light switch

Sponsored Links
How do you know it was not a false "negative"

It could be indicating that the conductor was not Live ( a negative reading ) when the conductor was in fact Live but you did not get a shock when you touched it.

DO NOT TRY THIS

It is possible to hold a bare Live wire and not receive an electric shock. To receive a shock there has to be two points of contact with the body. one Live and one Earth or Neutral.

Birds can safely perch on bare overhead cables at 11 kV

That is a valid question. On each occasion I was standing on the ground (ie earthed rather than on a rubber mat), on some of those occasions I did double check by using a multimeter.
 
Ultimately no tool is infallible, every tool has it's pros and cons. Electricians in the UK seem to put all their faith in "two pole testers", but a "two pole tester" won't tell you if *everything* is live including the earth terminal and the bloody box! A neon screwdriver will.
 
Ultimately no tool is infallible, every tool has it's pros and cons. Electricians in the UK seem to put all their faith in "two pole testers", but a "two pole tester" won't tell you if *everything* is live including the earth terminal and the bloody box! A neon screwdriver will.
"A neon screwdriver may". As you say, no tool is infallible, and that includes neon screwdrivers.

If "everything" in the house is live, then it's quite likely that the capacitive coupling from the user's body to 'live things' will be greater than any capacitive coupling to true earth - in which case the neon screwdriver wouldn't indicate "live" any more than a 'two-pole tester' would.

Kind Regards, John
 
Sponsored Links
how did you know I was wasting my time faffing about with a neon screwdriver !! lol
Maybe you don’t realise this; but for an electrical item to work (such as a mains lamp) it needs two things a live supply, nominally 240volts, and a neutral.
Your neon screwdriver or magic wand device can help you with determining if there is a voltage, but it’s as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle in checking that the neutral is in place and actually is at zero volts.
the neutral is half of the supply for a circuit and provides half of the problems when things don’t work.
A two probe voltage test device is what is needed.
 
Firstly, apologies if I have not replied to each individual thread. Can I start again? here's the back of the light switch.
WhatsApp Image 2021-06-09 at 13.25.29.jpeg
 
how did you know I was wasting my time faffing about with a neon screwdriver !! lol
It was the way you expressed yourself. If you'd been using a 2-pole meter of some sort you would have described what you found in more accurate detail. :)
 
As EFLI already suggested, have you tried putting both switch wires into the same terminal?
 
been down to my property. putting both wires in to the same terminal doesn't put the light on. all 3 red wires in the rose carry electricity.

WhatsApp Image 2021-06-09 at 13.25.41.jpeg
 
Are you certain all the wires at the ceiling rose are securely terminated?

Have you checked the actual lampholder? Are the connections ok?

Does the lampholder pins make contact with bulb?
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top