two lights upstairs just stopped working??????? HELP ASAP

[gillsboy2010]

two of my lights have just stopped working,I have four lights two bedrooms are ok,but the landing light is not working or the bathroom,fuse box ok,tested the wiring its getting power,tried different bulbs but nothing,the landing light can be turned on downstairs but it will not work on that switch either,like i say there is power getting to the fitting,and touching the terminals in the light fittings,one is live the other is not(presume that must be neutral)the bathroom light terminals where the bulb fits in are both showing live on my tester is that norml???

hope you can help?

pete

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

What have you used to test for voltage?
If a neon screwdriver, they are unreliable and should use an approved voltage tester!
The fact that two lights have failed, would normally point out that the loop of either live or/and neutral have lost continuity.
Do these lights run of transformers?
How many cables are at the ceiling entry point and are there any accessible junction above?

 

[gillsboy2010]

thanks for getting back to me,uptp my arms in decorating so bit late replying,could help without the electrics playing up now,i borrowed a test stick looks like a large pen,goes red and buzzs when its live,dont have a meter with a reading,dont think there are any transformers,i have a loft conversion,not sure how to access any cables if needs must,my loft lights are on my downstairs light circuit as far as i know,makes sense in away so if the landing lights go you can still see in loft going off subject now abit.I will break some plaster around the lights and try see if there are any obvious cable probs,and will let you know how many cables there are,cheers

 

[gillsboy2010]

thanks for getting back to me,uptp my arms in decorating so bit late replying,could help without the electrics playing up now,i borrowed a test stick looks like a large pen,goes red and buzzs when its live,dont have a meter with a reading,dont think there are any transformers,i have a loft conversion,not sure how to access any cables if needs must,my loft lights are on my downstairs light circuit as far as i know,makes sense in away so if the landing lights go you can still see in loft going off subject now abit.I will break some plaster around the lights and try see if there are any obvious cable probs,and will let you know how many cables there are,cheers

 

[gillsboy2010]

thanks for getting back to me,uptp my arms in decorating so bit late replying,could help without the electrics playing up now,i borrowed a test stick looks like a large pen,goes red and buzzs when its live,dont have a meter with a reading,dont think there are any transformers,i have a loft conversion,not sure how to access any cables if needs must,my loft lights are on my downstairs light circuit as far as i know,makes sense in away so if the landing lights go you can still see in loft going off subject now abit.I will break some plaster around the lights and try see if there are any obvious cable probs,and will let you know how many cables there are,cheers

 

[gillsboy2010]

thanks for getting back to me,uptp my arms in decorating so bit late replying,could help without the electrics playing up now,i borrowed a test stick looks like a large pen,goes red and buzzs when its live,dont have a meter with a reading,dont think there are any transformers,i have a loft conversion,not sure how to access any cables if needs must,my loft lights are on my downstairs light circuit as far as i know,makes sense in away so if the landing lights go you can still see in loft going off subject now abit.I will break some plaster around the lights and try see if there are any obvious cable probs,and will let you know how many cables there are,cheers

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Before you break in to plaster work, get at least a multi-meter to test the circuit correctly, also look for loose connection at both ceiling and switch connections. Purchasing a multi-meter will cost less than the remedial work to ceiling and will with the correct testing procedures, give you a better ideal of what your fault is.

 

[flyingsparks]

Decorating?!? Perhaps you have removed any switches or light fittings where wires could have been dislodged?

 

[securespark]

Yup. Both sides lighting up with a volt stick could indicate a broken neutral.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

A multimeter, at least, is an essential tool to have if you want to work on your electrics. It is just as important to have that correct tool as it is to have screwdrivers to use on screws instead of the point of a vegetable knife, wirecutters to use instead of nail scissors, wirestrippers to use instead of teeth, and so on.

Neon screwdrivers are questionable from a safety POV as they use your body as a current path, and they are desperately unreliable - to safely check for voltage you must use a 2-pole tester, such as a proper voltage indicator or a multimeter.



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.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

as i have posted recently that two of my upstairs lights have stopped working,the feed back i have had suggest a possible neutral problem,as i said also i have been decorating aswell,the two lghts not working were not where i was decorating,the bedroom i was working in the light works,i have not checked the wiring in the two bedrooms where the lghts work,can anybody explain how a loose neutral,if that is the problem on say a bedroom light would effect the two lights not working,and if this is the case why would the bedroom lights still work if that was where the loose neutral was??????

1) Please continue a topic in the one you started it in rather than start new ones.

2) //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting