Wired New Light and Switch Not Working

[joebooooy]

Hey there, I've recently taken the old tube lights down from the garage and bought a replacement standard light socket and switch, along with some mains lighting 1mm2 twin and earth cable.

I wired up the light socket as I always have (it was the same way the back of the packet suggests) and ran the wire from the switch to the light and wired that up accordingly.

When I turn the switch on there is power going to the light socket (tested with my curcuit testing screwdriver) and when I switch that light off that power subsides as you would expect for a light. The only problem is, the light isnt actually going on. :s

The bulb is working, and the light previously in the garage (exactly the same mains cable from the ceiling) worked prior to swapping it for a more modern fitting.

Any advice would be really helpful as I want to get the light working before my other half gets home!

Thanks.

 

[Steve]

So basically you're replacing the whole lighting circuit? What sort of fitting have you used?

 

[joebooooy]

Well my garage is connected to the house (via a door to the kitchen) and isnt really a garage, more a storage room until I do the garage conversion in the new year (My project is in the Projects section of this forum).

The lights in the garage are on the same circuit as the main house lights (its only a small house). I am just replacing the old tube light with a new 6" pendant set, and removing the old switch and switch wire (pull switch) with some brand new wire, and a new single switch with a 16mm back box.

 

[Steve]

Was there anything wrong with the tube lights? I guarantee they give a MUCH better light than anything you can put into a pendant socket!

Throw your circuit testing screwdriver away - it is not to be used for testing circuits. Its a toy. Invest in a small cheap multimeter, for less than a tenner, and then you'll see whats really going on at the light fitting.

We might be able to tell you if you open the switch, and tell us what you connected where, maybe show a picture, and the same with the pendant.

 

[joebooooy]

Yeah I figured the true sparkies would tell me to get a multimeter Its one thing I've always meant to pick up when im out but always slips my mind, I'll definately get one this week to check this if I can't fix it.

I do agree they give out alot of light but as our garage is soon to be converted into a studio/dining room, i just wanted to swap them over

Here are two pictures, one of the circuit in diagram form, and the other, the actual pendant wiring.

The left hand wire is the mains cable, and the right with the trailing cable on the ceiling, is the switch wire.

The switch is wired with the switched live from the pendant in the 1 way slot, and the other in the com slot, with the earth being wired to the casing.

 

[plugwash]

is that damaged insulation on the neutral I see in your picture?

 

[joebooooy]

Nah thats a bit of electrical tape that oddly looks like copper!

 

[Lectrician]

It looks correctly wired, if done a little poorly.

It looks like the neutral has been nicked, there is no earth sleeve, no red or brown ident sleeve on the non-neutral blue, only one fixing screw, and the cables enter the rose via the screw holes

If you truley believe you have volts on the far right blue, then you are likely to have a dodgy lampholder connection, or a dodgy neutral supplying the pendent. You need a voltmeter to read volts between the furthest outer most terminals.

 

[joebooooy]

Thanks for you reply! And thank you for pointing out what I've done wrong, I'll remember all that now for when I redo this

If there is insufficent voltage going to the pendant, where would the fault be likely to lie? Or is it to hard to say with out actually being here to check it all out?

Next step, buy a multimeter!

 

[Steve]

Try the lamp (bulb) itself.

 

[joebooooy]

Check. I tried it in another pendant in the lounge and it worked, and also tried the one from the lounge but with no succss

 

[JohnD]

the multimeter will only cost you £10 or so and will be a real help.

Buy some green & Yellow sleeving too.

 

[TicklyT]

Is the wiring of the switch correct? If it is a 1-way switch you have little choice, but if it's a 2-way switch you may have picked up the wrong connections.
There is usually no connection between L1 and L2 with the switch in either position. The usual connections used are Com and L1, or Com and L2.
Some switches do use different labelling conventions.

As already mentioned, induction and capacitance of the cable can give false readings with a neon screwdriver and sometimes with a high impedance multimeter.

At least you can test the circuit whilst it is isolated using a multimeter.

 

[joebooooy]

Its a 1 way switch so yeah the wiring of that is pretty trouble free. I wont be able to know for sure until i get a multimeter, but either way its puzzling!

I'm not sure what could have gone wrong when taking off the old light, to installing this one. Its on the same mains cable, with new light and switch and switch cable.

Aside from buying a duff pendant/switch/wire earlier today which is unlikely, but possible nonetheless, I dont really know where to look to track down the fault outside of those three

 

[fireman22]

check the lamp end of the pendant i have seen the cable pop out before