Dangerous Lighting Problem

[hiddenflight]

Hi There,

I desperately need some advice on a lighting problem. Thanks:

2 weeks ago I fitted a ceiling light which has:

x10 20 watt halogen light bulbs = 200 watts

The light has been fine for the last 2 weeks, until last night when it started to make a crackling/sizzling noise. All of the bulbs then went out and the crackling stopped - the light no longer works. I then stupidly touched the light and as it is made of metal I got a nasty electric shock. I then isolated the lighting and checked my wiring to the light, which turned out to be fine i.e. all wires are correctly and firmly connected.

The question is, could the light be faulty? Else could my lighting circuit be faulty?

I would appreciate any help with this. Many thanks.


p.s. all my switches are standard 240 watt.

 

[Job_n_knock]

Theres a loose wire in the fitting itself, If you can access it remake the connection and make sure its tight.

 

[Steve]

I then stupidly touched the light and as it is made of metal I got a nasty electric shock. I then isolated the lighting and checked my wiring to the light, which turned out to be fine i.e. all wires are correctly and firmly connected.

The fact that you got an electric shock isn't due to the fact that the light is made of metal. Its due to the fact that it probably isn't properly earthed. Bare metal should be bonded to earth, unless the appliance is double insulated, which most lights ARENT. You weren't stupid to touch the light, it is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, indeed some lights hang low enough to touch normally, perhaps even to bang one's head on. And this is exactly why they should be earthed if made of metal, so that if faults such as the one you describe occur, it shorts the electricity supply to earth and blows the fuse, rendering the fitting dead.

Did you connect the earth wire? Is there a green and yellow flylead to the metal casing of the light? If not, there should be a symbol on it somewhere like a square within a square, which indicates it is double insulated and thus does not need earthing. If it has neither, it needs taking back to the shop as it does not comply with British wiring regs.

 

[Lectrician]

Theres a loose wire in the fitting itself, If you can access it remake the connection and make sure its tight.

Thats a little cut and dry......

IT COULD BE A LOOSE WIRE in the fiitting itself, If you can access........






It could also be many other things.

A dropped neutral in the circuit, and a dodgy earth somewhere - far from uncommon, especially where someone has replaced light fittings / switches etc....

 

[Job_n_knock]

I think it IS cut and dry. Whatever is loose, is in that fitting because he checked the lighting circuit and all was well. It will be interesting to see if I am correct. Look at the evidence.... Electric shock after the lights went out, Lighting circuit ok without the fitting. If you think about it, every electrical fault is cut and dry, the trick is finding it.

 

[hiddenflight]

Thanks for the information and quick respones.

As for the electrical circuit, the rest of the lights work fine and the previous light attached to the circuit worked okay. I double checked to make sure I had earthed the light correctly and I had.

I think I'll just take the light back and exchange it for a new one (not very scientific I know) but I think from the evidence this may be the problem.

Thanks.

 

[Belle427]

prob just burnt the tranny out if it has one