Help installing lights - wattage too high?

[Rachel03]

Hi, I'm looking for some advice on installing under cabinet kitchen lights.

We have recently bought a maisonette, a lot of the lights were not working - I have replaced 6 lights in the living room which all work. We have been left with unsightly wiring and connector blocks underneath the kitchen cabinets and yesterday I tried to install the new fittings. We only have 2 kitchen cabinets so 1 light per cabinet.

The 2 lights I have bought are 230v 13w LED strip lights. I wired them up but the lights did not work. Nothing tripped. Neither one worked but there was power running through the cables. I only have a tester pen and not a multimeter. I tried one of the new living room wall lights in the kitchen and that worked. The living room light is 5w. Tried the kitchen light in the living room and it worked.

The living room is on a separate circuit, and both the kitchen lights and upstairs lights are on another.

The only thing I can think is that the wattage of the kitchen lights is too high?

If 1x 13w light does not work, does that mean the total no of watts for both lights needs to be less than 13w, or each light needs to be less than 13w? So does the amount of wattage depend on each power supply or the total wattage for the circuit?

 

[ETAF]

nothing really to do with wattage really (at this level 13W etc ), as to why it may not be working - 13w is going to be really small amount of current at 240v and so unlikely to blow any fuses even if 1A fuse - thats just a measure of the power used - the voltage would be interesting are you connecting to 240V system or a lower voltage like 12V DC

some photos may help ... not sure about those light pens for measure power a cheap multimeter may be a better tool
what are the lights you have purchased and what are the old lights

are those existing under lights feed from a spur switch - and is that on - or a wall switch ???

 

[Rachel03]

Ok! The lights are connected to a wall switch - have turned that off and on. Pen thing shows higher power when on and lower when the wall switch is off.

What photo's would be helpful?

How would I find out the voltage?

 

[ETAF]

the general installation, the lights themselves and specification on them, old ones and new ones

as mentioned multimeter

where does the wall switch feed - a transformer or direct to the lights ?

 

[Rachel03]

These are the lights: https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/KBUCLED13WW.html

There were no lights there when we moved in, just the wires hanging out of the walls.

Wall switch goes directly to the lights, no transformer.

There is another identical one of these in the kitchen on the other side of the oven - neither work. Both powered by the same switch.

 

[ericmark]

I will have a guess, the wire you are using was for a switch, and you have a second lamp or device some where so running the two in series, so 5 watt will get a higher voltage to 13 watt, hence why the 5 volt works.

However only real way is with a volt meter, can't see how one would test if my thought is correct without a volt meter.

 

[terryplumb]

As I read and understood your original post ,Your new light fittings work when connected in living room ,and your living room light fitting works when connected to the kitchen wiring ,is that so ??
If it is ,that would point to the connections you are making of new lights to kitchen wiring . Is it possible that you are screwing onto wires insulation and not copper conductor at the kitchen terminal blocks ?

 

[ETAF]

so you know the new lights work ? and the connector works , based on the swap

and the chocolate block you are using ,the cable is connecting to the copper and not just on the insulation, unlikely but has happened

if you put the pen into the end of the cable plug that goes into the light - do you see power when switched on/off at the light switch or on the light itself switch

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Ok! The lights are connected to a wall switch - have turned that off and on. Pen thing shows higher power when on and lower when the wall switch is off.

That suggests, that you have a live at the lights, but are missing the neutral.

 

[terryplumb]

That suggests, that you have a live at the lights, but are missing the neutral.

How did the living room light fitting work when connected to the kitchen wiring terminal block without a neutral !

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

How did the living room light fitting work when connected to the kitchen wiring terminal block without a neutral !

Good point, but none the less she says the stick shows live, but the lights still do not work - which suggest neutral is absentia.

 

[Rachel03]

Thanks for your replies.

Yes kitchen lights worked in the living room, living room lights worked in the kitchen.

I did double check a few times to make sure the connections were proper, I can double check again shortly.

 

[Rachel03]

I have double checked the connectors again, no change.

 

[terryplumb]

Odd. You need a multimeter to ascertain what's amiss. They can be bought for around £10

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Odd. You need a multimeter to ascertain what's amiss. They can be bought for around £10

I now suspect, making an assumption that the connections are good, something is connected in series.

My wild guess - the cupboard lights were wired in series with the ceiling lights, and the change to the ceiling lights, is now preventing the cupboard lights from working - the ceiling lights are not passing enough current.