Please Help ! Strange problem with FUSE ! keeps blowing

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Hello Everyone,

I woke up this morning noticing that the lights on the 1 & 2 floor done work, I knew it would be a fuse problem, I took out the offending fuse and noticed that it had broken.

I have replaced this with a 5AMP fuse, but what I noticed is that after about 45 – 1Hr, it keeps blowing/breaking, I have changed it 3 times now. Before changing it 3 times, I unscrewed the switches which I believe could be dodgy, I looked at them and made sure that all the wires were in the right places.

After opening 3 switches, after every switch open, the I redo the fuse and plug it in, then after 30 – 45 mins it breaks again, now there is not point changing the fuse, as there is clearly a problem somewhere.

One thing is that all the bulbs for these switches are all energy savng bulbs, not sure of that implication this is. Does anyone know any tool I can buy from wickes/B&Q that will point me to the faulty switch/circuit.

As I am lost for ideas now, if I change the fuse it will break again. If I fit a 15 AMP switch for this 5AMP fuse, will this not make it break again ? I have heard it can cause an explosion, but I don’t know what to do now.
 
platforminc said:
Does anyone know any tool I can buy from wickes/B&Q that will point me to the faulty switch/circuit.

Unfortunatly there is no such tool. My job would be much easier if there was :wink:

As I am lost for ideas now, if I change the fuse it will break again. If I fit a 15 AMP switch for this 5AMP fuse, will this not make it break again ? I have heard it can cause an explosion, but I don’t know what to do now.

You must not change the fuse for 15A. If you do there is a real risk of causing a fire.


Have you done anything at all to the lights recently?

Have you done anything in the house?

Have you hung any pictures?
 
RF Lighting said:
platforminc said:
Does anyone know any tool I can buy from wickes/B&Q that will point me to the faulty switch/circuit.

Unfortunatly there is no such tool. My job would be much easier if there was :wink:

As I am lost for ideas now, if I change the fuse it will break again. If I fit a 15 AMP switch for this 5AMP fuse, will this not make it break again ? I have heard it can cause an explosion, but I don’t know what to do now.

You must not change the fuse for 15A. If you do there is a real risk of causing a fire.


Have you done anything at all to the lights recently?

Have you done anything in the house?

Have you hung any pictures?


Hi

Thanks for the reply.
No changes / NO pictures. the only thing that i can think of is that, a bulb went off 4 days ago, and i changed it.

like for like..
 
How old is the wiring in the house?

If you post up a picture of your fuse box and surrounding area we might be able to advise better on a reasonable course of action for you.
 
Does the fuse blow with the lights on or off?

Is it a re-wireable fuse?

Any outside lights on this circuit?

Does the fuse go with a pop, or just blow after a while quietly?
 
Lectrician said:
Does the fuse blow with the lights on or off?

Is it a re-wireable fuse?

Any outside lights on this circuit?

Does the fuse go with a pop, or just blow after a while quietly?

Thanks very much guys, after a bit of fiddling around and also luck as well, I first went to B&Q yesterday morning to get extra fuses and also get some advice as well, what i done was break the first floor circuit into 2, so on the first floor, there is a loop by a lamp holder by a staircase, this loop i believe is what takes light onto a room on the first floor, I disconnected the loop in order to isolate the room, and the fuse has not blown for over 12 hours now, whereas before it would have blown in 30 - 45 mins.

Now, here is the dilemma, the problem I now believe is on the first floor, either with the switch in the room, or just by where the loop is, but now the loop has been disconnected, when i did open the switch for the room on Saturday, I saw that a small section of the wire was naked, i never thought this could be a problem, as the switch has always worked, and as for how the wire got naked, I have no idea.

The wiring in inside the wall, and there is no way someone would have opened up the switch, and made it slightly naked. At the moment, there is no electricity in the room as the loop has been disconnected, what I am thinking of doing is taping up the naked bit with electrical tape.

What do you guys need, and what picture would you need. I also need to make sure that the loop has been wired up correctly, will you guys be able to tell from a picture ?

Thanks all in advance
 
A photo would be the best idea - and then answer the four questions I asked :wink:
 
Lectrician said:
Does the fuse blow with the lights on or off?

Is it a re-wireable fuse?

Any outside lights on this circuit?

Does the fuse go with a pop, or just blow after a while quietly?

Hi

Sorry missed the question, I will put up pictures once i get home today.

Does the fuse blow with the lights on or off, some lights on, but not all lights.

Is it a re-wireable fuse? Yes

Any outside lights on this circuit? No

Does the fuse go with a pop, or just blow after a while quietly? Blows after a while quietly


I think I have found where the problem is, but I cant confirm yet, in the bulb holder in one of the rooms, the wire looks a little bit loose, although I cannot confirm this is where the problem is, but I plan to fix this once I get home later today. Will put the pictures up. Does anyone have a diagram as to how to wire a loop in a bulb holder ?
 

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