Hi all,
got a strange situation at home:
the upstairs lighting ring is off (no lights works), but the circuit
breaker covering that ring is still on (all the circuit breakers are
still closed).

We're in a 12 yr old conventional house, and had our fuse box moved
about 9 months ago. We have no other electrical problems - to my
knowledge.

My wife replaced a bulb the bathroom last night, after which the
lights worked fine. This morning the lights just "went off".

Hey, I'm stumped.

Any suggestions?

Ian.

On 8 Mar 2007 22:54:49 -0800 someone who may be "IanMayo"
wrote this:-

the upstairs lighting ring is off (no lights works),

I very much doubt if your lighting circuit is a ring.

but the circuit
breaker covering that ring is still on (all the circuit breakers are
still closed).

Then there is likely to be a broken conductor somewhere between the
circuit breaker and the first light on the circuit.

My wife replaced a bulb the bathroom last night, after which the
lights worked fine. This morning the lights just "went off".

Then the broken conductor may be a joint in the light fitting. It
may have been pushed together by inserting the bulb and then come
apart.

First turn off the whole installation at the main switch, not the
circuit breaker. Then check the light fitting for broken wires.





--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

In article . com,
IanMayo wrote:

We're in a 12 yr old conventional house, and had our fuse box
moved about 9 months ago. We have no other electrical problems -
to my knowledge.

My wife replaced a bulb the bathroom last night, after which the
lights worked fine. This morning the lights just "went off".

Since the consumer unit is the most recent
change then this could be the initial suspect.

Turn off the supply to the consumer unit. Then
have a look at the wiring to that circuit breaker.
Can any screws be tightened down, or is there any
sign of burning? Check the Neutral connections as
well. Then exercise the circuit breaker a few times.

Whilst you are there run along all connections and
check the screws for tightness.

--
Tony Williams.

In article . com,
IanMayo wrote:
got a strange situation at home:
the upstairs lighting ring is off (no lights works), but the circuit
breaker covering that ring is still on (all the circuit breakers are
still closed).

We're in a 12 yr old conventional house, and had our fuse box moved
about 9 months ago. We have no other electrical problems - to my
knowledge.

I'd say then the likely cause is poor workmanship when the CU was moved -
either a loose or broken connection at the MCB or bussbar, or perhaps
where the circuit was extended if indeed it was.

--
*Sticks and stones may break my bones but whips and chains excite me*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

IanMayo wrote:

got a strange situation at home:
the upstairs lighting ring is off (no lights works), but the circuit
breaker covering that ring is still on (all the circuit breakers are
still closed).

One other thing to check is that the circuit breaker is actually working
correctly. I have found some in the past that don't seem to switch on
electrically every time you turn them on mechanically.

We're in a 12 yr old conventional house, and had our fuse box moved
about 9 months ago. We have no other electrical problems - to my
knowledge.

My wife replaced a bulb the bathroom last night, after which the
lights worked fine. This morning the lights just "went off".

How close is the bathroom to the CU? Is it likely that it is the first
light on the circuit? If so, you probably have a loose connection.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
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|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message . com,
IanMayo writes
Hi all,
got a strange situation at home:
the upstairs lighting ring is off (no lights works), but the circuit
breaker covering that ring is still on (all the circuit breakers are
still closed).

We're in a 12 yr old conventional house, and had our fuse box moved
about 9 months ago. We have no other electrical problems - to my
knowledge.

My wife replaced a bulb the bathroom last night, after which the lights
worked fine. This morning the lights just "went off".


How far was the fuse box moved. Is there a big joint box for all the
original wires as a result or was it only moved slightly?

It could be one of the following:-

Bad breaker. Rare but worth checking.
Loose wire in breaker.
Bad joint from when consumer unit was moved.
Detached or broken wire in ceiling rose. Suspect the one associated
with the lamp change.

When investigating these things turn the whole consumer unit off and
remember that live connections will still be present at the main
isolators.

This is the sort of fault that it would be handy to test for with a set
of suitable test lamps, however, that would involve poking in amongst
live connections and isn't recommended for anyone not well experienced
in electrical work.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

On 9 Mar, 06:54, "IanMayo" wrote:

the upstairs lighting ring is off (no lights works), but the circuit
breaker covering that ring is still on

Your lights are on a ring?

Are _any_ of the breakers off? If so, then the lights might not be on
the circuit you expected (Anyone else with added en-suite shower-
rooms entirely powered by the shower circuit?)

Otherwise it's likely to be a simple failure in something, somewhere.
Fix it, or have it fixed. Normal diagnostic rules apply.

Hi all,
here's an update/additional info:

- the bathroom isn't directly above the CU - it's about 8 foot along.
The room directly above the CU is a shower room. We've just realised
that this light still works - and we've checked it's on the same
circuit (the light goes off when breaker open). Last autumn the
wiring for this light appeared "fragile" while we were re-securing the
light fitting. So my current favourite guess is that this has gone
tits-up, and inspection of it will reveal the problem.

I'll keep you all informed.