WYLEX Fusebox - Can I replace fuse myself?

[Lylio]

Hi everyone,

A light blew in my kitchen, bulb exploded, and half my lighting circuit in my flat (Glasgow) is out.

I've taken a photo of the Wylex fuse box - I'm presuming the cartridge with the white dots is for lights.

I've never dealt with these kind of fuses before, I've not yet even checked the fuse cartridges to confirm it's blown.

From a little reading, am I correct in saying this is a job I can do myself (without calling an electrician), and the procedure would be to replace with 5 amp wire?

Also, this happened once before, about 4 months ago - hit the switch, a loud 'BANG', same socket bulb shattered (it's a row of 3 lights). I think it was a cheapy bulb rather than energy savers which I usually use. Are less expensive brands prone to this kind of shattering?

Thanks guys, I really appreciate any advice you can reply with.

Cheers

Lylio

Untitled

• Lylio
• 6 Oct 2014
• 1

 

[333rocky333]

The white one is likely to be for the lights
However it is advisable to switch OFF the main switch before pulling out or putting back in, this will obviously turn the whole house off so you may need a torch, but its the safest way

 

[Lylio]

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I'd definitely switch off all the power first. So you reckon I'll be able to replace the fuse wire myself?

 

[333rocky333]

It is easy to replace yes.
However fuses usually blow due to a fault, and if the fault is still there it will blow again, proberly the safest way is to switch the local light switches OFF and possibly, you can work out which room , if any caused the fuse to blow.
Not the ideal way, but without testgear or calling an electrician theres little else you can do personally.

If you do pull it out, you can sometimes tell by the state of the fuse if a fault blew it, by the blobs of molten wire

 

[Lylio]

Cheers for the info mate.

 

[JohnD]

you say a light bulb burst. Most likely that caused a surge that blew the fuse. IME spotlights are the worst culprits for surges when they blow.

Fusewire is actually more tolerant of these surges from failing lightbulbs than MCBs, because they do not react so quickly. If you change to energy-saving lamps (CFLs) then you will not get these surges again (as well as saving money on electricity)

It is possible to fit MCBs to your Wylex Standard consumer unit, but this should not be necessary, because blown fuses should be vanishingly rare.

 

[JohnW2]

However fuses usually blow due to a fault, and if the fault is still there it will blow again, proberly the safest way is to switch the local light switches OFF and possibly, you can work out which room , if any caused the fuse to blow.

Sherlock Holmes not really needed ...

A light blew in my kitchen, bulb exploded, and half my lighting circuit in my flat (Glasgow) is out.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Lylio]

Cheers JohnD.

Yeah, it was a spotlight that popped/shattered. I'll make sure to replace with an energy saver when I get the fuse fixed.

 

[JohnW2]

Fusewire is actually more tolerant of these surges from failing lightbulbs than MCBs, because they do not react so quickly. If you change to energy-saving lamps (CFLs) then you will not get these surges again (as well as saving money on electricity)

Whilst I would certainly agree that that is generally true, I've had at least a couple of CFLs fail spectacularly, taking out an MCB - if it's components within the CFL's electronics which fail, almost anything is theoretically possible!

Kind ReEgards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It is possible to fit MCBs to your Wylex Standard consumer unit, but this should not be necessary, because blown fuses should be vanishingly rare.

Unlike tripping MCBs when lamps fail, which can be so common as to happen almost every time.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I've had at least a couple of CFLs fail spectacularly

I had one fail once where "spectacular" meant forcible ejection of fragments of glass and molten solder.

Although as nobody was in the room to see it there could be a philosophical discussion to be had about whether it could be termed "spectacular"

 

[JohnW2]

I've had at least a couple of CFLs fail spectacularly

I had one fail once where "spectacular" meant forcible ejection of fragments of glass and molten solder.

Yep, that's the sort of "spectacular" I was talking about with mine. I'll leave the semantics for you to torment yourself about.

Kind Regards, John

 

[AndyPRK]

What puzzles me is that there appears to be only 1 lighting circuit in the flat. (unless some of those MCB's are for lights) and we are told HALF the lights in the flat don't work.

Therefore I'm not ruling out a bad connection at one of the roses.

 

[Lylio]

Just replaced the fuse wire. All is working.

I'm embarrassed to admit this - ahem, ALL the lights were out in the flat (the ones that were working were the socket lamps in the living room).

Heh.... heh.


I think I'll re-register for the forum under a new name.


Thanks again fellas!

 

[JohnW2]

What puzzles me is that there appears to be only 1 lighting circuit in the flat. (unless some of those MCB's are for lights) and we are told HALF the lights in the flat don't work. Therefore I'm not ruling out a bad connection at one of the roses.

Valid points - although, as you say, there could be lights supplied by something else (one of those MCBs, some other MCBs/fuses which we can't see, or maybe an FCU off a sockets circuit) - unless it's a very large flat, one wouldn't normally expect more than one lighting circuit in an installation of that age.

I also wonder whether 'half the lights' was perhaps a colloquial statement, and that, in fact, all the lights on the lighting circuit went out, just leaving some table lamps, standard lamps or whatever to light the place.

I suppose it's just possible, although pretty unlikley, that a blowing lamp would precipitate a bad connection such as you suggest.

Whatever, we'll know once the OP has examined the fuse.

Kind Regards, John
Edit: Damnit - typed too slowly again! I'm glad it's sorted.