Upstairs light circuit all down - MCB not tripped

[rich 556]

Power down board .
Remove circuit from distribution board for lights .
Once you have the the 3 tails TEST THEY ARE DEAD
ONCE HAPPY put your red and black together with a connector block.

GO to the first rose you think is fed from the box use the ohm scale on the meter and see if you get a continuity (beep if fitted ) reading on any pair tails in the rose if you can't find continuity on any rose between red black in the roses any were the fault is in the feed cable to the box either at the box or the cable to the rose first hit... Repeat at all roses first
If that fails try the red and green together at the box do the same you should now get a reading on the first rose thought first hit.
REMOVE one red feed NOT FITTING wire at a time in the rose till your left with one still working

Go to all other roses see if you get a read on any of them if so you repeat till last red feed tail you get a reading on meter in all roses this should be the feed from the box . Then it's a matter of tracking the black brake in the cable circuit forward ....

At this point reconnect the red +black wires together at box tails and re test the tail in rose you had the last know red ... you may now not get a reading this cable is the one that's down .
If you do recheck all roses red black feeds for a continuity. If all rest now reading with black wire refitted ,the problem was in the rose as should read on other blacks in that rose
All been well by you have spotted a problem before you get to last part in the rose and not needing to rewire as the fault was in the rose .
Now reconnect every thing test each rose but in reverse should now get continuity on every fitting on you meter


YOUR NOT WORKING ON ANY LIVE WIRE AND SAFE as its isolated from the box

 

[rich 556]

IF its not in the main box..
Odds are you will come straight to the feed cable with the red and black linked find them tails in the rose it hits you'll see the problem straight off and it'll be a lose wire broken wire tail end..

 

[EFLImpudence]

Tails is the term used for the single cables from the meter to the consumer unit.

The rose only has wires/conductors connected to it.


Your posts are difficult enough to follow without using the wrong words.




After seven pages of trying to correct a faulty lighting circuit including visits from three electricians, I fear we're fighting a losing battle.

 

[333rocky333]

Power down board .
Remove circuit from distribution board for lights .
Once you have the the 3 tails TEST THEY ARE DEAD
ONCE HAPPY put your red and black together with a connector block.

GO to the first rose you think is fed from the box use the ohm scale on the meter and see if you get a continuity (beep if fitted ) reading on any pair tails in the rose if you can't find continuity on any rose between red black in the roses any were the fault is in the feed cable to the box either at the box or the cable to the rose first hit... Repeat at all roses first
If that fails try the red and green together at the box do the same you should now get a reading on the first rose thought first hit.
REMOVE one red feed NOT FITTING wire at a time in the rose till your left with one still working

Go to all other roses see if you get a read on any of them if so you repeat till last red feed tail you get a reading on meter in all roses this should be the feed from the box . Then it's a matter of tracking the black brake in the cable circuit forward ....

At this point reconnect the red +black wires together at box tails and re test the tail in rose you had the last know red ... you may now not get a reading this cable is the one that's down .
If you do recheck all roses red black feeds for a continuity. If all rest now reading with black wire refitted ,the problem was in the rose as should read on other blacks in that rose
All been well by you have spotted a problem before you get to last part in the rose and not needing to rewire as the fault was in the rose .
Now reconnect every thing test each rose but in reverse should now get continuity on every fitting on you meter


YOUR NOT WORKING ON ANY LIVE WIRE AND SAFE as its isolated from the box

Do you really think he should be delving into the consumer unit.

surely you will get a continuity bleep on more than 1 pair due to the lamps fans and whatever else still connected across live and neutral

 

[securespark]

EFLI

Now hold on there a cotton-pickin' minute, pardner!

Do you think in his darkest hour, Churchill had such thoughts? (No, no, no, no, no!)

We will fight this problem on the beaches, we shall fight it on the landing grounds, we shall fight it in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight it in the hills; we shall never surrender until this electrical fault is found and eradicated.

 

[terryplumb]

securespark ...he didn't say owt about lofts and seas of insulation and 30 c temperatures , there's been that many sparks up there its a wonder ignition hasn't taken place.!!!!

 

[azibux1]

It's been very live today, hasn't it?

^^^^ This amused me so much more than it should have!

WE HAVE GOOD NEWS! Electrician friend number 3 has located the issue! There appears to be a break in the cable between the first light and CU - due to be repaired tomorrow!

Hopefully the replacement isn't too tricky to chase through the wall etc

 

[securespark]

Good stuff!

 

[aptsys]

Probably a nail through the wire for that picture you just put up eh?

 

[azibux1]

Probably a nail through the wire for that picture you just put up eh?

Considering I haven't put any pictures up, I imagine not Genuinely can't think of any DIY / drilling / electrics work that has been done for months. Only thing is the wire passes down a wall in a straight line to the CU from the room above. This room hasn't been used for a while but has been in use for the past 3 weeks or so... but considering it is straight down I don't think the wire should be near the floorboards as such to have been affected by any weight. Shall see for sure when we get the hole cutter out which the electrician is bringing today

Interested to see myself what it may be when we get the wire out. Got the rat poison at the ready!

 

[bernardgreen]

Got the rat poison at the ready!

Thats a bit harsh, the electrician will no doubt do his best

 

[JohnW2]

Interested to see myself what it may be when we get the wire out.

Indeed -please let us know.

Got the rat poison at the ready!

You may possibly need it ....

Kind Regards, John

 

[EAST61]

Honestly I don't think you've had enough sparkies in, best to get a fifth opinion just in case.

 

[azibux1]

So there was a complete break in the cable across all three cores, and it looked a bit burnt. Only thing visible nearby was a protruding nail holding the skirting board... Which was fitted over 5 years ago

So a very strange one indeed!

 

[deadshort]

That's the reason we recommend having your electrical installation inspected and tested every 5 years. You were very fortunate it did not cause a fire. Well done with your own attempts to locate the fault

DS