Hi

I am completing a project started before Part P came in with the
consent of my planning officer.

I have extended my upstairs lighting circuit by a couple of fittings
in the loft.

Workmen have been in and out and when I came back home today I found
none of the lights work.

The RCB hasn't tripped.

There is power (according to my detector) running through all lighting
supply cables and flex. That is true when switches are turned on and -
this is the weird bit - is also true when the switches are turned off.

i.e. the circuit seems to be in a permanent stat eon 'on', although no
bulbs light up.

Any ideas - I have disconnected everythign I can think of one by one
and still the problem persists!

Cheers

Rob

wrote:

I have extended my upstairs lighting circuit by a couple of fittings
in the loft.
Workmen have been in and out and when I came back home today I found
none of the lights work.
The RCB hasn't tripped.
There is power (according to my detector) running through all lighting
supply cables and flex. That is true when switches are turned on and -
this is the weird bit - is also true when the switches are turned off.

Lighting circuits can be hard to find the cause of a fault, as they are
all connected together, with a spaghetti mix of wires in each light
fitting.There is (on many circuits) a live feed to the fitting, whether
the switch is on or off.

I think I'd start by going round each switch, and testing for voltage at
the switch with a multimeter.
When you find one with no voltage, then the fault will lie with either
that fitting, or, the previous or next one along. You'll need to trace
which route the wires take to see which way they run.
It is likely to be 1 or 2 wires that have come loose inside either a
light fitting, or a junction box.

Also, you dont sound too clued up about lighting circuits, so maybe you
should get someone in to sort it for you, rather than risking a shock?
Alan.

--
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wrote in message
...
Hi

I am completing a project started before Part P came in with the
consent of my planning officer.

I have extended my upstairs lighting circuit by a couple of fittings
in the loft.

Workmen have been in and out and when I came back home today I found
none of the lights work.

What happens if you disconnect your extentions?


The RCB hasn't tripped.

There is power (according to my detector) running through all lighting
supply cables and flex. That is true when switches are turned on and -
this is the weird bit - is also true when the switches are turned off.

i.e. the circuit seems to be in a permanent stat eon 'on', although no
bulbs light up.

Any ideas - I have disconnected everythign I can think of one by one
and still the problem persists!

You can't diagnose faults using a voltage stick.
But at a guess.. no neutral, look for a damaged cable between the fuse box
and the first none working light.

On Fri, 9 May 2008 13:11:48 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

I am completing a project started before Part P came in with the
consent of my planning officer.

I still have unfinished projects from ca. 18 years ago... :-)

Mustn't rush these things.

I have extended my upstairs lighting circuit by a couple of fittings
in the loft.

Workmen have been in and out and when I came back home today I found
none of the lights work.

The RCB hasn't tripped.

There is power (according to my detector) running through all lighting
supply cables and flex.

What's your 'detector'? If you mean, for example, a neon screwdriver,
that can be very misleading unless you can interpret a full glow as
opposed to a mere glimmer. Also, a neon only looks for the 'line'
(live) side of the circuit - you may have a fault in the neutral.

That is true when switches are turned on and -
this is the weird bit - is also true when the switches are turned off.

i.e. the circuit seems to be in a permanent stat eon 'on', although no
bulbs light up.

Check the neutrals...

--
Frank Erskine

Frank Erskine wrote:
On Fri, 9 May 2008 13:11:48 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

I am completing a project started before Part P came in with the
consent of my planning officer.

I still have unfinished projects from ca. 18 years ago... :-)

Mustn't rush these things.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the system, the Part P rules specified
an amnesty of ISTR 6 months for projects underway when the new regs came
in - so any exemption on that score is long gone I'm afraid!

David