A Bit Of A Puzzle!

[alba2]

We are in a 5 year old property.

About 6 to 8 months ago our 220v - 240v 5W GU10 led bathroom down lights would only switch on intermittently.

It is a Jack and Jill bathroom, so there are switches at each entrance. One is a double switch which controls the down lights and extractor. The other is a single switch.

I really tightened all the cable screws in the down lights and the switches, but the intermittent failure at switch on continued. An led bulb then failed and I replaced it. After that the problem totally disappeared.

Fast forward about 8 months and the problem returned this morning. When switching on there was a very brief flash of light, but they did not come on. This happened with a few attempts. Neither of the switches worked. After about 5 minutes both switches then worked properly again and continues to work. All leds are lit with no flickering.

I am completely puzzled!

It may have nothing to do with the situation but it was much colder in the bathroom this morning.

Any ideas as to what the problem is?

Should I just leave things until there is complete failure before getting an electrician, in order to trace the problem? Is there something further I can test or investigate myself?

 

[chivers67]

The switches could have an intermittent fault, does sound odd though.

 

[alba2]

Thanks for your reply.
Yes it is odd because it is currently working fine again!

 

[JohnD]

might also be a loose connection in the ceiling rose, or in any junction box above the ceiling. It could also be in another ceiling rose, between your bathroom and the CU supply.

 

[JohnW2]

.....Fast forward about 8 months and the problem returned this morning. When switching on there was a very brief flash of light, but they did not come on. This happened with a few attempts. Neither of the switches worked. After about 5 minutes both switches then worked properly again and continues to work. All leds are lit with no flickering....

Just to be sure, do I take it that there are multiple downlights, and that at any particular time they all behaving the same ('briefly flashing', 'coming on', 'not coming on', 'flickering' etc.)?

Kind Regards, John

 

[sircerebus666]

A simple swop of the switches with other known working ones in your house would tell you if it's the switches or not.

Depending on what design switches you have you might consider buying new ones anyway (if you have white they are very cheap to replace)

 

[mattylad]

It may also be due to the LED bulb that you used starting to fail again.

 

[JohnW2]

It may also be due to the LED bulb that you used starting to fail again.

That's why I asked about the number of them - it would be pretty unusual for there to be only one downlight.

Kind Regards, John

 

[alba2]

Thanks for all attempts to solve this.

We originally had 3 down lights, but there was insufficient light next to the mirror, so we had 2 additional lights added by the builder, above the mirror. This was 5 years ago when we first moved in.

The lights have been working fine again since I posted. This was only the one instance since it last happened a few years ago.

With this most recent occurrence, when switched on there was a flash of all the lights but they did not actually illuminate. Repeated switching was a repeat of the foregoing, then no flashing at all. After leaving for about 15 minutes they fully switched on, and there has been no problem since! I don't understand it. Perhaps it's a case of waiting until they fully fail and the problem can be identified.

If one led bulb goes faulty can it cause this problem? I ask because it only went away the last time, when I replaced a bulb that eventually failed.

 

[JohnW2]

With this most recent occurrence, when switched on there was a flash of all the lights but they did not actually illuminate. Repeated switching was a repeat of the foregoing, then no flashing at all. After leaving for about 15 minutes they fully switched on, and there has been no problem since!

Thanks for clarifying - and that's what I thought you meant.

In that case, I think that the problem must be with the switch or the wiring/connections - it's inconceivable that all lamps could become faulty (reversibly) in the same way at the same time!

If one led bulb goes faulty can it cause this problem?

No - hence my point above.

Kind Regards, John