All but one of my downstairs lights are not working (all on same fuse line) I have had tested by 2 sparkies, but neither can find the fault. I know the fault is the live feed. If I connect a cable from the live only from the light switch that works to "any" of my downstairs switches, all my lights work. Only way I can access in the joists is both the working light & the non working one in my lounge - although a lot of work but better than drilling holes in my ceilings. If I just run a new live cable from the working light to the non working light in my lounge through the joists, will this be a safe fix?
I think you have had the lights tested by two people that call themselves electricians. Your assessment of the fault is likely to be correct, the live feed between the working light and the first faulty one has somehow been broken. Unless you can locate the fault, which is probably a junction box or a light you have not yet identified, you must disconnect this cable at both ends and replace it with a new piece of cable, probably 1mm square twin and earth. Others are going to be amazed at how your sparkies were unable to resolve this, this type of work 'is bread and butter' for any electrician worth his salt.
Thanks but problem is, I cannot locate where the fault is. I only have 1 light working, I do not know the wiring diagram of my house & therefore am unsure of the next light. It seems the JB from working light splits off to left of house & right of house. will it be safe just to run a live from working light to another which will enable me to get the power around the lower of my house ? Thanks
No you can't just run another live safely, unless you are sure you're also disconnecting all other live wires at the same time. You have to get the root of the problem and understand why the other lights aren't working and what the fault is. If you really want to get to the bottom of it, I would suggest disconnecting the lighting circuit at the CU (live and neutral) and do some continuity testing at each ceiling rose or light fitting and switch, and from there work out what's connected to what.
Lighting circuits are connected typically in one of two ways - either in the ceiling roses or at junction boxes. If the former, its easy to access, whereas junction boxes will be under the floor boards or in the loft. The live and neutral wires, that comes from the CU, goes to the first light and is then daisy chained to the second and third lights etc. obviously with the live wire broken and directed to the switch. Look at the wiring of the first light in the ceiling rose, how many live/neutral/earth wires are there, can you post a photo of that? See this, explains a lot http://www.diydata.com/planning/electric_lights/electric_lights.php#wiring
Thing is, I dont have any roses, Light that works is a "dome" light, it has 1 incoming wire & 3 going out, 1L, 1R & 1 to outside light on a sensor
Same principle, the wires are joined at the light. So you have 4 wires, do you have: (1) incoming T&E (2) outgoing T&E (to next light, joined with (1)) (3) T&E with permanent live going to the outside light, joined with (1) and (2) (4) T&E taking the permanent live from (1) to the light switch (return is switched live).
jtr ,the lighting circuits in Drbodgit's link are typical ways to wire lighting circuits ,but they are NOT the only ways. do you have a multimeter ,and know how to use it ? can you post pics of the wiring going into the back of the switch that is working ,as well as the junction box .please isolate the electric supply whilst doing this.
That looks like you have the 4 cables as I described, now you need to do an investigation as terrymac advised (with power off), are you capable of doing this?
is the outside light not working either ?? that terminal block with the 4 red cables is the first place to start.
how so Dr b ? op told us ALL the other lights work when he takes a live feed ONLY from the working switch to ANY of the other switches . read his original post ?
Outside light works fine Just done another check to see if I can lose a light, but I cannot. I "think" my lights go Hall, Lounge, 2nd hall (I had a partition wall put in) Kitchen x3, toilet, office (was garage) then back to CU It doesnt matter which light switch I connect the live to, ALL work when connected to whatever the switch. If my lighting route is correct, can I presume that the break would only be between working light & lounge?
Does live at the switches make a difference, pic here is my live working switch, red is from wall, the brown connected to it is the flying cable I can connect to any other switch & get all the lights to work
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