happened at first, and the symptoms you now have, I'd say it was likely that you made the "all blacks/blues are neutrals and all go to the same terminal" mistake, and the resulting short circuit was what tripped the MCB and destroyed the dimmer.

The only flaw with that theory is that if all you did was to check the tightness of connections and didn't move anything, the fault would still be there waiting to bite.

Have you got any problems anywhere else in the lighting circuit?

Previous owner took light with her (she didn't even leave terminal blocks! Just some s PVC tape lol)

FYI - she wasn't allowed to do that, and arguably it was a criminal offence.

Is it fine to let it run with dimmer in circuit if it's not dimming?

No - it's damaged inside - you can't be sure it won't catch fire.

 

[Mattatooi]

No I didn't re wire anything. I just reseeded the cables thinking maybe one of the cables from the light had came out when screwing to bracket. So I unscrewed from bracket took look and just reseeded connections. It's 3 lights going into 1terminal block strip of 3 (live, neutral and earth). So nothing was moved and I certainly did not wire anything incorrectly, just my theory was that maybe say one of the lives from the lamp wasn't tightly connected enough.

Is it common for dimmers to still work if they are effectively blown and not dimming?

I have no other problems with lighting. I presume dimmer will be above light somewhere. I can access from above but it's not ideal at the moment. Involves moving furniture lifting carpet and some boards but could get to it. If I am not bothered with dimmer is it easy enough to takeout of the circuit? Or to replace? No idea about dimmers, expensive? Do you need spark to fit them?

Thanks!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

1terminal block strip of 3 (live, neutral and earth). So nothing was moved and I certainly did not wire anything incorrectly,

How many cables coming out of the ceiling?

Is it common for dimmers to still work if they are effectively blown and not dimming?

Don't know about you, but I, and most people, would not say that a dimmer was still working if it was no longer dimming.

I presume dimmer will be above light somewhere.

It's the switch on the wall. Unless you've got some form of home automation.

What does your switch look like?

http://images.google.com/images?q=dimmer+switch

 

[Mattatooi]

A friend spark put in temp pendant with term block etc when he was doing some electrical work in house and told me it was just the 3 I needed when putting in new light. There was another one but he said I didn't need to worry about that one.

Ah so I only need to replace the switch on wall? I thought it would be something in the ceiling space. Great. It is just a 2 dimmer switch for 2 lights.

 

[ericmark]

Although the bulb you have will dim really you should not dim a quartz bulb. The idea of a quartz bulb is the quartz gets that hot the tungsten will not stick to the quartz but will go back to the element. Running cool will reduce the bulb life.

 

[Mattatooi]

Understand eric, but actually we will be wanting to purchases LED ones in near future. Couldn't really afford to get 6 of them right now, but will do in new year, so just got some cheap ones untill then.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

A friend spark put in temp pendant with term block etc when he was doing some electrical work in house and told me it was just the 3 I needed when putting in new light.

So why did the MCB trip when you first tried it?

 

[Mattatooi]

I can only presume dimmer was kinda knackered and it failed with a bigger loading on with new light? I should have said that the other light dimmer has never worked since moving in. I would say the dimmer switch has been there for quite some time, but cannot be sure.

Going to replace the dimmer switch. As each light has max 40w bulb, and is 3 bulbs on the light, with 2 lights, I believe I only need to get 250w dimmers? That is what is there currently. Doing some reading there is no need to get 400w as although this would be fine, would I be correct that the lowest dim would be better with a 250w or is that a load of balls?

As an example, looking at a basic one, there are these two on screw fix;

http://www.screwfix.com/p/varilight-trailing-edge-push-dimmer-2g-1-2w-2-x-250w-va/98455

http://www.screwfix.com/p/varilight-push-dimmer-2g-1-2w-2-x-250w/58477

What is the difference between these two? I will be replacing existing bulbs with LEDs in the near future, so what to be sure I get suitable one? We have no intention of any spotlights or anything in future.

Also, if they are not suitable can you recommend any which would be better?

Thanks