View Full Version : Electricians Please Read
I have lived in my rented house since November 2007.Since i have lived here i must have changed bulbs in my living room/dining room lights at least 15 times.Sometimes when they blow they literally fly/explode out of the holder and onto the floor and break.Which is fukkin dangerous,espescially as my 1 year old daughter loves to play on the floor.Is this down to shoddy wiring in the house? Or morrisons cheap bulbs? lol Btw the light in the living room powers 3 bulbs,and the dining area has 5.Its only these in the full house that have ever blown really.Im asking as i want something more to say to my landlord other than "Hi mate the lights are shafted"
Any help/advice is always appreciated.
Tidy Max
27-02-09, 03:53 PM
go to your circuit board in your house, have a look what rating the circuit breaker for that circuit it, if you dont know, put the light on, and flick each one until the light goes off
tell us what rating that circuit breaker is
Tidy Max
27-02-09, 03:55 PM
really it should be on a 6amp POSSIBLY a 10, but 90% that it will be a 6amp breaker.
from the sounds of things they are getting far to much power, which is odd and dangerous, also because the cables to your lights might not be rated to take that amount of current!
cough law suit cough lol
Err not sure what im looking for but on the circuit breaker for them lights it says 230/400v on it.Also that is tripped everytime the bulbs blow.I presume that is normal?
Edit it says b6 on it also
MattBrown
27-02-09, 03:59 PM
I would recomend a 5amp breaker for you lighting circuit!
What happens if you leave the dining room lamps out? As in physically take them out?
Morrisons cheapo lamps? Should be fine, maybe buy a more expensive name? Just totry them?
What wattage are they?
Dimmer switch or standard?
Single or twin gang?
Tidy Max
27-02-09, 04:00 PM
in hindsight also that could not be causing it, just spoke to my boss who says your best phoning the electric board, he recons from the sounds of things you could have a 'loose neutral' which would be the main intake point to your house neutral, which isnt your responsibility!
have any other of your electrical items gone kaput mate?
The bulbs are 60watt
The switch is standard
There is 5 lights to the dining room like imagine a 5 spoke wheel lol
There is 3 in the lounge like a 3 spoke wheel lol
Also they have their own switches if that makes any difference.
Thanks for the replies
in hindsight also that could not be causing it, just spoke to my boss who says your best phoning the electric board, he recons from the sounds of things you could have a 'loose neutral' which would be the main intake point to your house neutral, which isnt your responsibility!
have any other of your electrical items gone kaput mate?
No as i say its just those lights.All other electrical points are fine i hope lol
I just dont want fires to be caused or owt or any of us get hit by one of these rocket bulbs!
Tidy Max
27-02-09, 04:05 PM
6amps fine, really a bigger breaker would stop it from tripping out as often but isnt safe!
where does it say 230/400???? you certainly shouldnt have 400 (three phase) running into there! lol you could be running a factory!
your best bet is try and get in touch with a friendly electrician who has a voltage meter, we have one which records the highest voltage and lowest voltage over an amount of time.
In your house it should probably fluctuate between 220-245, if your lights exploding its probably going in excess of 245!
Im only an apprentice so don't take anything as gospel! key things to look out for would be lights getting brighter/dimmer in your house which would show a fluctuating voltage level! a quick call to the lekky board may help!
Tidy Max
27-02-09, 04:08 PM
No as i say its just those lights.All other electrical points are fine i hope lol
I just dont want fires to be caused or owt or any of us get hit by one of these rocket bulbs!
right, then you have got a loose wire lol
if you can imagin it will go
ciruit board---switch1--light one---switch1 to switch2---light 2--switch 2 to light 3
if you know which cables run to your faulty light...
TURN THE BREAKER OFFF!!!!!!! big one that!
then get up to your light fitting and make sure the wires are screwed in tight, you will know when you have found your problem wire as it will probably be black from sparking!
Yeah somethimes they do go dim for a couple of seconds actually!
It says 230/400 on the switch thing on the board it also says MT106 B6 and then loads of random numbers which i presume is its part number?
The board is a hager and so are the switches if that helps
Tidy Max
27-02-09, 04:09 PM
do all of the lights in your house go dim?
OR
all of the lights on that circuit (all 5 or 3 of them whichever it was!)
