G
Gazzza
Decorating the hallway, so Saturday morning I started what should've been a simple job of changing the hall/landing lights.
However (before I'd hung the new lights) I noticed when the landing light was switched on, the earth returned positive when I tested it with a mains testing screwdriver. Very very faint, but the bulb in the tester was definitely on.
A quick reccy round the other light switches upstairs, I've found one other that seems to do the same in one of the bedrooms. ie. very faint glow on the mains tester against the earth when switched on. Interestingly the other lights lights do not appear to do the same (though it could just be the mains tester was so faint it was not visible).
I completely unwired the hallway and landing lights at the ceiling roses and both the switches (2 way, top and bottom of stairs) so they were completly isolated and using a battery operated circuit tester, there were no problems between any of the cables running from the switches to the roses or between the switches. ie, I tested on every cable, live to earth, neutral to earth, live to earth. all fine none of them completed a circuit.
However at the ceiling rose, the incoming loop feed, from the direction of the consumer unit, returned a completed circuit if I tested neutral to earth - circuit obviously isolated by the MCB at this stage. This problem traces all the way back to the consumer unit. ie. If I completely unwire the first rose in the circuit - the remaining roses in the circuit test ok - no apparent faults. But the incoming loop feed from the CU tests positive across neutral and earth. This is the same upstairs as well as down.
Am I right in thinking that testing across neutral & earth in the feed from the CU should not give me a compete circuit.
Am I right in also understanding that if neutral and earth is breached, as it seems, this will then affect every other circuit in the house given that at the CU all the earths are together and all the neutrals are together.
Does this also mean that the fault might not be in the light circuit at all and could be in any of the other circuits ?
Thanks,
G
PS. sorry that was a little long.
However (before I'd hung the new lights) I noticed when the landing light was switched on, the earth returned positive when I tested it with a mains testing screwdriver. Very very faint, but the bulb in the tester was definitely on.
A quick reccy round the other light switches upstairs, I've found one other that seems to do the same in one of the bedrooms. ie. very faint glow on the mains tester against the earth when switched on. Interestingly the other lights lights do not appear to do the same (though it could just be the mains tester was so faint it was not visible).
I completely unwired the hallway and landing lights at the ceiling roses and both the switches (2 way, top and bottom of stairs) so they were completly isolated and using a battery operated circuit tester, there were no problems between any of the cables running from the switches to the roses or between the switches. ie, I tested on every cable, live to earth, neutral to earth, live to earth. all fine none of them completed a circuit.
However at the ceiling rose, the incoming loop feed, from the direction of the consumer unit, returned a completed circuit if I tested neutral to earth - circuit obviously isolated by the MCB at this stage. This problem traces all the way back to the consumer unit. ie. If I completely unwire the first rose in the circuit - the remaining roses in the circuit test ok - no apparent faults. But the incoming loop feed from the CU tests positive across neutral and earth. This is the same upstairs as well as down.
Am I right in thinking that testing across neutral & earth in the feed from the CU should not give me a compete circuit.
Am I right in also understanding that if neutral and earth is breached, as it seems, this will then affect every other circuit in the house given that at the CU all the earths are together and all the neutrals are together.
Does this also mean that the fault might not be in the light circuit at all and could be in any of the other circuits ?
Thanks,
G
PS. sorry that was a little long.