Living room light went bang, no idea why

[wanleg]

Hi

Had the light up in my living room for the last 8 years or so without problem. Light is controlled by a dimmer switch. The other day the missus turned it on and heard a loud bang with what she described as a bright flash. When we took the bulbs out one of them had blown but the other two hadn't...since then none of the bulbs work, even tried replacing them all. Took the light down yesterday expecting to see something obvious but can't find anything wrong. I have put a meter on the live and neutral, with the dimmer set at full it is showing 26v. I have also used the meter to perform a continuity test on each live and neutral to each bulb holder and can't find a problem there. My questions are....is 26v correct? and does anyone have any idea what might have caused the problem in the first place as I can't see anything wrong with the light?

For safety I'll change the light anyway but I'd just like it make sure some other problem doesn't exist first ie some kind of wiring issue.

Cheers

Untitled

• wanleg
• 9 Feb 2014
• 1

 

[Taylortwocities]

Its the dimmer.
They operate as expensive fuses sometimes when a lamp blows.

Try it with a normal switch there first just to check.

 

[wanleg]

Cheers for the reply...The dimmer would be the cause of the initial bang and flash? or are you saying that was just a bulb going and it's the dimmer that is now preventing the light working? what voltage should I see from the live 230v?

 

[Taylortwocities]

The lamp going will have been the initial cause of the flash bang.
The higher than normal current will almost certainly have scrogged the dimmer.

You should see 230v on the switched live depending on how the dimmer's output is set, but dont bother messing around with your multimeter, just swop out the dimmer for another, or try a standard switch as a test.

 

[wanleg]

Just fitted a new dimmer switch and all sorted... Thanks.