OR
Just your problem light?
Tidy Max
27-02-09, 04:10 PM
im off home now mate, will log in as soon as im home though, probably 30minutes, becareful if you take a switch plate OR the light fitting down, just make sure YOU TURN THE BREAKER OFF!!
Just the lights downstairs go dim although its only down there ive notciced tbh.All of the bulbs for those have blown in all 8 slots at some point or other.
Dont worry i wont be touching nay wires in my house lol The gaylord can get someone in to sort it pronto if its dangerous!
Tidy Max
27-02-09, 04:50 PM
haha, basically i think you have got a loose wire somewhere on that circuit, so it could be in the circuit board (the switch thingy that said B6) in one of the light switches OR in one of the light fittings, its strange that all of them have blown on seperate occations but i hope that i have helped in someway
at least if u get a spark round then you can give him a little idea to save them time wasting
let us know how you get on!
Thanks mate ive already repped you.
I shall give the Gaylord a ring an ask him to get someone in to check it all.
Is it at risk of a fire?
Tidy Max
27-02-09, 04:58 PM
if its a loose terminal then yes BUT, there is also a risk of fire from using your mobile in a petrol station :S soo,
if it is a loose wire then instead of having a constant connection it can spark from the wire to the terminal instead of just transfering across quickly if your with me (like when you connect your battery up on the car and it sparks like fcuk, thats because its not a solid connection and is loose)
so in that respect, sparks cause fire, but aslong as you dont go filling your switches with newspaper and lighter fluid you will be okay i think..
.. and if you would like to sign the tidy max disclaimer form just here.......
lol (ta for the rep btw :))
FUSION X16XE
27-02-09, 06:57 PM
Soz to hijack yo!
I have a similar problem....
Its my power shower, it will be fine for say 5mins but then it turns off and i have to run down stairs covered in soapy water and flick the breaker back on lol
It seems to me that something over heats ?? so the breaker cuts the power? so i flick it back on and it will last 2mins max before it does it again!! Now if theres someone downstairs ill shout for them to flick it on but if they do it say within 20secs of it flicking off it will just keep flicking off for 10-20secs then it will work! (almost like you can push the breaker button properly) Is there anything i can check to find the problem?
could be incorrectly specced wiring to the shower or possibly too small a circuit breaker. but then it could just be your shower overheating and tripping the breaker. so could need a new shower lol. i hate 240v lol
From your first initial post, basically, it sounds like your overlaoding the lighting ring (or to low ampage breaker) BUT it also sounds like youve got an earthing fualt.
On another note, does the property you live in have an upto date Elec test Cert? By law, wether private rent or council rent it SHOULD have one. If not, you should not be allowed to live there let alone do anything within the premises!!
brainsnova
27-02-09, 08:13 PM
fit energy savers as they wont pop and smash like normal bulbs.
From your first initial post, basically, it sounds like your overlaoding the lighting ring (or to low ampage breaker) BUT it also sounds like youve got an earthing fualt.
On another note, does the property you live in have an upto date Elec test Cert? By law, wether private rent or council rent it SHOULD have one. If not, you should not be allowed to live there let alone do anything within the premises!!
I should really dig out my documents and look.I know the boiler and gas fire were checked in August and they were fine but no electric work has been done since our cooker was wired in the 1st week of living there.An earth had to be made for that from the board to the socket as it didnt have one!
The sparky said it was bad and couldnt believe it didnt have one.He said that the previous tenant must have got belts off their cooker all the time.
I should really dig out my documents and look.I know the boiler and gas fire were checked in August and they were fine but no electric work has been done since our cooker was wired in the 1st week of living there.An earth had to be made for that from the board to the socket as it didnt have one!
The sparky said it was bad and couldnt believe it didnt have one.He said that the previous tenant must have got belts off their cooker all the time.
Check it Andy, for yours & your familys safety mate, check it. TBH IMO you just need a test/inspect & fault finding mission on your electrics, particulary the downstairs lighting ring.
Check it Andy, for yours & your familys safety mate, check it. TBH IMO you just need a test/inspect & fault finding mission on your electrics, particulary the downstairs lighting ring.
Oh i will without a doubt,thats why i put this up because i was a bit scared by it all tbh.I shall get those out now and have a look.Thanks Mike.:thumb:
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.