HELP - lost lighting?!?

ncooper1974

Before I begin, I'm not an electrician....

We had a garage conversion about 9 months ago, and they fitted a normal basic pendent. I wanted to change it to an energy effecient pendent.
So i swap out the old one for the new one - looked like a simple job. remove brown and blue wire from old pendent, and reconnect brown and blue wire from new pendent.

before I started, I switched off the fuse to the downstairs lighting (which is on the same circuit as the kitchen lights).

when i tried to switch light on - nothing. tried the lights in the kitchen - nothing. so i thought must be something with the pendent, so i switched the old one back in. still nothing...

any electricians out there spot if I have missed something???

keith969

Is the switch in your consumer box definitely on? Try turning it off and on again in case it did not quite latch on.

macman

Assuming the CU trip switch is on and OK, have you dislodged the circuit cable into the pendant when replacing it? It might already have been loose, and a little bit more movement might have been enough to lose the contact.

ncooper1974

switch is definately on in the consumer unit - switched it on and off a few times to make sure.
i'm pretty sure i haven't done anything to dislodge the circuit table. i only touched 2 screws - one blue and one brown when I put the new unit in, and then when i switched it out again for the old unit

i tried leaving the unit off completely, but this doesn't work either (im guessing it needs a circuit to work in the kitchen?)

keith969

Maybe the MCB in the consumer unit is faulty? They're cheap to replace.

mkaibear

Buy an electricity testing screwdriver and test the wires?

macman

keith969 wrote: »

Maybe the MCB in the consumer unit is faulty? They're cheap to replace.

There's probably a identical MCB for the upstairs lighting circuit. Swap them over to test if one has failed.

zax47

macman wrote: »

There's probably a identical MCB for the upstairs lighting circuit. Swap them over to test if one has failed.

So you suggest they open up their consumer unit and have a good ole' swop around when..."Before I begin, I'm not an electrician...." :eek:

Good idea - NOT. Unless they a) have an isolator BEFORE the CU or b) are qualified(and authorised by their DNO) to pull the service fuse then the incoming tails to the CU are still live - no self-professed novice should be in there.

ncooper1974. If you are confident that no other wires were moved or dislodged then it could well be the Circuit Breaker. Circuit breakers (mcbs) can get "sticky" through lack of use. I had to sort this problem for a neighbour just a couple of weeks ago - they'd done EXACTLY what you did, just changed a fitting, like-for-like. The mcb for the upstairs lighting circuit wouldn't re-set to on, despite the lever staying up (sometimes). It will probably need changing but do get someone who has both skills and competence to look at this. 15 minutes job and less than £10 for a breaker.

zax47

mkaibear wrote: »

Buy an electricity testing screwdriver and test the wires?

For the love of God, NO. :eek: Tells you little or nothing of any value and requires YOU to be part of the circuit.

Buy a multi-meter (<£10 from Maplin or any DIY shed) and do it properly!

ncooper1974

ZAX47....sounds like this could be the problem then.
althought the house was rewired less then a year ago, and a new consumer unit was put it. even though I've not had the need to touch it since it went it, Id be surprised if it was a faulty MCB.
I'm waiting on a call back from an electrician, but I wanted to make sure that it wasn't something silly that I might have done.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'll post back when the problem is fixed.
In the mean time, I'll put a lamp in the study, and use the light on the cooker for lighting in the kitchen

ncooper1974

Turned out that it was the MCB that was faulty. Swapped it for another one and it works....
Thanks again for everyones advice