Loft light not switching off

mutley74

thanks for the replies.

The switch is fixed in the loft actually at the top of the stair access. The cable is behind plaster on the wall. I cant see the exact routing.

He had a handle fitted about 12inch above and a few inches of the line from the switch. So a bit suprised that the handle screw may have hit the cable. Weird as its a metal handle but no one has experience any electric shock (yet!). Sounds like i should isolate the supply and remove the handle. Guess will need to knock the plaster away slowly to find out where the wire has been cut.

Ben84

Has anyone replaced a light fixture or junction box elsewhere in the house that could have affected it? It might seem odd at first, but as the lighting fixtures are all interlinked, connecting the wrong cables elsewhere in the circuit can have surprising results. I've seen improperly connected light fixtures/switches make other lights in other rooms turn on and off, for example a dining room light that every time it was on turned off the hallway light. I never did figure this one out, I called an electrician in the end, but certainly the cause of your problem may be elsewhere in the circuit?

mutley74

Ben84 wrote: »

Has anyone replaced a light fixture or junction box elsewhere in the house that could have affected it? It might seem odd at first, but as the lighting fixtures are all interlinked, connecting the wrong cables elsewhere in the circuit can have surprising results. I've seen improperly connected light fixtures/switches make other lights in other rooms turn on and off, for example a dining room light that every time it was on turned off the hallway light. I never did figure this one out, I called an electrician in the end, but certainly the cause of your problem may be elsewhere in the circuit?

had some switches changed last year by an electrician but everything was okay since. This has only happened for the past few weeks, i suspect the drilling of the handle is the cause.

muddyl

So a bit suprised that the handle screw may have hit the cable. Weird as its a metal handle but no one has experience any electric shock (yet!). Sounds like i should isolate the supply and remove the handle.[/QUOTE]

If the screw has gone through the electricity will take the easiest route. So unless you are earthed it wouldn't go through you, so it may still be live, you just dont realise it.