STWNFI has what I believe is called a "Mother and Child" reading light.
She recently complained that it was messing about, going off with no
warning and not dimming properly.
I assumed the dimmers were the cause of the problem because at some
settings they worked.
We have a second one in our holiday let, so as no one is in there this
month I brought it round plugged it in and she was happy.

Two days later she complained the same was happening. Whilst playing
around with the dimmers thinking they were the fault again I heard a
crackling sound from the area of the socket behind a book case where the
extension lead used for these was plugged in.

Once I shifted the bookcase and removed the plug from the extension the
problem was obviously loose connections, all three screws hadn't ever
been tightened enough to even touch the wires, and the areas around them
were black.

Due to the inaccessibility of the socket this shop bought extension had
been there for several years but only now caused a problem. If it hadn't
been for the crackling noise I would be trying to replace the dimmers as
the lights worked fine with them on some settings. Strangely full power
worked better than reduced settings

Mike

Probably welded it up a bit.
I'd not actually suggest it was never tightened. I've seen these things
just get loose due to collapse of the wire itself into a flat squashed lump.
Brian

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"Muddymike" wrote in message
o.uk...
STWNFI has what I believe is called a "Mother and Child" reading light.
She recently complained that it was messing about, going off with no
warning and not dimming properly.
I assumed the dimmers were the cause of the problem because at some
settings they worked.
We have a second one in our holiday let, so as no one is in there this
month I brought it round plugged it in and she was happy.

Two days later she complained the same was happening. Whilst playing
around with the dimmers thinking they were the fault again I heard a
crackling sound from the area of the socket behind a book case where the
extension lead used for these was plugged in.

Once I shifted the bookcase and removed the plug from the extension the
problem was obviously loose connections, all three screws hadn't ever been
tightened enough to even touch the wires, and the areas around them were
black.

Due to the inaccessibility of the socket this shop bought extension had
been there for several years but only now caused a problem. If it hadn't
been for the crackling noise I would be trying to replace the dimmers as
the lights worked fine with them on some settings. Strangely full power
worked better than reduced settings

Mike

Brian Gaff was thinking very hard :
Probably welded it up a bit.
I'd not actually suggest it was never tightened. I've seen these things just
get loose due to collapse of the wire itself into a flat squashed lump.

Especially true, where the wire end has been tinned for ease of
assembly.

On 20/11/2017 18:24, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Brian Gaff was thinking very hard :
Probably welded it up a bit.
*I'd not actually suggest it was never tightened. I've seen these
things just get loose due to collapse of the wire itself into a flat
squashed lump.

Especially true, where the wire end has been tinned for ease of assembly.

Isn't that against some law or regulation?

--
Max Demian

replying to Muddymike, Iggy wrote:
Lucky find indeed and I'm glad it worked out so well...assuming you tightened
everything up. Actually though, the full power setting working best isn't
strange. Electricity acts like a magnet with connections and will make a
secure path with a higher demand.

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy...g-1251409-.htm

On 20/11/2017 18:24, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Brian Gaff was thinking very hard :
Probably welded it up a bit.
*I'd not actually suggest it was never tightened. I've seen these
things just get loose due to collapse of the wire itself into a flat
squashed lump.

Especially true, where the wire end has been tinned for ease of assembly.

Interesting. The wire ends were indeed tinned. I replaced the plug and
ensured all was tight.

Mike

Max Demian formulated on Monday :
On 20/11/2017 18:24, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Brian Gaff was thinking very hard :
Probably welded it up a bit.
*I'd not actually suggest it was never tightened. I've seen these things
just get loose due to collapse of the wire itself into a flat squashed
lump.

Especially true, where the wire end has been tinned for ease of assembly.

Isn't that against some law or regulation?

It ought to be, but not that I am aware. The tinning causes lots of
problems, such as the OP reported. The terminal is tightened on the
solder, the solder then creeps out of the way of the screw over time,
pressure and temperature, leaving it loose and a poor oxidised
connection.