BANG!!

[beau1329]

Hi

I recently purchased a new ceiling light, and having put lights up before was confident at installing it. I turned the electric off to the downstairs lights -lounge kitchen porch- and wired the light up. There are two switches for the lounge light at both ends of the room. One is a dimmer switch the other a normal swith. I wired the loop up in the usual way and according to the instructions.

I also earthed the new light. When i turned the electric on and tried the light there was a hell of a bang and the whole house went out. I flipped the swith in the fuse box and the electricity came back on. The lounge kitchen and porch are on the same fuse so i was surprised when the kitchen and porch worked and the lounge didnt. I even put the old light back up and still nothing. According to the voltage meter there is power in the wires for the ceiling lights.

So can anyone please tell me why the kitchen and porch work, and there is power in the lounge ceiling wires but no light will work?? Could something have blown in the switches??

Thanks very much
mike

 

[Lectrician]

Many older dimmers incorporated a fuse inside them - try that.

Obviously you have wired something incorrectly - sort this first Got the switched 'black' confused with a neutral?? Or nicked a cable screwing fitting up?

 

[beau1329]

Thanks for reply

I should have said that the dimmer has no fuse in it, also the new light worked when i wired it up and screwd it to the ceiling, it blew when i turned the electric off and pushed the wires up into the ceiling and attatched the face of the light to the back plate which was already screwed to the ceiling. Since it blew i have even attatched the live to the neutral to see if anything hapens and it is completely dead even though it reads live.

thanks

mike

 

[Lectrician]

Pushing cables back into the ceiling is always a no-no! All terminations should be with-in the fitting. I suspect that you dislodged a cable when pushing it back, and possibly the fault you had blew it self apart to what is now an open circuit fault.

Sounds like you have lost the neutral to the fitting (as shorting live to neutral would bang again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Not really the way to fault find my friend....shorting cables together to see if they bang!!.

 

[plugwash]

the sad fact is that most light fittings sold in the uk apart from the really basic stuff (pendants battern holders etc) are totally unsuitable for british loop in wiring practices

this means that especially when retrofitting its near impossible not to break some of the rules when fitting them

 

[Lectrician]

Circular dry lining boxes are great

Perhaps we should start flushing circ metal boxes into ceilings.

I already loop in and out of switches for most houses

 

[fubar]

Perhaps we should start flushing circ metal boxes into ceilings.

Have you tried to acquire a circlular BESA box recently? I can't find anyone that stocks them any more.

The design of accessories for uk lighting is totally rubbish. If there is one area that would benefit from EU harmonisation, I think this would be it.

Actually, some kind of combined low profile luminaire support coupler and circular dry-lining box with loop-through terminals, would be great. I am sick of fittings that won't fit over a rose base.

--
Michael

 

[Lectrician]

Rear entry and plain entry besa boxes are easy to get hold off for next day via N+E or Wilts. I also had some tangent 90's and tee's the other week!!

Besa spaced fixings are rarely found on light fittings these days, a good few manufacturers still do, but the customer buys what he or more often SHE wants

America seems to be the only place that uses metal boxes in ceilings, but then, their cable is sh it

 

[dingbat]

...but the customer buys what he or more often SHE wants

Yeah. How dare they??!!

Mind you, as much as we grumble, when Joe P buys this rubbish at least it provides us a steady income!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It would not be rocket science for manufacturers to place a terminal block which matches the connectivity of a ceiling rose where they normally put a bit of 3-way choc-block.

 

[AdamW]

the sad fact is that most light fittings sold in the uk apart from the really basic stuff (pendants battern holders etc) are totally unsuitable for british loop in wiring practices

They could introduce some law banning such fittings (perhaps do it at BS level). This would force the sellers to make suitable fittings or miss out on the billion pound UK DIY industry... but they can't do something so sensible and simple as that to improve electrical safety, we need Part P instead.

BAH!

 

[plugwash]

the problem with banning products like that is such laws can have unintended consequences if not well thought out

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The manufacturers could argue, quite correctly, that such products are perfectly OK and easy for a competent person to install.

 

[salem2000]

It would not be rocket science for manufacturers to place a terminal block which matches the connectivity of a ceiling rose where they normally put a bit of 3-way choc-block.

But that would reduce thier pofits by at least 10p per fitting, don't think thier shareholders would stand for that, and the consumer would moan like there is no tomorrow if it was passed on to them.

 

[fubar]

It would not be rocket science for manufacturers to place a terminal block which matches the connectivity of a ceiling rose where they normally put a bit of 3-way choc-block.

Are such terminal blocks even available (other than integral to roses)?