Electric advice urgently required

[morrisminordriver]

Hi, my kitchen lights have suddenly stopped working, it’s not the bulbs and the fuse hasn’t tripped. I live in a fair remote part of Cornwall and can’t get an electrician to look at it. I’d be grateful for any suggestions as to what might be the cause, I’d really like to have the lights working to cook Xmas dinner!
Cheers Mike

 

[Transit80]

Are they 12 volt or 240 volt??. what sort of lights are they??,can you put some photos up??

 

[Myfordman]

Are all the affected lights on a single switch? if so bypass that to test for a faulty switch

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

Are they 12 volt or 240 volt??. what sort of lights are they??

Since it's morrisminordriver asking it's probably 6V.
Oops! This is Joke thread III isn't it?

 

[flying haggis]

Switches do fail. Have you got a multimeter, and could you use it to test for volts at the supply side of the switch? As myfordmam suggested bypass the switch temporari!y.

 

[niall Y]

A break in the wire somewhere? Have you looked for all the 'bleeding obvious' things? I had kitchen customer complain that the lights would not turn on, at the wall switch - it turned out that her son had turned off all the lamps, individually, using the small switch on each of the units.

Edit - Just had a though re 'bleeding obvious' if they are connected in series , one of the cables might have become unplugged

 

[Spectric]

What type of lighting, what type of switch, how many on the circuit, rating of the protective device, age of installation, do all the other lights work in the property, do you actually have power to other circuits ? If you only have one bulb then have you tried changing it or trying it elsewhere ? Then you say the fuse has not tripped, if it is a fuse then change it unless you have the means to test or if it is an mcb turn it off and back on to ensure it is ok.

 

[Jameshow]

If low voltage it could be the transformers?!

Do you have any standing lights you could use?

 

[morrisminordriver]

Thanks for showing interest folks.
These are the lights, there are two other lots of lights, one lit under the wall cabinets and some on the outer edge of the ceiling. The faulty lights turn on by the centre switch on the wall switch, there’s no other way of turning them on/off. It’s a domestic electrical circuit so I guess they’re 240v.

 

[Myfordman]

This is like drawing teeth. If the middle switch operates the faulty lights the just use the other two for now

 

[profchris]

A simple 5 minute check you can do yourself:

Turn off power, unscrew switch plate, check that all connections at the back are screwed tight. Sometimes they work loose.

Beyond that it's hard to advise at a distance, bur if you can check the light fittings for loose connections then do that too.

 

[morrisminordriver]

Thank you all gif your comments.
Sorry it was like pulling teeth, as a pensioner I no longer have the confidence nor the gumption to do / manage things I used to in years gone by.
I hope you all have a happy Xmas.

 

[Ozi]

If the good advice above fails. This may be pure coincidence but I have had several middle switches fail on 3 gang plates, don't know if they get hotter or bounced about by the outer ones, maybe utter rubbish but does the middle switch feel the same as the others? If your careful as we are not allowed to work on electricity in our own kitchens any more you could try swapping the wiring over from the mid to a working switch and see if thats the problem

 

[Jameshow]

Where is our man in Devon? can you not pop over the Tamar with your digger and help out?

 

[Bingy man]

A very common fault with lighting is the installer has had 5 weatabix and over tightened the cables- eventually they just fracture and lights stop working, it’s as already mentioned a faulty switch or loose / damaged cable . Assuming no other work has been done ( drilling or screwing any fixings into walls) are you covered under any insurance or maintenance contracts . As a pensioner some organisations will help you to get sorted . Good look and merry Christmas to you

 

[XTiffy]

Morrisminordriver, I spent the first year of my RN Apprenticeship in Torpoint (HMS Fisgard) almost 60 years ago. In our ex-apprentices Association we do have members in your area. I will see if I can find one who might be prepared to help.
For the moment some more details would help. You mention other kitchen lights, I take it that they work? From your photo it is a hanging light fixture that doesn't light, which only leaves the switch feed to the fixture. i.e the switch itself being faulty or one of the connections to the switch being loose/broken. The next possibility is the feed at the actual light fitting itself. It is less likely that the cable run to the light fitting is damaged as that would trip a circuit breaker (mcb). Look for loose/broken connections at switch and at the fitting. As your fittings seem modern I am assuming your "fuseboard" is also modern, not the old rewirable fuse type. Meanwhile I will try to find a member of our association nearby, need to contact a friend in the Plymouth area who knows who lives in Torpoint area.

 

[Seascaper]

Hi, my kitchen lights have suddenly stopped working, it’s not the bulbs and the fuse hasn’t tripped. I live in a fair remote part of Cornwall and can’t get an electrician to look at it. I’d be grateful for any suggestions as to what might be the cause, I’d really like to have the lights working to cook Xmas dinner!
Cheers Mike

Hello,
Start by checking the fuse box, if you have a modern fuse box with mcb switches they will all be in the down on position. You may have a separate unit for kitchen lights. Check this is not in the up/off position, if a light has blown it often causes the mcb to trip. Depending on how your fuse box is set up you might have as well as the main breaker an additional breaker set up for the bathroom or outside electrics. Check this has not tripped, it will be in the up/off position. Once you have checked everything is in the down / on post check that the trip switches are working. Push the small black square on the test button. They should trip off, test this to off and then put everything on.
Next examine visually the lightbulbs, if one has blown and is a sealed unit it could have exploded and damaged the fitting as some bulbs get very hot.
Next go to wall switch with a mains testing screwdriver.
Firstly check with your screwdriver for a loose wire, check with your screwdriver that the screws are not live, if your screwdriver lights up with your finger on it is live.
Turn off your kitchen light circuit at the fuse box.
Remove the cover from your light switch.
Pull it away from the wall so that you can see wires are all in place.
Then if all seems to be in place with your screwdriver check that the brass screws are correctly tightened down.
Once you have inspected and tightened these connections go to fuse box put power back on and test the switch circuit with your mains screwdriver. With the power on and the switch on the light on your screwdriver will light up with your finger on the end of screwdriver.
If nothing happens you have a break in the circuit somewhere.
Refasten light switch.
Regards

 

[pe2dave]

Not overly expensive, pro tem, replace the 3 gang switch, Screwfix have them for a tenner, plus a fiver delivery, if it is important to you.

 

[HamsterJam]

Can you remove a bulb from the faulty fitting and read the numbers off the side for us please?
I could be they are 12v with a transformer in the part of the fitting attached to the ceiling and that transformer has failed. I think I can see some numbers on the fitting by the ceiling, a photo of those might help too.
Sounds to me like a faulty switch, wiring or fitting and you’ll have to do some detective work to work out which.

 

[Titan_uk]

HI Morrisminordriver, checking the switch is obviously the easiest thing to do but I notice what looks like a transformer at the top of the light bar holding the pendants. depending on the quality (b & q's are rubbish), i'd suspect that transformer and if blown can be bypassed with a 3rd party one or replace the lights