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J4B: Is it still working?
Sensor / security light
- Thread starter Jam4brains
- Start date
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Sorry for delay! ....busy day yesterday!
I think there probably is a loose connection, but I can't for the life of me find it!
The problem is that it's nearly impossible to get inside the Bakelite to check properly. .....it's not got a screw. It's more of an eyelet fixing that cant be undone. If I break it open I won't be able to close it together again! (have you ever taken one to bits?)
They don't make these things repairable anymore do they!? .....if they didn't make stuff disposable we would have a massive unemployment problem, so they are designed only to last a short while! The problem is that I've got war-time parents and I've been bought up not to throw things away unless I absolutely have to!
. It took me hours in the end to fix it, and I could have bought a new one for under £10 so it wasn't cost effective, ....but it did keep it out of the landfill We only have a 5m x 3.5m enclosed garden, so we just need something that I can switch on when I get the washing in in the half light, or go out to feed the rabbits late! .....or not so late as the evenings are drawing in!
Anyway, it's still working so far, so many thanks for all your help with it! I repair lots of stuff but I hadn't come across two white wires before. ....Usually the live is brown and the neutral blue, so that's why I got stuck at the first hurdle! ...I put a bit of blue electrical tape on the neutral one, so I didn't forget which was which while I was wiring it back in up the ladder!!
.....genius for an Essex girl eh?! 
Well done!
PS My Mum was an Essex girl (Elm Park) & I was born in Romford
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Excellent stuff!
But I don't understand about the bakelite that you can't get into...which bit is this?
But I don't understand about the bakelite that you can't get into...which bit is this?
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Well done!
PS My Mum was an Essex girl (Elm Park) & I was born in Romford
....thank you! My dad had two jobs! 25 years in the army and 25 years at fords in dagenham!! ....I had a boyfriend from elm park a long time ago!
I don't want to worry you but I think I might be stalking you!!
... My niece lives in romford, AND....We moved out to Oxfordshire for 16 years and came back last year when my dad had a stroke! .....they are both old and knackered now, and I was spending too many hours on the M40/M25 sorting them out!! 
Im in romford, if you get stuck pm me and i will sort out a light you can have free of charge
If the connections are gone there is usually a centre screw behind the silver foil bit that releases the lamp holder completely including the bakelite bits and the two white wires.
The wires are usually crimped on due to the heat and design of the end things
Incidently the white wires on that fitting can be either polarity as the universal lamp can be fitted either way round.
although marking was a good idea if you werent aware so well done
If the connections are gone there is usually a centre screw behind the silver foil bit that releases the lamp holder completely including the bakelite bits and the two white wires.
The wires are usually crimped on due to the heat and design of the end things
Incidently the white wires on that fitting can be either polarity as the universal lamp can be fitted either way round.
although marking was a good idea if you werent aware so well done
The other ends of the white wires are hidden in some Bakelite.....it's shaped like this ....{ but larger and chunkier! ....and the wires join the terminals at either end of the bulb. ....but the terminals are hidden inside the Bakelite so you can't get to them!
Does that make sense? I will try explaining it another way!
....If this is the shape of the Bakelite { the terminals are at the furthest points of this shape, ....and the bulb spans across these points!?! You know that this is where the ends of the white wires are, ....but you can't see them, nor can you tighten them! Hmmm, I think I might need more practise at this if you want the terminology right!?!
... Or I could take it down again and send you a picture!!
Are you are talking about the two bits at each end where the lamp fits in??
The white end bits are probably ceramic and there "shouldn't" be anything to go wrong there except for the sprung contacts. There will be probs if these are not clean, or if the spring doesn't work properly.
The white end bits are probably ceramic and there "shouldn't" be anything to go wrong there except for the sprung contacts. There will be probs if these are not clean, or if the spring doesn't work properly.
he will know what you mean, the two shrouds that go round the two Nipple contacts, the white wires use ring crimps to join to them, they are generally not repairable
http://www.maplin.co.uk/linear-halo..._campaign=GC47B&utm_content=Mains+Lampholders
http://www.maplin.co.uk/linear-halo..._campaign=GC47B&utm_content=Mains+Lampholders
he will know what you mean, the two shrouds that go round the two Nipple contacts, the white wires use ring crimps to join to them, they are generally not repairable
http://www.maplin.co.uk/linear-halo...n=GC47B&utm_content=Mains+Lampholders[/QUOTE]
That's just what I was trying to say!
If you want to fiddle with your electrics you need one.
This looks ideal for a household starter set - multimeter, voltage indicator and dedicated continuity tester, all in a handy case: http://www.amprobe.eu/de_DE/showproduct/115/Junior-Set/
PDF brochure: http://www.amprobe.eu/de_DE/downloadfile/115/beschreibung_1/
All in German, unfortunately, as is the blurb on each product:
Multimeter: http://www.amprobe.eu/de_DE/showproductdata/487/Hexagon_55/
Voltage indicator: http://www.amprobe.eu/de_DE/showproduct/116/2000_α_(alpha)/
Continuity tester: http://www.amprobe.eu/de_DE/showproduct/481/TESTFIX/
but it is sold in the UK - the company is now owned by Fluke, and I guess they haven't got all the websites sorted out yet - contact them (http://www.fluke.co.uk) for info on where to buy.
Right now the English specs are still lurking on the Internet Time Machine from when Beha was an independent company:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060920022629/http://www.beha.com/files_uk/multimeter/93549.pdf
Also see another discussion here: //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26282 It's a few years old, so specific model number advice may be obsolete (and prices will be higher), but the generic advice is still sound.
Well that's really nice of you to look all that out for me! ....thank you
As luck would have it, we lived in Germany (many years ago...British forces and all that), and I went to a German kindergarten! I came back to the uk bi lingual! ....better at German than English for some years afterwards!
I've just had a look, and it all seems pretty straightforward! but the bits I couldnt quite get I will ask my eldest son later! ....he's done 'A' level German!! Looks like a useful addition to my tool kit!
....thanks again!DIYnot Local
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