Lights blown.. lost power :(

mforcer

aggypanthus wrote: »

where do you live?

north east (hartlepool)

aggypanthus

OK, a bit far away . sent you pm

aggypanthus

do you have a landlord or is it your own house?

macman

What you are describing upstairs is not a consumer unit (what you call a fusebox). Sounds more like an FCU (fused connection unit). Probably to power a light off a ring main-does it have a 3A fuse in it?
Your property should have 2 lighting circuits, one for upstairs, one for downstairs. Have you tried the downstairs fuse cartridge (which you know is working) on the upstairs circuit? Since it's most unlikely that both fuses you purchased are faulty, there appears to be another fault on the upstairs lighting circuit that requires an electrician.
If the circuits are protected bt MCB's, have you reset them (pushed the trip switch back up)?
Best thing you can do is to post a picture of your CU.

Richie-from-the-Boro

- the issue is what blew the fuse in the first place to protect which circuit
- and blew a subsequent other two to protect which circuit

I think you need a sparky my friend, many of us here could sort this but you really need to know not how to replace the fuse, but what will happen to that circuit if you do.

Agree old box not MCB's type CU, and that's prolly an FCU for the after-market electric bathroom shower or extractor unit. As macman says posting a photo of each 'box' will give the forum a shot of at least telling you what you have. Diagnosing the fault that blew the fuse however needs someone 'on the spot'.

macman

The OP didn't say it blew a second time. he says 'still nothing'-which to me indicates that the trip (if there is one) has not been reset.
If it did blow the fuse a second time, then clearly it's a circuit or fitting issue, and a sparky is required.
I'm guessing that it is a cartridge fuse, but without a pic it's impossible to be sure, because the info given is very vague.

molerat

mforcer wrote: »

I just took the fuse down to the electrical place and they gave me exact replacements, i tried 2 of them and neither worked.

it's a 15A

not sure if thats right or wrong, like i say i've only been here 2 months, had no problems up until this time

this isn't really my forte

Should not be a 15A on a lighting circuit, are you sure you have the correct fuse, should be a 5A with white spot.

Alias_Omega

Lighting Circuit should be 5 Amp, the same fuse that you would find in a plug for a Tv etc.

Sounds like its worth you paying the £35 electrician fee, and this would be covered under the free 30mins.

happy35

i had this problem, couldnt get mine to reset and got an Electrician who condemned my electrics,he was a family friend so I knew that he wasnt making it up

After discussion I updated my consumer box and updated the wiring as mine had all kinds of problems once they started looking at the wiring with cables joined incorrectly and some stuff that he said I was lucky there hadnt been a fire.

If the new fuse hasnt worked then I would definitely get an Electrician out

Richie-from-the-Boro

macman wrote: »

The OP didn't say it blew a second time. he says 'still nothing'-which to me indicates that the trip (if there is one) has not been reset.
If it did blow the fuse a second time, then clearly it's a circuit or fitting issue, and a sparky is required.
I'm guessing that it is a cartridge fuse, but without a pic it's impossible to be sure, because the info given is very vague.

I assumed because there's hardly ever an ELCB on an old 'fuse type box' [cartridge or otherwise] and, in which case not a more recent RCD. My point was its more than a duff lightbulb, marginally possible for a washing machine, and possible for an oven. In truth its usually a live to earth, unusual in this case because ELCB's are considerably less likely to trip than RCD's.

It could even be as simple as a live to earth caused unknowingly by taking out and replacing the bulb. That bulb holder may have been grasped / twisted / pulled about for years and finally given way.

NOTE :

ELCB [Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker]
RCB [Residual Current Circuit Breaker]